It’s Hard to Be Ill in Academe
("The Professor is in" column)
"How does a faculty member handle being sick in an academic workplace that does not generally "do" sick days akin to the 9-to-5 world? Someone has to teach, and the fixed part of a class schedule represents just a small portion of the actual labor involved.
Academics calculate the logistical and emotional math around "Am I too sick to … teach class/go to a meeting/hold office hours?" in very different ways. It depends, in part, on the institution and the departmental culture. It also depends on where you fall along the job-security spectrum that runs from contingent part-time instructor to tenured professor."
For the full article, visit: https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Professor-Is-In-It-s/247357
Karen Kelsky is founder and president of The Professor Is In, which offers advice and consulting services on the academic job search and on all aspects of the academic and postacademic career. She is a former tenured professor at two universities. Browse an archive of Kelsky’s previous advice columns here.