I often wonder if I should add another job title to my business cards: Crusher of Other Peoples Dreams. A budding scholar walks into my office. She has fallen in love with the idea of teaching theology and the vision of training Christian leaders so they are better equipped to serve the Church. She just wants some advice on how to go about doing that, how to pursue a theological vocation in the academy. Although I usually try to lead with something warm and encouraging, I eventually have to drop the hammer: The job is harder than you think, the economic realities are worse than you think, and many spend years on the chase without ever catching the unicorn.
These are generally not fun conversations.
Marc Cortez, "Theological Vocation and the Academy," Journal of Markets & Morality 18, no. 2 (Fall 2015):429-437.