Cut-throatedness occurs in two cases for which I am aware. First, if there is a scizm. This is very common at schools where the focus is changing from teaching to research, although I have personally seen it happen in the other direction! Second, if you do not fit into the culture of the current institution, then people will try to drive you out. Another thing that happens sometimes is that an administration can change and completely change the culture of a school. I saw this happen at one of my recent employers in which research and high academic standards were being supported and rewarded, overnight it changed. Small schools with small admins are very susceptible to this, especially if there is a weak or disfunctional faculty senate.
Many years ago I worked as an adjunct at a SLAC where the faculty and admin were very much in line with each other and virtually no backstabbing took place. Again, this is a very complex phenomenon and can be over-generalized. I have a friend who worked for a govt agency who hated the beauracracy, then a second friend in the exact same division of the exact same agency with the exact same job (albeit a different supervisor) and of virtually the same age who had few if any gripes. Both were equally successful as govt employees! This same thing can be seen in academia. Suggesting that Academia is cutthroat or the govt is beauracratic, or that working in industry is a sell-out choice simply no longer applies. I know some very productive individuals working for consulting agencies. Each person has their own personality and that personality fits very well in a certain kind of setting. In modern day, that setting may be found in any of the employer sectors. Malcolm On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 9:09 AM, Randy K Bangert <[email protected]> wrote: > I do not want to enter academia. One thing the article did not go into was > the cut-throat nature. Perhaps a community college or flipping burgers might > be an improvement. > > randy > ====================================== > Randy Bangert > Mancos, CO 81328 > http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/rkb/rkb/home.html > > > > > > > On Jul 30, 2010, at 7:08 PM, Wayne Tyson wrote: > > > Ecolog: > > > > I wonder what would be left if a magic wand could be waved and all of the > bs could be taken out of the university system? No, really--I'm not joking, > I think it's worthy of discussion. Of course, one person's bs is another's > BS, and, as pointed out in the piece Madhu attached, the content varies with > the institution or school, so one would have to take care what one is > wanding out and what one is wanding in . . . > > > > WT > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Madhusudan Katti" < > [email protected]> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 3:33 PM > > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] the declining quality of academic life? > > > > > >> Bruce, > >> > >> Thanks for sharing that! It is thought provoking - and I have just > skimmed through your excerpts - so I will refrain from commenting just yet. > Instead, let me share another article - interview actually - about what's > wrong with the American University System, which comes from a somewhat > different angle: > >> > >> http://is.gd/dTIL2 > >> > >> I'll be curious to hear what Ecologgers think of both of these. > >> > >> Madhu > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >> Madhusudan Katti > >> Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology > >> Department of Biology, M/S SB73 > >> California State University, Fresno > >> Fresno, CA 93740-8034 > >> > >> Email: [email protected] > >> Tel: 559.278.1460 > >> Fax: 559.278.3963 > >> Web: http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >> > >> > >> On Jul 30, 2010, at 3:03 PM, Bruce Robertson wrote: > >> > >>> All, > >>> > >>> I"m a postdoc searching for a faculty position in ecology. I just read > the article below, which recently appeared in the Chronicle of Higher > Education. It paints a grim picture of academia, now and for the foreseeable > future. I'm highly productive, love research and teaching and feel that > academia is where I belong. Yet, I find myself very disheartened by many > aspects of the current academic environment and this article seems to bear > some of my perspectives out. I would really appreciate if any faculty would > comment on this article as it relates to their experience....though, if this > article is correct, they will be far too busy to read this. :) > >>> > >>> Cheers, and article below-- > >>> > >>> Bruce Robertson > >>> Postdoctoral Fellow > >>> Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center > >>> Current mailing address: > >>> 3310 West Main Street #101 > >>> Kalamazoo, MI 49006 > >>> 206-718-9172 > >>> [email protected] > >>> Homepage: www.msu.edu/~roberba1/Index.html/ > >>> > >>> > >>> _____________________________________________________ > >>> The *Chronicle of Higher Education* includes an article: "The Ivory > >>> Sweatshop: Academe Is No Longer a Convivial Refuge" by Sarah Kiewel. > >>> > >>> Here are some excerpts: > >>> > >>> [begin excerpts] > >>> > >>> With standards for tenure at major research universities rising year by > >>> year, professors say academe has become such a pressure-cooker > >>> environment that faculty jobs barely resemble those of a generation > ago. > >>> > >>> Gone are the days when academe was considered a convivial refuge from > >>> the corporate world, a place where scholars had ample time to debate > >>> ideas--often during lunch or over drinks after class. > >>> > >>> Professors, particularly those at research universities, are simply > >>> working much more and much harder these days. > >>> > >>> They are competing for scarcer grant money, turning out more