How will we get tenure?

I just returned from the Academy of Marketing Science conference where I presented a paper on employee blogging. The presentation went well--even if one man did fall asleep in the back row--I tried not to take it personally. This conference is small and very welcoming to doctoral students--there was a dinner and lunch devoted to us where we had an opportunity to ask questions of senior faculty about the job search and other things.

One interesting topic was tenure in the future. A couple of faculty claimed that we should be prepared to excel at teaching, research, service AND making money for the school. Now, an article in Inside Higher Ed says that patents are also being considered for tenure.

How will we social scientists compete in this landscape? Those professors in the sciences are used to writing grants and applying for patents, but this is all new to us. Guess there are more new tricks to learn.