Dear Job Seekers of the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List:
I have been avoiding writing this piece for months, even as I have thought these things for November. For that, I am sorry, because I feel that I owe more than simply filling out this spreadsheet line-by-line for these past 9 years. Nevertheless, here are some things that I think are true.
- The Trump Administration's direct assault on higher education will not stop for at least the next four years.
- The Trump Administration's direct assault on the funding agencies will not stop for at least the next four years.
- The Trump Administration's direct assault on the Department of Education will not stop at least the next four years.
- The Trump Administration's actions with international students will drive down international student enrollment for at least the next four years.
- The "demographic cliff" is still coming.
This is obvious as the nose on my face, and the nose on yours. American colleges and universities are under tremendous governmental and financial pressure. This does not mean anything good for hiring tenure-track professors of chemistry.
I imagine that most of the people who use this list know that, but if you don't - now you can't say I didn't say so. What does this mean for job seekers who use the list? Two things:
- I expect the 2024-25 list to be the local maxima for the foreseeable future.
- I expect the 2025-26 list to be at least 20% lower than 2024-25 (at least the drop between the 19-20 year and the 20-21 year)
- I expect the smaller schools (PUIs) to be hit the hardest, followed by smaller public universities.
You probably already had these thoughts already and now you know mine. I wish I had better news to share. Want to talk? Email me at chemjobber -at- gmail dot com
If you're a job seeker, you're welcome to comment.
UPDATED: Added the word "colleges." Added an additional prediction (prediction 3)
I think it will be interesting to also analyze how the hire affect international candidates, given the "volatility" of the immigration situation. You did allude to it in terms of international students, but getting insight into faculty hiring process would be informative.
ReplyDeleteMy brother-in-law and his wife just accepted tenure track positions (STEM, but non-chemistry) at a much lower tier school than they expected in a pretty depressing town. He is really bitter / frustrated about it so I asked him why he took it and he said pretty much this -- that the job market won't be better for four years and if they are out of academia for that long, he won't be able to get back in.
ReplyDeleteHe's not wrong about it being a one-way door out of academia. But the idea that things will get better in four years is magical thinking.
DeleteAnon904P: Don't be a jerk in my comments.
DeleteThat was pretty much how it was even before the current political situation. My own graduate program was in the top 5-10, and I can only think of three people from my time who ended up with professor jobs at big well-known universities. The others who became professors are all at places no one has heard of. It's not unusual for someone with a stellar resume to be in your brother-in-law's situation.
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DeleteThis subthread has reached the limit of useful discussion. Any further comments here will be deleted.
DeleteOne wonders what will happen to places like Oswego, NY or Silver City NM, where the local college keeps the village alive. Plenty of places like that!
ReplyDeleteThe average college town risks becoming a modern-day ghost town. I went to a midwestern state school, and the city/university relationship is so strong that I can't see one surviving without the other.
DeleteAnother thing I expect is that the number of faculty overall will decrease over the next few years. We saw this to some extent during/after COVID. When science got tough, a lot of senior faculty on the fence about retiring decided to get out of the game.
ReplyDeleteA Korean prof at University of Houston in the Math department got his visa revoked. https://thedailycougar.com/2025/04/13/breaking-uh-professors-visa-terminated/ International scholars in non-controversial disciplines are not safe.
ReplyDelete'A university spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed that a faculty member had his visa terminated “based on his recent status as a doctoral student at another institution”'
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