Many people have pointed to an overpopulation being the root cause for this, but I believe that ignores the increasingly inflating administrative staff at universities. That is, it is also a budget problem. The budget for the increase in professor staff is being diverted into additional administrative positions that do... something, apparently. I'm not convinced that the administrative bloat is worth a fraction of what it costs.
When tenure never comes
51–60 of 144 posts
Re: When tenure never comes
#52I'm just an adjunct and will likely never break into the tenure track (not having a master's degree being one of many factors against me), but I was sad to see that even this purportedly slow and deliberate process be affected to some degree by ageism. A good friend of mine entered grad school (in the humanities) around 2004, when most folks he knew were easily finding tenure-track jobs after their PhDs. He found him…
> (not having a master's degree being one of many factors against me)
I'm not sure that I understand this. In your field is having a PhD (but without a masters) considered a negative?
Re: When tenure never comes
#53Every student considering going to graduate school should read this article. Professors are very misinformed about how likely someone is to get tenure (most of them got it > 20 years ago, in a much better academic job market). This misinformation trickles down to students. The simple fact is that right now the average professor is graduating more than 10 phd students, only 1 of which can become a tenured professor at…
I heard a professor with tenure encourage my friend to try to get PhD by saying things like "Find an out of the way small college, get tenure, once you get it you don't have to do anything, you'll always have a job, you'll have time to travel, go to the pool do whatever you want".
In a way that mirrored what that professor was doing -- teaching stuff that was last relevant in mid 80's, doing absolutely the minimum required, reading off the slides all lecture, then have TA grade everything. It was scary imaging the wasted potential and thousands students over decades who missed on what could have been a useful course.
That was a state college, so besides taking parent's money and wasting them, they were taking state' money (although they'd been a lot less of that lately).
Most professors were very good and not saying we should not have tenure, as that would undermine the ability to do some green field research that perhaps doesn't have dollar signs attached to it, but at the same time, I think a few bad apples like that are ruining the image and idea behind it.
Re: When tenure never comes
#54I'm just an adjunct and will likely never break into the tenure track (not having a master's degree being one of many factors against me), but I was sad to see that even this purportedly slow and deliberate process be affected to some degree by ageism. A good friend of mine entered grad school (in the humanities) around 2004, when most folks he knew were easily finding tenure-track jobs after their PhDs. He found him…
> (not having a master's degree being one of many factors against me) I'm not sure that I understand this. In your field is having a PhD (but without a masters) considered a negative?
I don't have anything beyond a bachelor's degree. I was hired (I'm assuming) for my professional history. I haven't seriously considered going tenure-track and so have found it strange when other people find it strange that I'm not seeking tenure. In the same way a tech worker would find it strange to be asked if they hoped to stay at Google/FB/Apple for their entire liveas.
Re: When tenure never comes
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I sincerely hope that people who are genuinely excited about research do not adopt this attitude. Our affluent society allows us to specialize in what we like; allowing the best of us to create art and mathematics and make discoveries in science is as important as being a "contributing member of society".
We all have to make choices between what we enjoy and have a passion for and what pays the bills. For many of us, there is a degree of overlap though likely not 100%. Our society is not so affluent that, if what you are genuinely excited about is medieval German poetry, you can reasonably expect to be supported with that passion unless you win a very specific academic track lottery (or have other sources of income).
I was thinking more about scientific research, such as funding for pure mathematics, theoretical computer science and such. These are skills that require years of dedicated effort to master the basics and reach a level of understanding that is rigorous enough to start making original contributions and yet offer very little financial compensation in industry.
You are right in that a decision has to be made in what areas we consider important enough to allow a sustainable career from it. In your example, I would certainly not fund a person for studying Medieval German poetry only; but more funding for research into history? Sure thing.
Re: When tenure never comes
#56Saddening story. However, as an academic myself, some bits were misleading or odd: > funding regulations meant the grant couldn’t pay my salary as its lead researcher I've never, ever heard of anything like this occurring. The most I have seen are cost sharing pieces where a grant cannot more than a certain % of your salary. But these are often known upfront by the PI! > The two disclosed who had submitted a grant pr…
>> funding regulations meant the grant couldn’t pay my salary as its lead researcher
> I've never, ever heard of anything like this occurring.
It's a Canadian academic, so perhaps Canadian federal conditions are different from what you're used to?
Re: When tenure never comes
#57An academic career should never be your only option. Make sure you study something that is useful in the real economy.
Can you define "the real economy"? I hope it doesn't involve law, finance, consulting, etc. as these look far less "real" than academic work to me.
I wouldn't say academics is not part of the 'Real' economy.
I would say that if you put all your eggs in one basket, you shouldn't expect sympathy when they break.
Re: When tenure never comes
#58An academic career should never be your only option. Make sure you study something that is useful in the real economy.
I sincerely hope that people who are genuinely excited about research do not adopt this attitude. Our affluent society allows us to specialize in what we like; allowing the best of us to create art and mathematics and make discoveries in science is as important as being a "contributing member of society".
Re: When tenure never comes
#59Many people have pointed to an overpopulation being the root cause for this, but I believe that ignores the increasingly inflating administrative staff at universities. That is, it is also a budget problem. The budget for the increase in professor staff is being diverted into additional administrative positions that do... something, apparently. I'm not convinced that the administrative bloat is worth a fraction of wh…
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Re: When tenure never comes
#60Many people have pointed to an overpopulation being the root cause for this, but I believe that ignores the increasingly inflating administrative staff at universities. That is, it is also a budget problem. The budget for the increase in professor staff is being diverted into additional administrative positions that do... something, apparently. I'm not convinced that the administrative bloat is worth a fraction of wh…
You'd be appalled at how much overhead universities take out of research grants (from NSF, DARPA, NIH, etc.) to maintain these administrations (along with legitimate uses, like paying utility bills). 40-50% is not uncommon.