1. Finding a Fit: The Rhet/Comp Job Search, 2014-2015 CCCC 2016
Carrie Leverenz, TCU

2. Percent of Doctorate Recipients With Job or Postdoc Commitments, by Field of Study
“The proportion of doctorate recipients with definite commitments for employment or postdoc study declined in 2014 for the fifth time in the past 6 years in every broad non-S&E field of study. The share of doctorate recipients with definite commitments reached 20-year low points in each of these non-S&E fields.”

3. “The highest number ever recorded by the SED”
Number of Doctorate Recipients in the U.S. by Field of Study
“The highest number ever recorded by the SED”
SOURCE: NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2014

4. “The decreases of the past three years bring
Report on the MLA Job Information List,
“The decreases of the past three years bring
the number of advertised jobs to a new low.”

5. “The downturn in the number of ads since 2008 has
been accompanied by a consistently lower percentage
of each year’s total tagged as tenure track.”

6. Tenure status of ads by
English subdiscipline

7. Total composition ads = 295 Total tenure track composition = 187
Total job ads = 928
Total composition ads = 295
Total tenure track composition = 187
30.3% of tenure track jobs were in composition
63.4% of jobs in composition were tenure track
  Report on the MLA Job Information List,
Total job ads = 884
Total composition ads = 297
Total tenure track composition = 188
31.6 % of tenure track jobs were in composition
63.3% of jobs in composition were tenure track
Report on the MLA Job Information List,

8. Number of JIL ads requiring a PhD in Rhet/Comp 2014-2015

9. Of the 161 tenure track positions
Assistant
Assistant/Associate 23
Associate or Full 9
Open rank

10. Frequently mentioned specializations:
1) Administration
75 of 161 tt
44 of 120 tt assistant
16 of 45 non-tt renewable
About 30 % of positions for new
Rhet/Comp PhDs (60 of 188)

11. Other frequently mentioned
specializations:
New media (58 of 161 tt ads)
Tech/prof writing (51 of 161 tt ads)

14. Q4 Within the field of Rhetoric and Composition, which one
category below best describes the focus of your dissertation?

16. Words too frequent to fit:
writing (145)
administration (52)
rhetoric (33)
Writing (31)
and/or (20)
theory (19)

17. 83.72% (72 of 86 respondents) were on the job market for the first time
22.37% (17 of 76) were in their 4th year
43.42% (33 of 76) were in their 5th year
7.11% (13 of 76) were in their 6th year
7.11% (13 of 76) were in their 7th year

18. Q1 Please select the statement below
that best describes your PhD progress

19. Q15 How many academic jobs did you apply for?

20. Q18 How many preliminary interviews (not on-campus) for academic jobs did you do (phone, MLA, video conference, CCCCs, etc.)?

21. Q24 Have you accepted a position for fulltime
employment in a college or university?

22. Q25 How would you describe the institutional
status of the position you’ve accepted?

23. How well does the job fit?

24. Q32 If you have secured full-time employment,
how satisfied are you with the job you’ve accepted?

25. Q41 What has been your biggest surprise regarding the job search?
Answered: 70 Skipped: 19
Emotionally and psychologically painful (11)
Time consuming/difficult (10)
The job search was better than expected (10)
Poor treatment/unfair or illogical process (9)
Jobs available were not a good fit (9)
Nature of the jobs themselves (7)
Not enough jobs/lack of success (6)
Inconsistent deadlines/timing (4)
No surprises (4)

26. Q42 What one thing do you wish you would have done differently in preparation for the job search?
Answered: 69 Skipped: 20
Prepared for the job search differently (11)
Prepared for the job search earlier (10)
Nothing (10)
Submitted fewer applications (8)
Published more (6)
Different training (6)
Written more of my dissertation (5)
Improved my well being (5)
Changed career path (4)
Submitted more applications(3)

27. Q45 If you could offer one piece of advice to current graduate students what would it be?
Gain varied experience/diversify (18)
Start early/ Time management (10)
Be realistic/consider alternatives (11)
Publish (9)
Make your work meaningful outside your institution/network (7)
Access support/ self-care (4)
Be yourself/figure out what you want (4)
Finish your dissertation (3)

28. Q44 If you could offer one piece of advice to
your graduate program what would it be? Answered: 70 Skipped: 19
More practical training (17)
Start preparing grad students for the job search early (14)
Support for alternative career choices/personal support (12)
Offer more/different Rhet/Comp courses (9)
Help grad students publish/support for scholarship (7)
My program did a good job (6)
Expand funding (2)
Encourage a wide search (1)
Reduce admissions (1)

30. Look on the bright side. There is a bright side.
Support multiple models of career success.
Be a specialist in writing, all kinds of writing
Find opportunities for writing program leadership.
Be flexible in response to trends.