I too am a graduate student and I agree with Robin. But, what really
surprised me is the attitude expressed in the article:
>When students like Mr. Boyd jump ship, not only does academe lose a
potential faculty member, but programs cannot rely on those Ph.D.'s to
burnish their institutional reputation through scholarship and teaching. Mr.
Boyd, for example, is now of little use to the Stanford department. "It's
unlikely he's going to publish, go to conventions, or teach," Mr. Zimbardo
says of his former student. "A lot of the value that went into teaching him
will be wasted. He will be lost in terms of that luster for the department."
<
I really hope that this attitude is not representative of most psychology
faculty. The idea that students only have value if they stay in academia
seems absurd. Are graduate programs designed to produce faculty members
alone? It would seem to me that students who leave the field and bring
psychology out of the ivory tower only add to the value of psychological
research.
Also, it seems that the difference in pay (between industry and academia)
may serve to raise the salaries of professors to a level more reflective of
their actual workload. Certainly chemistry faculty are paid more than
psychology because the skills of chemists are highly valued and needed in
industry. Again, the new tendency of psychology graduates to move out of
academia appear to strengthen the field itself.
Deanna
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Pearce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Miguel Roig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 8:49 AM
Subject: Re: working in industry vs. academe?
>
> On Wed, 10 Jan 2001, Miguel Roig wrote:
>
> > Tipsters, I strongly encourage you to read the following article in the
> > Chronicle which concerns the following:
> >
> > Are too many of the best new psychology Ph.D.'s taking jobs in industry
rather
> > than in academe? How should Ph.D. programs respond to the increased
interest of
> > their graduate students in working for industry?
> >
>
> I too found this article interesting. I'm a PhD. candidate, planning to
> graduate in May 2002. I very much want an academic career, and I think I'm
> talented and willing to work hard--but I refuse to devote every scrap of
> spare time working, to do research on topics not because I'm genuinely
> interested in them, but because they can generate quick publications (see
> this article in the Chronicle on the tenure bar getting higher and higher,
> and the effect on new professors:
> http://www.chronicle.com/free/v47/i17/17a01201.htm), disrupt my
> relationships by frequent moves, and generally accept a low quality of
> life. Can I still make it as a professor without making these sacrifices?
> Maybe, if I'm lucky. If not I'll accept a career in academic
> administration (which is what I currently do, as the stipends paid to
> teaching fellows and research assistants don't meet the cost of living in
> Boston), or in consulting, media relations or high school teaching as an
> acceptable second-best.
>
> I'm not after stock options or a fabulous salary--but I am after the
> freedom to live the life of the mind, pretentious though that may sound,
> and I find myself wondering if that can best be done in academia. I meet
> far too many professors who have read little if anything outside their
> field and claim that they're too busy to read novels. I love college
> teaching--I've never been as good at anything else in my life as I am at
> that, and it's the most wonderful thing I've ever done--but I just don't
> have it in me to sacrifice Everything Else for the One True Thing. If
> academia requires that choice, I'll say "their loss," know in my heart
> that it's also mine, and take work elsewhere.
>
> If it's academic psychology and nothing else, or Microsoft and time for
> Shakespeare, then good morning, Redmond.
>
> Robin
>
>
****************************************************************************
***
> Robin Pearce "The wit of a graduate student is like champagne.
> Boston University Canadian champagne."
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] --Robertson Davies
>
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***
>
>
>