articles > >>> and books, coping with the speedup in communications afforded by better > >>> technology, and traveling the globe to establish the kind of > >>> international reputation that's now necessary to thrive. > >>> > >>> "What I'm seeing now is junior faculty really just putting their noses > >>> to the grindstone," says Frank Donoghue, an associate professor of > >>> English at Ohio State University, who earned his Ph.D. in 1986. > >>> > >>> "It's had the effect of transforming the culture of the academy into > one > >>> that is much more businesslike." > >>> > >>> "Assistant professors are producing article after article and research > >>> study after research study," says David D. Perlmutter, who directs the > >>> School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. > >>> > >>> "Then they're looking at the promotion-and-tenure committee and they're > >>> going, Wow, I've actually published more in the last six years than all > >>> of them combined." > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> John B. Conway, chairman of mathematics at George Washington > University, > >>> certainly remembers a time when getting through graduate school and > >>> finding a faculty job was much simpler. > >>> > >>> He earned his Ph.D. in 1965 after just four years and never completed a > >>> postdoctoral fellowship--a virtual requirement these days for scholars > >>> who want to work at a research university like his. > >>> > >>> Mr. Conway secured his first academic job, at Indiana University, > >>> without even applying for a position. His adviser put out some calls to > >>> department chairmen, and the deal was done. > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> Robert G. Bergman, who holds a distinguished professorship in chemistry > >>> at the University of California at Berkeley, agrees that times have > changed. > >>> > >>> "This job has gotten a thousand percent harder than when I started > out," > >>> says Mr. Bergman, who began teaching in 1967. > >>> > >>> It takes a lot more time now, he says, for scholars to keep current > with > >>> advances in their discipline. > >>> > >>> "When I was starting out, one of the premier journals in my field, the > >>> Journal of the American Chemical Society, came out once a month, and it > >>> was relatively thin," he says. > >>> > >>> "Now it comes out once a week, and it's much thicker." > >>> > >>> Because of declining state and federal funds, professors also spend > more > >>> time trying to raise money for their own research. > >>> > >>> In fact, Mr. Bergman recalls a time during the late 1960s when someone > >>> from a federal agency called a chemistry professor at the California > >>> Institute of Technology, where he was teaching, and said, "Please > submit > >>> a grant. We want to give you money." > >>> > >>> Now, if something like that happened, everyone would think it was a > joke. > >>> > >>> "We have people submitting a large number of proposals just so one or > >>> two will hit," says Mr. Bergman. > >>> > >>> "That means a massive amount more work." > >>> > >>> Scholars also routinely spend much more time away from their campuses > >>> now than they ever did in the past, he says. > >>> > >>> They travel to present their work at far-flung seminars where they > might > >>> meet luminaries who could give their work a nod come tenure time. > >>> > >>> "There used to be much more confidence that just in publishing stuff, > >>> your work would be known." > >>> > >>> A study of work-life issues conducted by Harvard University's Graduate > >>> School of Education found that Generation X professors value efficiency > >>> over face time. > >>> > >>> The study, which consisted of conversations with about a dozen > research- > >>> university professors born between 1964 and 1980, found that younger > >>> professors didn't want to become workaholics. > >>> > >>> But none of the young scholars who spoke with The Chronicle about > >>> faculty workload seemed to believe that dialing down was an option. > >>> > >>> Luis Ponjuan, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, > >>> refers to himself as an "intellectual entrepreneur," even though he > >>> studies higher-education administration, not business. > >>> > >>> He doesn't think of his job as affording him time to ponder big ideas > >>> with interesting colleagues and students. > >>> > >>> "I identify pockets of opportunity that other people will buy into, > >>> support, and fund --to lessen the state's responsibility," he says of > his > >>> research. > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> The more calculated approach is the result of heightened competition, > he > >>> says. > >>> > >>> "There's a finite number of faculty positions, a finite number of > >>> grants, and a finite number of journals." > >>> > >>> Scholars like Mr. Ponjuan who have been on the job for only a few years > >>> have already noticed an upward creep in standards since they were > hired. > >>> > >>> "There's been a major escalation in terms of what CV's look like for > >>> people being considered for a position," says Greta R. Krippner. By the > >>> time she finished her doctorate in sociology, > >>> > >>> in 2003, she had completed four publications, none of them in the > >>> field's two flagship journals: the American Journal of Sociology and > the > >>> American Sociological Review. > >>> > >>> Her work was good enough, though, to get her a starting job at the > >>> University of California at Los Angeles. > >>> > >>> Since then she has moved to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, > >>> where she is up for tenure next year. > >>> > >>> "Now it's kind of normal that you see a graduate student with a paper > in > >>> one of those top journals," she says. > >>> > >>> "Just last year, we looked at someone who already had a book out, plus > a > >>> handful of articles." > >>> > >>> In fact, that job candidate--who hadn't even finished his Ph.D.