tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471798340096619479.post7970423841642999010..comments2023-10-24T02:17:50.118-07:00Comments on Unraveling: Status in Academia, or What is in a Calling?Practicing Idealisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763808794534248476noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471798340096619479.post-20971695321103654712007-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:002007-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:00Brad, I agree with you. However, I wonder if priv...Brad, I agree with you. However, I wonder if priviledging research becomes a pattern that continues after earning tenure. Getting the accolades that come with publications can be a powerful motivator to continue devoting most of one's time to research, rather than teaching. As somebody who cared passionately about having good teachers when I was an undergraduate, and somebody who cares passionately about being a good teacher, the whole system really frustrates me from time to time (and the more so the farther I have gotten in my program).<BR/> <BR/>Anomie, you know as well as I that there are always statistical outliers. It seems to me that if you publish in the top journals while you're a graduate student, it will be hard for the top departments to ignore you. Additionally, there are professors in my department who didn't start out at the top, but worked there way up by getting jobs at mid-rank schools, publishing a lot, and going for the higher-ranked departments. Nothing is impossible, but our structural positions do constrain our choices, I'm not going to lie. Good luck!Practicing Idealisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02763808794534248476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471798340096619479.post-66362480553154607822007-07-30T18:02:00.000-07:002007-07-30T18:02:00.000-07:00What came as a shock to me was the apparent status...What came as a shock to me was the apparent status-consciousness of departmental hiring practices. Maybe it's a coincidence, and those students at the 'top schools' really are always better qualified, but I've noticed a distinct trend for schools to only hire graduates from departments with a higher ranking than their own. I have even been told that the vast majority of jobs out of grad school are lateral moves or lower. Why? Is there any hope for me???<BR/><BR/>I graduate in three years, and my dream position is at a certain school that is a few notches above my own. A quick perusal of their hiring record shows NO hires from schools at my prestige level. My only hope is that if I work hard, I can become a statistical anomaly. Maybe my department's ranking will significantly rise while I'm there...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471798340096619479.post-83033902256137449752007-07-30T17:35:00.000-07:002007-07-30T17:35:00.000-07:00Great post. Graduate school is quite a shock for ...Great post. <BR/><BR/>Graduate school is quite a shock for a lot of students as they try to work through the teaching vs. research angle.<BR/><BR/>Once you have tenure, it's easy... you do what you want. I have one colleague who just focuses on teaching and wins awards for it. But... even then s/he suffers when its merit pay time.<BR/><BR/>I've had to learn to value teaching, for coming out of graduate school I was so socialized into research that teaching was just a necessary evil.<BR/><BR/>Related to this is a sea-change in expectations for grad students publishing. Back in the day, several decades ago, students were hired on promise and connections. Now, its publish or perish, even as a grad student.<BR/><BR/>Maybe this is good, maybe bad, but it is what it is (to quote Bill Belichick). As a result, it's more important than ever for faculty to publish with grad students.<BR/><BR/>I don't know if being a professor is a calling, but it sure is a great life!Brad Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800309833079635465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471798340096619479.post-58936575779940803142007-07-30T14:20:00.000-07:002007-07-30T14:20:00.000-07:00Part of the problem, additionally, is that parents...Part of the problem, additionally, is that parents often think that it's a good thing to send their children to a university with top notch researchers. Some of those folks ARE excellent teachers but, probably more often, they either are not, or struggle to stay out of the classroom whenever possible. What college students get is not exactly what is advertised.<BR/><BR/>In defense of grad programs, however, what gets most of us jobs isn't our teaching acumen. So, from the perspective of a department, a grad student who is spending a whole lot of time on their teaching is a student who is more likely to be sitting around using up a budget line for ten years. That is, arguably, not good for anyone.Drekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13274878036071467206noreply@blogger.com