tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post3815100132912738504..comments2024-03-12T03:41:35.856-04:00Comments on From Grad School to Happiness: Postacademic Rant 4 - The Reality of the Academic CareerJChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-74004982434500014522014-09-20T22:28:55.632-04:002014-09-20T22:28:55.632-04:00In my own research I found an article that describ...In my own research I found an article that describes the disconnect between published works and people that can actually use the results. Unfortunately I can't find it in my stack of a few hundred articles and it's late so I'm not going to sort through all of them. As for "publish or perish," Steven Novella has a pretty decent podcast (he's also a neuroscientist at Princeton or Yale, I believe) where he makes that point that publish or perish actually encourages bad research because quantity apparently matters over quality when it comes to publications.<br /><br />Like most prospective grads I went into grad school thinking I'd learn a lot and I did for about a year and now the sight of my dissertation pisses me off so much that I have trouble even editing paragraphs. I'm learning so much about so little and it's to the point that I find the whole thing utterly useless. Future Type 1 leaver here.<br /><br />This blog is helping me maintain my sanity right now. JC, you should applaud yourself because you are helping people more than you could even know. Kudos.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-19919430920938730232013-01-20T20:49:21.994-05:002013-01-20T20:49:21.994-05:00The thing that people want to be grads need to do ...The thing that people want to be grads need to do is to take a look at the CVs and publication lists of the different people in their department, and other departments, and read samples of the articles, not just the books. They then need to look at how often these people have published. It's not untypical to see someone publish 3 or even 4 articles in peer-reviewed journals a year. It seems to take 3-6 months to research and write one article, or one book chapter. Telling prospective grads this is crucial. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-79546861398391380822012-01-07T00:59:42.318-05:002012-01-07T00:59:42.318-05:00Fantastic post. I'm in the 5th year of my PhD ...Fantastic post. I'm in the 5th year of my PhD and this really spoke to me. <br /><br />The main issue, in my experience at least, is that an undergrad degree and the early years of graduate course work teach a student to thrive under the pressure of deadlines and to crave the reinforcement of good grades. Once these years give way to thesis writing, academia then asks isolated students to somehow maintain a belief in themselves without the very catalysts that they've been socialized to believe in. Thesis writers don't need their "hands held" by supervisors but I certainly don't fault them when they complain that the seeming sequential order of a graduate career follows no order at all. Anyway, these are late night ramblings. Keep the posts coming!Mackthefingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08682890010028129935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-7277659789865956162011-11-22T10:39:42.123-05:002011-11-22T10:39:42.123-05:00Yes, I agree ... it's definitely not just a fu...Yes, I agree ... it's definitely not just a function of age - it's a function of an academic system that does not inform its undergrads about what grad school and an academic career actually looks like. All the undergrads see (whether they're 22 or 32 or 42) is a professor standing at the front of the classroom lecturing, or sitting at their computer in their office. They hear "writing papers" and "doing research" and assume that it's the same kind of "papers" they do as undergrads. And this assumption isn't challenged by faculty who encourage smart undergrads to go onto grad school.<br /><br />And they only realize the truth once they're so enmeshed in academic culture that they come away thinking there is something wrong with them and that they're failures if they want to leave. It's just sad.JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-9062956954613151992011-11-20T11:35:55.627-05:002011-11-20T11:35:55.627-05:00Great post, JC.
"However, when you ask 22 y...Great post, JC. <br /><br />"However, when you ask 22 year old kids to make the decision to go to grad school, you’re likely going to wind up with some who think like me – that they’ll be able to read and write about “anything,” and that grad school will be like college all over again … reading, writing, and learning on a bunch of topics. Yayyy!!!"<br /><br />I don't think it's just a function of age. I went in my 30s, as did my best grad school buddy, and we were both clueless. I know a few smart cookies who really knew what they were getting into, but for the most part the folks I know had many nasty surprises once they enrolled. It's a big boo.<br /><br />Type 1 Academic LeaverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com