by Gelert » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:34 am
[quote="KaliBaby"][quote="Gelert"]moral of the story: Academia: Do a taught degree like a BSc or a MA or something and GTFO. Once you cross the divide from student = customer to student = apprentice researcher, it causes all kinds of problems.
I wish I didn't read this!!! I plan to pursue a PhD and finish it before I turn 30 (goal to be a professor). don't shatter my dream!!! hahaha
Well, your field it's a lot easier to achieve that - postdocs etc. are the exception, my experience with International Politics type areas is that very often people pass their PhD one day and end up as lecturers the next. So I am sure it is a lot more feasible - particularly as you seem committed to the stuff too. But:
[quote]I will have completed a masters in conflict, governance and international development. after that,
off to save the world
is not part of the job description of an academic.
No matter how many times it is put on grant proposals, or publications for lay people, or how we think it to ourselves at 3am, you will not get any great source of sincere fulfillment in academia if that is your goal. I know plenty of people who start PhDs (often in things like parasitology or cancer research) with the aim of Making A Difference and end up bitter and twisted because the system isn't for that. A wee example is something I highlighted in the conclusion of my thesis; an implication of my work in the applied aspect is that it has the potential to affect the public health of several hundred million people to a greater or lesser extent over the next forty years. It got binned because it didn't fit in with the thrust of the thesis. Even if it had stayed in, chances are only 2-3 people would ever read it anyway.
The entire system's about
1)training as many youngsters as possible - even those who often should be doing something better with their time and tuition fees
2)securing money on research, to spend on improving the research profile of your institution and
3)commercializing your intellectual property for the benefit of your institution.
This is harsh, I know, perhaps too harsh (left the office at 5am finally, back at 9
) but anything else about academia (in the UK in 2009 at least) is illusory, and resistance is, unless you're really devious, futile.
by KaliBaby » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:23 pm
[quote="Gelert"]Well, your field it's a lot easier to achieve that - postdocs etc. are the exception, my experience with International Politics type areas is that very often people pass their PhD one day and end up as lecturers the next. So I am sure it is a lot more feasible - particularly as you seem committed to the stuff too. But:
[quote]I will have completed a masters in conflict, governance and international development. after that, off to save the world
is not part of the job description of an academic.
to a degree... but what if I come up with some alternative and innovative way of thinking that helps solve a critical issue in the development field? (just kidding, I'm not that smart) maybe in a few years I'll agree with you but for now, I want to stay naive and hopeful that I can make a positive impact on the world.
Live by the sea. Love by the moon.
by Gelert » Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:08 pm
[quote="KaliBaby"] (just kidding, I'm not that smart) .
You're already studying at a postgraduate level, which is not exactly the norm - so don't knock yourself. That's most everybody else's job, and being too selfcritical is as damaging, if not more than not being enough. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome -
[quote]This syndrome was thought to be particularly common among women who are successful in their given careers, but has since been shown to occur for an equal number of men.[1] It is typically associated with academics and is widely found amongst graduate students.
Arguably it's contributed to stalling/ending the careers of quite a few peeps I know.
[quote]but what if I come up with some alternative and innovative way of thinking that helps solve a critical issue in the development field?
You might, you might not. The paycheques don't stop if you don't and don't raise if they do. You might find that your office is vacated into the corridor in cardboard boxes the next day. Perhaps because of your breakthrough.
A department at a well known UK University has a ticklist for its academic staff to check off to make professor.
As a result, something like 28 out of 34 staff are at prof level. Academic excellence, let alone solving critical issues on their fields don't feature very heavily on the list. On the other hand, getting lots of publications in journals with high impact factors, grant income, commericalization spinout participation, editorial positions at journals, positions on grant review panels etc make the list.
It's a business, one which you have to navigate like a fish through water if you want to get what you want out of it
hope the year goes well for you.....
