Episode #290

[Mid-Career Series] I Got Tenure And Then This Happened (Re-Release EP 90)

When you finally receive that long-awaited email announcing tenure, you expect it to change everything—less stress, more freedom, and the chance to finally pursue the big dreams you’ve been putting on hold. But what happens when the reality doesn’t live up to the hype?

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In this episode of the Mid-Career Series, I share my own post-tenure story. From the anticlimactic certification letter to the realization that tenure didn’t automatically bring clarity, impact, or balance. Instead, I found myself stuck at the top of the promotion ladder in the middle of a financial crisis, still overworked and unsure of what was next.

If you’ve ever thought tenure would be the turning point that finally allowed you to regain control of your academic career, this conversation may feel uncomfortably familiar. But it also opens the door to imagining something bigger for your career, on your own terms.

Listen now to hear my story about securing tenure and discover how you can start building the academic career you truly want now, without letting a prospective promotion hold you back.

My Tenure Journey

The official tenure announcement came in the form of a PDF, an email attachment with a certification number and university seal. It should have felt momentous, but instead it was anticlimactic. There were no trumpets, no parade, and certainly no sudden relief from the overwhelming workload.

In fact, the moment was overshadowed by financial turmoil at my institution: budget cuts, sabbatical cancellations, and stalled promotions. What should have been a celebration felt more like exhaustion. Instead of clarity or freedom, I found myself stuck, without the institutional support or resources to pursue the big ideas I had been dreaming about.

My Hot Take: Tenure Doesn’t Change as Much as You Think

Getting tenure can feel anticlimactic. Yes, it brings job security, but it doesn’t magically erase administrative overload, constant due dates, or the feeling that your own projects are always on the back burner. In fact, many mid-career professors find that tenure intensifies the tension between what they want to work on and what their institution demands.

I discuss why so many scholars feel disoriented after tenure, the systemic pressures that make it hard to grow, and why it’s normal to feel let down after reaching such a major milestone. My “hot take” is simple: tenure changes far less than we think it will, and the real transformation has to come from you.

Scholar’s Voice® Program That Support Your Mid-Career Growth

Navigate® is designed for tenure-track women and nonbinary professors with a disruptive perspective on their field. In the 12-week program, you will learn how to write and publish more using our mission-guided time and project management processes. Navigate is a twelve-week coaching program that combines recorded modules with high-touch coaching and community, which will help you get results in just 12 weeks.

Sign up to receive my newsletter to stay informed and get an inside look at whether Navigate® is the right next step for you.

“I figured out that my zone of genius was actually not dependent on that particular container of theUniversity of Puerto Rico, in which I was operating at the time. I decided to build my own container, this business, and it was the best decision I ever made. Saying it like that makes it all seem really clean, and really clear, and really logical, like the path was straight and I knew exactly what I was doing, but this is just hindsight, which is always 2020. I absolutely did not know what was next for me, even if I was increasingly sure that it was not possible for me to create what I wanted inside my university.”

“I think it’s really a minority of people who are able to make big changes post-tenure. What I really want to drive home today is that nothing changes with tenure – well, some things change. Your stability in the job changes. Perhaps you make more money. The feeling of who you are post-tenure potentially can feel more stable and more secure because you have systemic benefits that you get with promotion and tenure and also with a raise. At this stage in the career it’s not that it doesn’t change anything, but it doesn’t change the day-to-day feelings that you have.”

We’re receiving applications for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and start your application process here.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION:

Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Apply here!
Cathy’s book, Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing is available in print! Learn how to build your career around your writing practice while shattering the myths of writing every day, accountability, and motivation, doing mindset work that’s going to reshape your writing,and changing academic culture one womxn and nonbinary professor at a time. Get your print copy today or order it for a friend here!
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