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up vote 6 down vote favorite

Or in Sean Carroll's words, if "you are better off if your hobbies are nothing like your work"?

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2011/03/30/how-to-get-tenure-at-a-major-research-university/

This question applies for both cases of tenure and cases of applying for academic positions.

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up vote 8 down vote

I suspect Sean Carroll is emphasizing this more than most people would, thanks to his tenure denial. It's not always important - plenty of serious bloggers have received tenure, and I know of one mathematician who published a novel before successfully getting tenure at a serious research university. However, Carroll's right about the risks: it will hurt your chances if people spend too much time comparing what you did accomplish to what they imagine you might have accomplished if you had focused more. If your hobbies could be viewed as taking time away from research, then it gives anyone who doesn't want you to get tenure an excellent opportunity to try to derail your case.

So basically, if your tenure case could be viewed as marginal or you might have enemies in the department (or among your letter writers), then you should worry about this. Otherwise, I wouldn't let it dictate your life, but I guess it depends on your tolerance for risk. One common-sense approach is not to go around emphasizing to colleagues how much time you are spending on hobbies.

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always gives sound advice, and there's nothing really left to say :). There's a lot of subtle chest-thumping in departments about who's more busy, or sleeps less, and so on. As long as you're able to demonstrate that you're doing well on the usual metrics for tenure (research, teaching, service etc), then no one will really care about what other things you do. – Suresh May 3 '12 at 5:51
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I don't care the cost, I'm not going to let someone else (except my wife and kids) dictate how I use my free time. I am going to use my time how I choose. Isn't that why someone pursues tenure, anyway? Having said that, as AM states, I must acknowledge risks associated with spending free time on things that will not help me get tenure. And I am not going to advertise to others how I spend my free time (within reason). – Steve P May 3 '12 at 13:25
What about children and TV watching? – Jase Dec 16 '12 at 4:11

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