One of the academic blogs I read (well a few of them) discuss from time to time the job market and the process by which people become tenured. The market is dismal. Apparently more dismal than in previous years. Considering the economy, I am not too shocked. I grow increasingly tired of the whole discussion primarily because it is depressing. No, my chances of getting a tenure track job, already pretty pathetic, are getting worse by the hour. I have known since 1990 that my chances of a successful and financially secure life were worse than my parents. I learned this when my aging geography professor in undergrad announced this to the class. I had not at this point made the decision to go on to graduate school. I just assumed that it meant in general things were tough.
Now, after thirteen (yep thirteen) years of graduate work (masters and PhD combined--I switched programs too) later, I apparently have been led astray. Huh? There is a running discussion on this blog which is pretty interesting (and depressing). The author of the blog, Another Damned Medievalist, does a really good job at summarizing the problems and makes a rational statement, which of course bothers the younger scholars who are currently navigating graduate school. They are all upset by the fact that they have worked really hard, and are not getting The Job. I don't have much sympathy for them. I am grossly in debt (never got funded) and will have a really hard time finding the tenure track job. This is the way things are. I have sympathy (sort of) for those shining stars from fancy graduate programs who got funding who are now struggling, but, again, no one forced them into graduate school. Not everyone gets to do what they hoped and dreamed they would do. Not everyone has that luxury.
Yes, academia sucks (pardon my use of crass words). Some people are bullies, others are weird, snooty, socially inept, and hold really extreme political views that have no basis in reality. OK. We chose this life. If it isn't working out, do the responsible and practical thing and find another path.
I thought about adding my comments to the post linked above, but to do so opens me up to the potentially weird and hostile reply. I have no wish to join in particularly when there is no arguing with someone who has made up his or her mind. Another bad trait of academics, by the way. "I believe what I believe is Truth, and you can believe what you believe, but you are wrong. And not only that, you are evil for believing it. I have an open mind. Because you believe the contrary to what I believe, you are closed minded. Oh and evil."
Now, after thirteen (yep thirteen) years of graduate work (masters and PhD combined--I switched programs too) later, I apparently have been led astray. Huh? There is a running discussion on this blog which is pretty interesting (and depressing). The author of the blog, Another Damned Medievalist, does a really good job at summarizing the problems and makes a rational statement, which of course bothers the younger scholars who are currently navigating graduate school. They are all upset by the fact that they have worked really hard, and are not getting The Job. I don't have much sympathy for them. I am grossly in debt (never got funded) and will have a really hard time finding the tenure track job. This is the way things are. I have sympathy (sort of) for those shining stars from fancy graduate programs who got funding who are now struggling, but, again, no one forced them into graduate school. Not everyone gets to do what they hoped and dreamed they would do. Not everyone has that luxury.
Yes, academia sucks (pardon my use of crass words). Some people are bullies, others are weird, snooty, socially inept, and hold really extreme political views that have no basis in reality. OK. We chose this life. If it isn't working out, do the responsible and practical thing and find another path.
I thought about adding my comments to the post linked above, but to do so opens me up to the potentially weird and hostile reply. I have no wish to join in particularly when there is no arguing with someone who has made up his or her mind. Another bad trait of academics, by the way. "I believe what I believe is Truth, and you can believe what you believe, but you are wrong. And not only that, you are evil for believing it. I have an open mind. Because you believe the contrary to what I believe, you are closed minded. Oh and evil."
No comments:
Post a Comment