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If somebody has two tenure-track offers from two institutions of similar standing, with similar pay and tenure requirements, but one has a large department and one a small one, what are the pros and cons of each?

Examples are provided below to give a reference point, for answers need not address only these.

School A:

  • A small, non-departmentalized business school, with a total faculty count ~ 30. There is no department chair.
  • Only two faculty are in the applicant's field. Both of them are full professors, one of them are relatively research-inactive, the other one is very well-known and respected

School B:

  • Very large (~25 TT faculty with Assistant, Associate, Full Professors) and well-respected department in the field
  • More exposure to the field, as they invite more seminar speakers

What are the pros and cons of the large and small departments?

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    While I can see how this might be considered "depends on circumstances", and hence understand the close votes, i think there is a worthwhile general question in here about the pros and cons of large vs small departments. Voting to leave open, but if it gets closed then I recommend editing the question to make it as general as you can so that it would apply to others.
    – Flyto
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 12:37
  • @Flyto I agree. I will try to edit the question to make it more generalizable.
    – John Smith
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 16:03
  • Small universities are at greater risk of closing in the next few years due to lower enrollment and a shrinking population of young people in the near future. This risk is countered by a larger endowment. Examine both these environmental circumstances of any small department.
    – David Smith
    Commented Dec 24, 2023 at 2:37
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    @JohnSmith I have submitted a major edit in an attempt to generalise the question and make it applicable to others. Please have a look and make sure it still reflects your intent. I do not know if this will get it re-opened, but high-rep members will be asked to vote on it. It would be useful if you could indicate what country it refers to, because this like this might vary quite a lot.
    – Flyto
    Commented Dec 27, 2023 at 20:06
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    From your post history, I'm assuming this is in the US, and have tagged accordingly. Feel free to update if you're asking about a different part of the world.
    – cag51 ♦
    Commented Dec 27, 2023 at 21:42

1 Answer 1

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I would favor the larger place for an early career person and the smaller one for someone in mid-late career. Since the two institutions are of similar rank/standing it would imply that the pressure for research at the two places is similar, unlike the situation where the smaller one were a liberal arts college with lesser research requirements.

The advantage of the larger place for the earlier career is the fact that there are greater, closer, collaboration opportunities and more opportunity to share ideas through seminars and such. You also say that the larger place is active in bringing in visitors. Even the coffee lounge at a large university is a very fruitful place to spend time.

This might be different if the smaller place is rich in travel money and provides travel funds for conferences and such. It might also be different if it is located in a place where contact with many local businesses/corporations, with possible consulting or collaboration possible.

But, to build a research focused career you need contact with a lot of people and it needs to be fairly intense in many cases to be fruitful. More local people with similar interests is a plus.

For an older, established, academic this is less important as they have likely already developed that circle of professional acquaintances and collaborators that the new kid on the block doesn't yet have.

This might be different if the person is interested in multi-disciplinary work within the field, crossing sub-field boundaries. That might be equally available at the smaller place.

Don't ignore place in your decision. Small towns and big city living is quite different, both in cost and style. But some big universities are located in small towns and vice-versa. You want a comfortable life style, not just a comfortable work environment.

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    Geography matters also scientifically. A small place near a number of other universities has some of the advantages of a big department.
    – Sam Lisi
    Commented Dec 27, 2023 at 23:44

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