Dr. Travis Dixon, Photo Credit: UCLAThe Department of Communication recently brought alumnus Dr. Travis Dixon back to UCSB for an informal discussion on academic careers. Dixon received his Ph.D. in Communication from UCSB in 1998. He was so involved during his time as a graduate student at UCSB with the GSA and various campus committees that the GSA named an award after him. The Travis Dixon award (now called the Dixon-Levy award) is for “outstanding members of the university community who have unselfishly devoted themselves to the improvement of graduate student life” (GSA Website).
Since receiving his Ph.D., Dixon has worked as a professor at the University of Michigan and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies at UCLA.
Being able to hear tips from an alum about life after grad school was comforting and helpful. I want to share some of his key points that may help you with your graduate career:
Motivation
Your motivation for research should stem from love or hate (Dixon’s research was motivated by his hatred of discrimination). According to Dixon, pursuing research because it is interesting is not enough. “There has to be something in your gut that makes you want to pursue this line of research.”
Publishing
Submit your articles to major journal outlets first. These journals are usually affiliated with an association, which means that all members of the association will receive a copy of the journal. This increases the chance that your article will be read by large numbers of individuals in your field. Be persistent—make the changes the editors or peer reviewers request. If your article is not accepted, look for other journals where it might be a better fit.
Teaching
Don’t neglect teaching. Dixon believes that “more people will be influenced by you in the classroom than will ever read your stuff.” If you want to have an influence on others, the classroom is a great place to do that. It is also important to get good evaluations if you want to be promoted. It takes years to become a great teacher, so don’t expect to achieve this in the first year of your job. The more experience you have as a Teaching Assistant, the better you will be in the classroom as a faculty member.
Mentorship
Find advocates both inside and outside of your field. You need to find someone who will read your work and give you honest feedback before publishing. Many times this will be senior faculty, but on occasion, it might be a colleague who has expertise in the same area as you.
Career Path
There is always something to worry about along your career path in academia. First you become an assistant professor and work hard to get tenure. Once you get tenure, you should aim for full professorship. Faculty are reviewed every two to five years and you will need to show that you have been productive (how many articles have you published? how many grants have you received?). Also, recognize that it’s okay to say no to all of the extracurricular work (i.e., sitting on committees), otherwise, it will be very hard to focus on getting a promotion. You can say something like, “I can either work on these five projects or I can sit on your committee, which would you like me to do?” You can express your willingness to serve on lighter committees (ones that take less time) to show that you are willing to do some extra work as long as it’s small.
Controversial Topics
If you are publishing about a controversial topic, make sure your work is high quality, follows all of the rules, your research is rigorous, and you do everything that is empirically correct. If you do all of these things, it will be hard for people to refute your research.
Negotiating a Job Offer
You need to negotiate (“all they can do is say ‘no’”). If you need housing or relocation assistance or a job for your spouse, ask for it. Also, ask how much you will be protected in the job (i.e., “will I have to sit on a lot of committees?”). If you are married to another doctoral student or academic, make sure both of your jobs are fully negotiated before you accept an offer.
Work-Life Balance
Dixon and his wife, Dr. Trina Wright-Dixon, have been blessed with twin sons. Dixon works hard to spend plenty of time with his family and maintain a very productive research and teaching life. How does he do it all? He recommends compartmentalizing your days (i.e., Tuesday/Thursday are just for lesson planning and teaching, Mondays are for grant writing). However, you should write every day (for at least 30 minutes, but Dixon recommends two to four hours). Also, try to teach the same classes so you don’t have to spend time developing brand new lesson plans.