Associate Professors Less Happy than Assistant or Full Profs

If you are in academia, take a moment to read this report from Inside Higher Ed, detailing satisfaction levels of academicians. Being an associate professor can be more difficult once one has become tenured, as institutions sometimes offer reduced levels of support for research at the same time that service expectations increase. The overarching finding of this report is that on most measures, associate professors show lower levels of satisfaction or happiness than do assistant- and full-professors, who report roughly equal levels. This is true in terms of feeling appreciated and recognized; research support; service-related; and overall rates of satisfaction. Read more about the challenges of being a mid-career academic.