Part III. Strategies for Coping With a Negative Tenure Outcome And Other Negative Feedback

Academia is highly competitive. To have any chance of success, you must forge an identity that is strongly work-focused. This leads to a close connection among work, personal identity, and feelings of self-worth. Being denied tenure is a major, stressful life event that is often seen as a public statement of lack of worth. A negative tenure outcome can precipitate a period of intense confusion and distress. If you find yourself in this situation, you must decide whether to make the difficult and painful transition from trying to join to trying to fight the establishment. Stress studies have identified various types of coping strategies. One is problem-focused coping, in which an individual confronts the problem to ameliorate it and thereby reduces distress (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988). Another type is emotion-focused coping, in which an individual alleviates stress by concentrating on controlling his or her emotional reactions (Folkman& Lazarus, 1988).

Problem-focused coping would include behavioral responses such as requesting a reconsideration of the tenure decision at the department level, appealing a negative department decision at the university level, filing a grievance or complaint with the university's Equal Employment Opportunity officer, or taking legal action. The central aim of emotion-focused coping is to help you handle a stressful event in a way that reduces emotional distress. In a tenure or promotion situation, emotion-focused coping could include a cognitive reappraisal of the worth of the appointment and the department or university. Seeking emotional support by sharing one's feelings about the situation with a confidant is another way to reduce distress. Counseling with an individual knowledgeable about academic, gender and/or racial issues may also be of help.

In most circumstances, you should use several mutually beneficial types of coping strategies to help reduce stress. For example, taking direct action to address the problem may help reduce emotional upset, and conversely, trying to control emotional responses may make it easier to initiate direct actions. The following section presents ways to cope when one is denied promotion or tenure. Guidelines for problem-focused coping responses are provided in Part IV: Facing Adversity Functionally.