Marriage and Tenure

I really can't speak for anyone else, but I have been having incredible ups and downs in the period since I made the decision to leave my tenured position. The posting about health insurance a few days ago was certainly written during one of the "down" periods. But there are plenty of times when I feel hopeful and optimistic about the future. Facing the unkknown for the first time does have something exciting about it. But then, so again does jumping off a cliff.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about today. I wanted to discuss the previous post about moving from one position into another. Generally speaking, as I said, I think it's a pretty good idea not just to walk away from a job without having another job--or the real good possibility of a job--waiting for you. And, all things equal, it is better to look for a job if you already have a job; it puts you in a position of strength. But in the case of a professor leaving a tenured position, or anyone similarly situated (is there anyone similarly situated) I simply do not think this is the best course to follow. My guess is a tenured professor who is contemplating leaving has put a good 12-15 years of his life, if you count graduate school, into his position (more in my case). It has probably been the defining charactersitic of their identity--how they define themselves and how others define them. I just don't think it's a good idea to walk out of that into another position any more than I think it would be a good idea to leave a long marriage and walk right into another marriage. In both cases, having left or lost something substantial, there needs to be time to grieve, time to think, time to search. This is why, painful as this is, I think I am making the right decision--at least this afternoon.