Should I admit that I want to become a professor?
Many PhD students and most postdocs want to pursue a career in academia. However, is it a good idea to admit that you want to become a professor? Would you appear overambitious or pretentious? Or does it ruin your career to hide your ambitions from potential mentors and decision-makers? What should you do?
WHY DO YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR AMBITIONS?
Before we discuss the appropriate and inappropriate contexts to show your ambition, you should invest in a bit of self-reflection and ask yourself:
“Why do I want to show my ambition to become a professor?”
If you want to impress your friends and family, you should ask yourself why you need validation from others and why you bring yourself into a position where you must deliver or fail.
Are you chasing status to improve your feeling of self-worth?
If you want to impress people you do not know well or not at all (colleagues, foreigners on the train etc.), you are probably chasing status to improve your feeling of self-worth.
This is a bad motivation to become a professor because you put your self-value in the hands of other people and have no control over the results.
However, if you want to get support and find more information about a career in academia, go on.
On the other hand, if you tend to the shy end of the spectrum, it is vital to make your ambitions visible to potential mentors and decision-makers because they cannot read your mind.
They may be willing to support you, but they are not aware of your goals!
You should ask yourself, “What could happen if I show my ambition and get rejected?“
In most cases, nobody cares. If a potential mentor is not interested, just find another one.
If your supervisor/boss is not interested or even blocks your career development, you may consider finding new challenges elsewhere.
If you have an abusive supervisor, he or she might sabotage your career to keep you under control. In such a case, consider quitting your research job and find support.
However, before you go on, you should start reflecting on whether becoming a professor is worth it.
WHEN YOU SHOULD *NOT* ADMIT THAT YOU WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSOR
The rules are very simple: In most contexts, it is *not* helpful to admit that you want to become a professor.
Most people will interpret this as bragging or being arrogant. If you are directly asked whether you want to pursue such a career, showing some humility is still a good idea.
Even professors who have been tenured many years ago and have delivered an impressive academic oeuvre may not always reveal their academic status.
PROFESSORS USE OR HIDE THEIR TITLE AND STATUS STRATEGICALLY
In academia and in the media, the professor title opens many doors. However, a non-representative little survey of my colleagues revealed that all of them have clear ideas about when to reveal that they are professors and when they should better hide it.
In many social contexts, revealing that you are a professor may be inappropriate because people often react as if you are an arrogant bragger who wants to impress or intimidate others with status.
A typical context where it is better *not* to reveal your title, which several colleagues have mentioned, is your children’s daycare and schools.
In contrast, especially in bureaucratic contexts, the title can help stop someone from treating you like an idiot. A similar strategic behavior is advised when revealing your academic career goals as a PhD student or postdoc.
THIS IS PRETENTIOUS! WHY SHOULD YOU BECOME A PROFESSOR?
Other PhD students and postdocs may find it pretentious that you have such a goal.
They may have the idea that you do not deserve it because of your character, your behavior, or your relatively “poor” performance (“Why should YOU become a professor?”).
The range of motives is broad – jealousy, competition, personal problems with ambition and ambitious persons in general, and all other types of disapproval a person can get. No surprise, people who dislike you will not appreciate your ambition.
People who do not care about you (= most people) will probably not be interested and may prefer not to be bothered.
People who like you may support you – or find it disturbing that you show such ambition because they have an ambiguous attitude towards ambition (“Ambitious people are dishonest/have no ethical standards/sacrifice their families for their careers,” etc.).
Thus, be aware that there are many reasons why people do not want to hear about your ambitions.
On the other hand, building a community of friends and colleagues who like and support each other is one of the most satisfying activities during your career.
COMPETITORS MAY USE IT AGAINST YOU
In a highly political environment, competitors or an abusive supervisor may even use it against you, for example, by ridiculing your ambition or making your shortcomings visible to relevant decision-makers.
However, if you are in such an environment, you should consider leaving and finding a healthier environment that promotes your personal and career development. Read more here: How to get over narcissistic abuse by a supervisor?
WHEN YOU *SHOULD* ADMIT THAT YOU WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSOR
The most important reason to discuss your ambitions with others is to get feedback, advice, and guidance.
There is a lot of misleading information published on the internet about becoming a tenured professor.
In addition, to negotiate your salary professionally you must know the appropriate salary ranges!
In addition, much information is not applicable in your specific domain and may distract you from the most relevant actions to take. There are several parameters a selection committee will look for when selecting a new professor.
This post gives you a general idea of how to pursue your academic career, but you need to discuss your ambitions with people who know the specific domain you want to work in.
TO DEVELOP A REASONABLE CAREER PLAN, IT IS NECESSARY TO DISCUSS YOUR AMBITIONS AND FIND ORIENTATION
The rules are very different between the humanities and the STEM domains, as well as between all the different subdomains. Therefore, talking to at least 3 to 5 different persons who have already pursued your envisioned career successfully is essential.
You will be surprised: Many professors love to give career advice, and most of them honestly want to help you.
Unfortunately, the information you get may be unintentionally or intentionally biased. Therefore, talking to only one or two persons is not enough.
Your supervisor or the head of your department may give you misleading information because he or she is happy to have such a productive staff member and may find it more convenient not to speed up your move toward a new position.
Senior scientists may have developed a sarcastic or pessimistic view of academia and may also give you biased advice. Future employers may paint a golden future to convince you to work for them.
Please do not get me wrong – many people you ask will be happy to help you, promote your career, and give you honest advice, but you should get a broad picture by talking to several persons who have made their way in your envisioned domain.
Before you start, it is always helpful to improve your communication skills; please read my article on the best books on communication.
In order to limit unpleasant reactions, you can put yourself in a humble position and say that you want to get a realistic picture of whether you are qualified to pursue an academic career and whether you may get some advice and guidance.
SHOULD I ADMIT IT IN A JOB INTERVIEW?
In a job interview for a PhD or postdoc position, you may get the questions “How do you see yourself in 5 years?” or more directly, “Do you want to become a professor?”
In my very personal experience in hundreds of job interviews with PhD students and postdocs, there is one very clear pattern.
Most committee members appreciate humility.
If a candidate is highly qualified and has a strong CV, self-confidence and ambition are highly appreciated. However, being humble (instead of being arrogant and over-ambitious) puts the cherry on the cake.
Weaker candidates typically make a bad impression when they combine rather average previous performance with lofty ideas about their future careers. Unfortunately, you never know precisely whether you are considered to be a strong or a weak candidate.
Thus, the default reaction to the questions mentioned above should be humility, such as “If my performance is good enough, I would appreciate such a career.”
However, some members in the commission are attracted to braggers and dazzlers, but in my experience, they are a minority.
CONCLUSIONS
If you are vaguely considering pursuing an academic career or have a strong ambition to become a professor, you should be rather selective about who gets this information.
People who like you may support you, and professors usually are willing to give you advice and guidance. If you have a natural tendency to appear arrogant, you should add a lot of humility.
If you naturally tend to appear shy, you should reveal your ambition proactively to make potential mentors and decision-makers aware of your goals and give them the chance to help you.
Acknowledgments
I have used AI systems, including Grammarly, Google Gemini, and ChatGPT, to enhance the English and comprehensiveness of this article. This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to purchase through my link. Thus, you support smartsciencecareer at no cost to you!
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