--had > >>> already completed what at Michigan would now be a very respectable > >>> tenure file, says Ms. Krippner. > >>> > >>> Indeed, the tight job market has given top universities the luxury of > >>> choosing candidates who have already demonstrated an ability to attract > >>> grants and churn out papers. > >>> > >>> Particularly in the sciences, universities invest so much in start-up > >>> packages for young scholars that no department any longer wants to take > >>> a chance on an untested hire. > >>> > >>> "Departments can afford to hire people who already have what they need > >>> to do to pass at least their third-year review," says Diana B. Carlin, > a > >>> professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas who was > >>> dean of the graduate school until 2007. > >>> > >>> That third-year review has also become a much more formal evaluation > >>> process than it was 10 to 20 years ago. > >>> > >>> Jennifer Ng, who just earned tenure in the School of Education at > >>> Kansas, says one of her older colleagues told her that his own third- > >>> year review had consisted of the department chairman's pulling him > aside > >>> and saying, "You're looking good." > >>> > >>> Ms. Ng, on the other hand, had to document her work in a package that > >>> resembled a miniature tenure file. > >>> > >>> Young professors are reluctant to complain publicly about how much > >>> harder they may be working than their senior colleagues did when they > >>> were starting out. > >>> > >>> But professors who are in midcareer hear the comments. > >>> > >>> "My younger colleagues feel they don't have the same opportunity as > >>> previous generations to sit and really think and let ideas germinate," > >>> says Gregory M. Colon Semenza, an associate professor of English at the > >>> University of Connecticut. > >>> > >>> "What used to be a truly enjoyable intellectual process has become a > >>> very professionalized model of efficiency." > >>> > >>> Meanwhile, experienced scholars say their own workload has increased as > well. > >>> > >>> The pace doesn't necessarily slow down anymore once a scholar gains > tenure. > >>> > >>> Young professors are typically protected from committee assignments and > >>> departmental duties while they are on the tenure track, but then those > >>> burdens get dumped on them, too. > >>> > >>> "People are freaked out about the amount of work they have--there's > just > >>> no time," says William A. Pannapacker, an associate professor of > English > >>> at Hope College. > >>> > >>> "Once you're tenured, suddenly you're given way more administrative > >>> responsibility really fast, and you have no training for it, and you > >>> have no idea what you're doing." > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> Nora Berrah, a distinguished professor of physics at Western Michigan > >>> University, has worked in academe since 1987. She still devotes most of > >>> her waking hours to her research, and spends about half of her time > >>> traveling to national laboratories, where she collaborates on projects. > >>> Back in her office at Western Michigan, she usually keeps the door > closed. > >>> > >>> "Sometimes I avoid my colleagues in the hallway," she says, "because > I'm > >>> afraid it's going to take awhile to say, 'Hello, how are you doing?'" > >>> > >>> Campus social life does seem to be a casualty of the work speedup in > >>> higher education. > >>> > >>> A couple of decades ago, it wasn't unusual for faculty members to have > >>> lunch together during the workweek and attend parties in one another's > >>> homes on the weekends. > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> Mr. Menand, who is now an English professor at Harvard University, has > >>> been back to Princeton several times in the last few years, and notes > >>> that things have changed. For one, "half the faculty live in New York." > >>> And even in a college town like Cambridge, he says, the culture has > changed. > >>> > >>> "You make a lunch date two weeks in advance, but you just don't all > >>> gather at noon and head off." > >>> > >>> Many research universities have cut teaching loads to help their > faculty > >>> members make time for increased demands in research and publishing. > >>> > >>> <snip> > >>> > >>> Mr. Bergman says the breakdown of social relationships among professors > >>> is more important than people might think. > >>> > >>> "You're less willing to get into conflict with people if they are part > >>> of your social circle as well as your professional circle." > >>> > >>> And Mr. Menand says faculty work looks a lot less attractive to > >>> prospective academics than it used to. > >>> > >>> "I think the demands have come to be experienced as all-consuming, > >>> 24/7," he says. > >>> > >>> "That's bad because of the quality of life and because it discourages > >>> other people from getting into academe." > >>> > >>> He adds: "You don't want smart college students taking one look at what > >>> we have to do to keep our jobs and saying, That's not how I want to > >>> spend my life." > >>> > >>> [end excerpts] > >>> > >>> The article is online at: > >>> <http://bit.ly/8XKENPope> > >>> > >>> Ken Pope > >>> > >>> THE THERAPIST AS A PERSON: > >>> <http://kspope.com/therapistas/index.php> > >>> > >>> "Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what > >>> the world needs is people who have come alive." > >>> -- Howard Thurman (1900-1981) > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > > Version: 8.5.441 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3039 - Release Date: 07/30/10 > 13:13:00 > -- Malcolm L. 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