tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post4284761246171690508..comments2024-03-12T03:41:35.856-04:00Comments on From Grad School to Happiness: More Discussion of Privilege in AcademiaJChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-85638912150085017392012-01-14T11:31:49.177-05:002012-01-14T11:31:49.177-05:00Thanks for the tip! I have looked at Kelsky's ...Thanks for the tip! I have looked at Kelsky's site before, but had never investigated how much she charges before. This is an interesting take on that ... on one hand, I have no problem with career advice for people on the academic job market. On the other hand, though ... it does raise some interesting class/privilege issues. Thanks...JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-10986355386892161092012-01-14T10:53:44.149-05:002012-01-14T10:53:44.149-05:00Upon visiting her site again, I noticed she has re...Upon visiting her site again, I noticed she has recently set up a fund to help "those who are struggling to find employment in the terrible economic conditions of the academy" pay for her services:<br /><br />http://theprofessorisin.com/donate-to-help-unemployed-ph-d-s/<br /><br />Yes...you should write a post about this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-52499804820919207132012-01-14T10:40:45.606-05:002012-01-14T10:40:45.606-05:00This is a great discussion.
Here's something ...This is a great discussion.<br /><br />Here's something you could perhaps write a follow-up on: what do you think of graduate student coaching services like Karen Kelsky's "The Professor Is In"? (www.theprofessorisin.com) Kelsky caters to PhDs on the market who have not received adequate career advice from their advisers. While this by definition constitutes everyone, her services are quite pricey, meaning that those who use them are either 1) wealthy 2) willing to acquire even more debt in their pursuit of an academic job. Once again, your monetary status may well shape your academic future.<br /><br />I can't blame Kelsky for offering this service -- she's blunt in her critique of academia and realizes she's got a huge market. I can't fault the students who use her services either. If you read Kelsky's blog, you can see that the decisions of hiring committees have less to do with the quality of the candidate's publications, work or teaching, but whether the candidate have been "socialized" properly into academic culture. <br /><br />This "socialization" is a class issue: students from lower class backgrounds, or who have had little contact with academics outside their graduate school career, are unlikely to grasp academia's unstated rules of self-presentation. Kelsky offers tips on how to do your hair, how to dress, how to talk, how to behave -- it is a PhD finishing school. Her blog is the GOOP of academia: tips on maintaining an expensive lifestyle that most of us can't afford. Only here, the revelation is that this luxe lifestyle is academia: the "life of the mind" that comes with a price tag.<br /><br />Again, I don't hold Kelsky or her clients responsible for this deplorable situation. Her services wouldn't exist if the system weren't already broken. Kelsky, unlike academic search committees, is making an honest living. But her site is a window into everything that is wrong with academia. It aptly reflects the issues of privilege that you discuss -- you should check it out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-88462720457724032192012-01-12T19:54:41.161-05:002012-01-12T19:54:41.161-05:00haha. Mentoring. What a joke. the only mentoring w...haha. Mentoring. What a joke. the only mentoring worth having these days is from people who aren't in academic jobs that they've had for decades.WTF have I done with my life?https://www.blogger.com/profile/12567458532188272050noreply@blogger.com