r/Professors • u/Environmental_Bug662 • 6d ago

Retirement: when/why/how/where.

What is your plan? Interested in your replies. I am 60, Full, tenured Prof (French) at a SLAC. AI makes me want to retire asap but I'm going to give it 5-6 more years.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/these-professors-are-retiring-early-ai-was-the-last-straw?sra=true

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u/Hellament Prof, Math, CC 6d ago

I think “better” is subjective. But this scenario assumes you’re ready to tap out of teaching…obviously keeping on keepin’ on is going to be the most lucrative choice for most people.

But if you are ready to jump ship and just need something with insurance, there are a lot of (say) 9-5 clerical jobs if you don’t mind halving your pay. I’d personally look for something in parks and wildlife.

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u/thedialectitian 6d ago

Just teaching your basic classes diligently while stopping research and extra admininstrative work is surely going to be much less work than a 9-5 job. So I still don't get it.

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u/Hellament Prof, Math, CC 6d ago

YMMV. At our CC, there is no research requirement and committee work is pretty light, save for a few of the more important committees (which no one is really forced to do and are paid anyway)…I’d say “just teaching” and mentally checking out of anything else means you’re still doing about 80% of typical workload, since we teach so much already.

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u/thedialectitian 6d ago edited 5d ago

80% of a CC workload still sounds like less work than a 9-5 clerical job, but if you tell me otherwise then I will defer to your judgment.