Constable stated his belief that being a professor is one of the best jobs in the world. He noted that the layperson's perspective of faculty life (little time spent on classes, free afternoons and evenings, etc.) is wrong. He mentioned an instance of a faculty member who, while working for industry has time to sail and have a social life, but that while at Cornell find that that is really not possible. For nine months of this year, life as a faculty member is very intense. However, the good part that is that there is an incredible amount of freedom for faculty members. Essentially, professors do not have bosses or supervisors in the traditional sense of the word. "You're your own boss." On the other hand, the danger is that one has the opportunity to make big mistakes.
Rubinfeld also pointed out the long hours and high stress level, but noted that with these comes substantial rewards. There is the opportunity to do research, and to have students. When one's students are doing well that can be a very rewarding experience. She noted that producing good students can provide satisfaction years down the road. To her mind, this balances out the high stress nature of the job. She notes that there are good research jobs in industry, but they don't allow substantial interaction with students. Students will tend to "keep people young" and the fact that there are always new students with new ideas is something that can help to keep life at a university interesting, whereas at a research lab it can be easier to stagnate.
Smith followed up on the freedom issue. He said that it is really hard to describe how much freedom is given to faculty members. With careful planning, it is possible to get to the point where you can do almost anything. He claims the stimulation in an academic environment is much better than at a company or industrial lab, with a constant flow of visitors, students, new ideas, etc. In systems, having the leverage of students and a group helps. In industry it is necessary to provide lots of justification for what you're working on. The downside is that sometimes the signal-to-noise ratio is low. That is, lots of time is spent on things like meetings, fund-raising, teaching, etc. There is not much focused time to spend on research. All of this leads to a a complex and sometimes overwhelming life.
A question was raised about how much time is spent realistically on various things as a faculty member. Constable pointed out that there had recently been an analysis done of exactly that, and that faculty work an average of 65 hours/week, which didn't include time spent on weekends. In response to a question about having students, Rubinfeld pointed out that it's not necessary to have a lot of students, that in fact fewer students may be desirable. She also mentioned that summer is a great time to work at other places with other colleagues.
Constable noted that for living a "life of the mind" there really isn't a better place than at a university. Working with students can range from working intensely with just one or two students to building a large system which will involve a large group of students. The university environment allows you to express yourself as in individual very well. In contrast, while working at a research lab there is always the possibility of a change in direction at upper levels which can cause a complete dismissal of or drastic change to whatever project you happen to be involved with. He gave an example of this happening to someone at Microsoft when they decided to move the company into internet-related kinds of things.
Smith talked about the first few years or life after being hired as junior faculty member. He said there are three or four things that will take up most of your time and energy: 1) Teaching. You may have to teach a course you've never taught or even taken before. The teaching load varies from school to school and even with a "light" load of one course a semester can be a huge time sink. It is hard to know what to delegate. (For more information on teaching see both Smith's previous talk as well as Dexter Kozen's.) 2) Fund-raising. Start-up funds will generally last 1-1.5 years. Writing proposals is an important skill that will need to be learned. 3) Administrative duties. What will be expected of you depends on the department chair. Be careful not to do too much and to carefully choose what you do decide to do. 4) Get students. Smith's advice is to build your group slowly at the rate of roughly one student per year.
In a follow-up, Rubinfeld noted that teaching really doesn't get that much easier as time goes on. Students will always take up a lot of time. Departmental duties are very important, as well. She noted that during the week the two or three hours she spends with her graduate students is about all she can allocate for research. After hours, when the doors are locked is when uninterrupted research occurs. She notes that during your first few years as a faculty member you are being constantly evaluated from all sides: teaching, grant proposals, administrative work, research, and so on. It can be depressing to realize that everyone is checking up on you. She suggests that a good thing to do is to keep in mind that nothing is the end of the world. Bad things will happen occasionally, and the thing to remember is that there will always be another conference, another grant, another year. There is no one thing that you can't get past.
Constable noted that it's necessary to bear in mind that being a professor is really having three jobs: researcher, teacher and administrator. You will be evaluated on all three of these areas constantly. He noted that 8 of the top 10 universities in the world are in the United States. The American university system is great, and one reason is due to the competition involved. Research is evaluated by colleagues around the world. During the hiring season, for example, word spreads quickly about who the "stars" are. In general, within a month the top people are identified and receive many offers of interviews. He observed that such constant evaluation can be devastating. Even senior professors will receive very negative referee reports. The administrative area is where one's colleagues are all working together on a common goal, and it can be tempting to do more than one should.
Several questions followed. Constable noted that morale at Cornell is excellent. Rubinfeld advised to be careful to understand how the decision on who teaches what courses is made when interviewing at places. This can be very different from university to university. Constable noted that even though the faculty may be highly critical of each other's work internally, they all realize that the whole department/university wins big if a faculty member becomes "famous." Thus, there is a a tendency to close ranks if an outside visitor is around. A lot of the success of the department hinges on reputation. Smith added that at first-rate places the faculty will speak well of each other's research to outsiders, whereas at second-rate places the faculty will tend to undercut one another. He added that there tends to be a "halo effect" at good schools, which can provide many opportunities that wouldn't be available at second-tier places. Constable stressed that there are several fairly small departments which are doing really great research, but because of their size are not so well-known. Rubinfeld added that one of the important things is to be at a place where the senior faculty help the junior faculty with grant proposals, teaching, etc. When asked if anything could be done to alleviate the stress on junior (and senior) faculty, the answer was essentially "no." The reason is that there will always be a few who are totally dedicated, and this will raise the bar for everyone else. The best universities will produce the best ideas and have the best people, and this will keep everyone striving to do the best that they possibly can.
To close, Rubinfeld added that she feels that being a professor is a great job, with great colleagues and the opportunity to do great research. There is a high stress level, but she adds that the things she's spending time on are usually the things she wants to be spending time on. Smith added that one could go to industry and conceivably make more money, but that in his estimation the people in industry tend not to reach their full potential, for reasons mentioned earlier. Constable reiterated that being a faculty member is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling career.