Hi Alisha,
I'm going to piggy back on what Marty said. I've been working in
the professional world for about 2 years (Museum administration),
and about 9 months ago my supervisor and I were forced to give up
our private office with a window and move to a group workspace
with 9 total people and no window. Though we have no empirical
evidence, tensions have increased and productivity and morale have
decreased considerably in this time period. Feeling valued and
supported by your department is a major part of any institution's
draw, whether it be professional or academic.
I recently decided to go back to school and get my master's, due
to these (and other) poor conditions. I looked at several schools,
and the one I ended up choosing supports its grad students wholly,
through small office shares (2-5 students in each room), funding,
general comradery and administrative support. There is no way I
would ever select a school with such poor graduate student
conditions as you describe.
Even if you can't find any papers directly linking productivity
and working conditions (which as Marty said, I'm sure you can if
you reach outside of the academic setting), check out some
papers/books on educational psychology and learning theory. I've
come across several great documentations of learning environment
and classroom culture, and how they directly relate to
productivity within the classroom.
Good luck!!
Amanda
Amanda Arner
[email protected]
(727) 798-0642
"Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach." - Aristotle
