Speech-language Pathologist - Academia vs. Travel Therapist (employment, unemployment, jobs)

[JoesJava]

Good morning,

I am a speech-language pathologist who currently teaches at a college. I have been at the college for 8 years and I have tenure.

I would like advice on the following situation. My boss is a very difficult person. Saying "no" to the boss results in being punished repeatedly with extra assignments, being belittled in front of others, etc. Going to HR or the dean is out of the question. The boss has been repeatedly brought up on allegations of abuse and discriminatory behavior and nothing. happens.

My boss has two years+ left before he retires. As I see it, I have two choices: I can either figure out a way to outlast him or I can return to clinical practice. In terms of clinical practice, I have always wanted to do travel therapy where you are given an assignment at a facility for approximately 13 weeks. At the end of the 13 weeks, you get another assignment. I have already reached out to a recruiter so that I can fully explore this option.

Questions for you:

1) Do you give up a tenured position? Jobs in academia are plentiful in my field. However, most academic jobs are in areas where I do not care to live.
2) I am 54 years old with somewhere between 6-12 years left to work. Do I leave the job I have now or do I find a better way to deal with the boss?
3) If I stay at the university, am I risking my sanity, my health, and my well-being?

Thanks for your input.

[bobsell]

This is a tenured position? If yes, hold on to it. Tenured positions at universities are HORRIFICALLY DIFFICULT to obtain.

I am 54 years old with somewhere between 6-12 years left to work.

There is serious age discrimination out there in the job market. Sure, you'll get a quick contract out there, but as you get older, the times between contracts will get longer and longer and you'll get ridiculous reasons for why they won't hire you, or you get ghosted more often. You also will not get benefits on lots of these contracts so you'll be paying through the nose for individual policies and you get no paid time off either.

Don't you DARE quit your tenured job. Especially now with a recession right around the corner.

If I stay at the university, am I risking my sanity, my health, and my well-being?

Well, if you quit, you'll lose your sanity and health by dealing with a huge uptick in stress of unemployment and lack of stability in your work. Your well-being won't improve if you quit.

[JoesJava]

Thanks, Bob! This is where I was leaning as well. I am thinking that it would be more prudent for me to figure out ways to cope with Toxic Boss. Thanks again. And you are right - even a profession like speech-language pathology, where there are tons of jobs, there is still a lot of age discrimination.

Originally Posted by bobsell

This is a tenured position? If yes, hold on to it. Tenured positions at universities are HORRIFICALLY DIFFICULT to obtain.



There is serious age discrimination out there in the job market. Sure, you'll get a quick contract out there, but as you get older, the times between contracts will get longer and longer and you'll get ridiculous reasons for why they won't hire you, or you get ghosted more often. You also will not get benefits on lots of these contracts so you'll be paying through the nose for individual policies and you get no paid time off either.

Don't you DARE quit your tenured job. Especially now with a recession right around the corner.



Well, if you quit, you'll lose your sanity and health by dealing with a huge uptick in stress of unemployment and lack of stability in your work. Your well-being won't improve if you quit.