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    WammerHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:43am

    I think one of the worst things about this, behind the scenes of these stories, is that there are actual professors at colleges and universities encouraging their students to go into academia. How could that possibly be in the best interest of most students? The whole thing sounds like a shell game or perpetual motion machine—we need adjuncts to teach the new Ph.D. students who will become adjuncts to teach the new Ph.D. students ad infinitum.

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      Dangling ModifierWammer
      5/17/16 11:47am

      Even as a high school teacher, I grimace when a student tells me that they want to get into education. I usually say something along the lines of, “Neato! But you may consider studying another field first, just as a backup...”

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      horse-ponyWammer
      5/17/16 11:48am

      Well some of us do research that gets grants and we have tons of options in the private sector or universities.

      The problem is that a ton of people get a Phd in a field where we don’t need experts and there is a surplus of talent. There are only so many people we need to be experts in Tolstoy.

      And in fields that are in demand, there are tons of people who do research in an area no one gives a shit about, research that is unfundable, lack skills to do fundable research and they have unclear research statements.

      It's not a shell game (at least no everywhere), there are just a ton of people who don't know how to play.

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    ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:47am

    This is exactly why when I graduate in a year or so from now, I’m taking my STEM PhD and whoring myself out to industry. Love research, hate academia bullshit.

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      MomarSzyslakʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      5/17/16 11:52am

      See this is the thing we need to stop stigmatizing. Working in industry doesn’t make you a whore. It makes you employed. I work at JHU and we are bending over backwards (all except the oldest professors) to show paths to industry careers. Even back in the day when all PhD’s took “the prestigious path to high minded research careers to better the world” they weren’t doing it for free.

      The Academia PhD Bubble has popped. There is nothing wrong with industry!

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      Iron Sausage Eveningʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      5/17/16 12:01pm

      Seriously, this is a good idea.

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    bluehope1234Hamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:36am

    “...there are two classes of academics at these schools: full-timers, who are paid a wage commensurate with their experience and education, and adjunct faculty, who are not. Hate to beat a dead horse, but these two classes of people do the exact same work.”

    No, they don’t. Tenure track faculty (particularly pre-tenure) have responsibilities that go well beyond teaching and an ever present pressure to publish and bring in grant funding (depending on field).

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      Johnny Chundersbluehope1234
      5/17/16 11:48am

      I suspect that the writer means “...do the exact same work on a per-unit basis”. TT and adjunct faculty with the same credit load do the same work as it pertains to the classrooms.

      The TT faculty do have other (administrative, advising, scholarly) responsibilities, but even when this is taken into account there is nothing even approaching pay parity for the same workload.

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      WereBearbluehope1234
      5/17/16 11:49am

      You understand that same pressure is on adjunct faculty? They are not hiring people who want to just be an instructor for these adjunct positions...its the only position available usually for PhD’s who want to make a career in academia. This is all there is because universities realized they can have phenomenally cheap labor. So you have to balance this insane work load with bad pay and bad conditions and STILL work on your research at the same time. Even if you do get published during this period, its not mattering...the tenure track process just isn’t being offered.

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    toothpetardHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:31am

    I just want to say one word to you...
    football.

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      SessileRaptortoothpetard
      5/17/16 11:44am

      No shit. This guy took home over 2 million from Notre Dame last year, despite the fact that they fired him in 2009. Nice work if you can sucker someone into giving it to you I guess.

      http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/n…

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      the johnSessileRaptor
      5/17/16 12:41pm

      And I think Florida is still paying him as well for his 1 season stint as the worst OC in the school’s history.

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    GrizzlyAdamsBeardHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:33am

    My high school guidance counselor asked what I wanted to study in college. I told him Civil War history. He told me it sounded like a fun hobby, study finance. I don't think I ever thanked him, best guidance counselor ever.

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      areyouforreal223GrizzlyAdamsBeard
      5/17/16 11:39am

      you'll probably get shit on here for that but it's great advice. Study something you know there is a well-paying market for.

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      c_lamotteGrizzlyAdamsBeard
      5/17/16 12:20pm

      My sister would make a good guidance counselor. “Follow your bliss? Bliss don’t pay shit. Follow your bliss off the clock.”

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    festivusaziliHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:58am

    I can’t wait for the PhD Hunger Games. My money’s on the music department; those people are fucking nuts.

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      YouTellMefestivusazili
      5/17/16 12:00pm

      K, I’ll take the chemists. Bet they can use the musician’s love for good drugs against them.

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      Ed Spockfestivusazili
      5/17/16 12:58pm

      I think the art pussies would bite it first.

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    Dave Hamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:34am

    As I tell all my friends slogging through the PhDs: HVAC Repair! Global Warming, man, Global FUCKING Warming! You will never be out of job!

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      EatingchallengeDave
      5/17/16 11:38am

      What’s the use in dying if you don’t die trying.

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      FreshlyShavenDave
      5/17/16 12:05pm

      Do they drug test?

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    det-devil-ailsHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 12:07pm

    ‘i made $3,200... And I racked up over 5k in credit card debt to get groceries and pay bills.’

    $8,200... In three months? Are you shopping at Whole Foods?

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      large_eddydet-devil-ails
      5/17/16 1:47pm

      When I lived in the DC area 3 months meant $6,000 just in rent, parking, and utililties. With food, gas, car insurance, health insurance, and a car payment I could easily see spending $8,200.

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      det-devil-ailslarge_eddy
      5/17/16 2:02pm

      He put $5,000 on his credit cards. That’s what stumps me.

      One doesn’t typically pay their rent, utilities & car payment with a credit card, do they?

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    det-devil-ailsHamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 4:08pm

    ‘Here’s a fun fact: a quick perusal of the job openings on the website of the college district I teach at shows that I could make more money per month as a Facilities Custodian at my school than I do as an adjunct professor.’

    So, you spend about 8 hours a week in class, in exchange for $800. You only have to work 8 months out of the year.

    You do realize that janitors work longer hours than that, right?

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      FrameJandet-devil-ails
      5/18/16 2:02pm

      This is like telling a salesman he only spends 1 hour a week in meetings, so what is he doing with his other time?

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      det-devil-ailsFrameJan
      5/18/16 2:14pm

      I’ve think you’ve hit upon the answer with your salesman example! Just put adjunct professors on straight commission. Say, $20 for every kid that passes the final. Problem solved. Well done.

      GIF
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    EconPhD3131Hamilton Nolan
    5/17/16 11:47am

    I have no sympathy for people who get PhDs from institutions that are medium to low ranked in that field and then expect to find a TT job in a market with a particular niche degree (like everyone in this post).

    I am working on my PhD in economics and there are zero students in the graduating class ahead of me who did not have a full-time job (academic or otherwise) immediately after graduation. My friends who got their PhDs in STEM fields or variations of applied topics (math, stats) also are gainfully employed.

    The problem is, and it is not noted here at all or in any of HamNo’s posting on the topic, is that these people chose to get a degree that provides near-zero outside options and in fields that have incredibly thin markets. I don’t feel bad for any of these people much in the same way I don’t feel bad for the starving artists who live at the poverty line to pursue their passion. They self-selected into their current predicament and, while tragic, the resulting reliance of bad adjunct jobs was always a certainty with a degree in classics...or english.....or composition...or any of these fields with no outside options.

    Take some GD ownership over your life, people.

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