A Career at a Small Liberal Arts College

A career as a tenure-track professor at a liberal arts college provides the opportunity to combine serious interests in teaching with research. The basic goals of the liberal arts institution are to educate the student broadly while encouraging mastery of a particular area of interest. Preparing for such a career requires not only a commitment to teaching but also a productive PhD and postdoctoral experience, regardless of the expectations for active research within the job. The application and interview processes require one to be informed, flexible, energetic, and clear-in writing and in speaking. Establishing an invigorating teaching and research program will allow you to balance realism and ambition as you find a way to bring the best science to the undergraduate setting. The exposure to students whose thinking is often more unfettered and creative, and to colleagues whose scholarships span many disciplines, makes a position at a liberal arts college one of the most intellectually stimulating careers available to a scientist.