The downside of tenure

I am tenured so I can complain about it.

The adage, "The reason the fights in academia are so bitter is because the stakes are so low" is one of my favorites.

I have been embroiled in one that hinged on a few hundred dollars a year in pay. I would have gladly paid that to not have lost all this sleep.

Tenure is a good thing--I'm not giving mine up--but it has unintended consequences. It means faculty are disincentivized. We know that a lot of faculty "rest" (euphemism) after getting it. We also know, but don't want to admit it, that tenure discourages faculty from looking elsewhere even when doing so would be a good thing, because they don't want to go through tenure again (it can be hellacious and risky).

And because faculty are discouraged from leaving, they stay. They have institutional memory. A good thing, but also the grounds for long-standing grudges and bitterness over really small things to fester and become the reason for payback.

I'm seeing that.  Not pretty. And nothing you can actually prove. 

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