Like the leading edge of the hurricaine, the first signals of the approaching depression in the academic job market are upon us. The change in expectations from 1968 to 1978 is hard to overstate. Departments that assumed their students would get “appropriate” jobs without help must now organize to get any employment for some of their graduates. It is not uncommon for graduates from second-level institutions to find that there simply are no academic jobs in their specialty anywhere in the country. Increasingly, departments are haunted by the fear of being “tenured up,” so even tenure-track junior positions may not lead anywhere. Already we are seeing the first consequences of this, as people rejected for tenure compete with new Ph.D.s for entry-level positions. All this is merely prelude, however, since the first actual population decline in the 18–22 year age bracket will not occur until the early 1980s, just about the time that people now entering graduate school will come on the job market.
Preparing for the academic job market: An interactive panel for doctoral students [a panel proposal]
