Paul Cantrell
Re this too-true comic from @workchronicles:
I never went to grad school, so when I wandered sideways into academia, I had a bizarrely clear view of the particular sorts of toxic work dynamics at play in this strange world. The frog had never been boiled, so to speak.
Two things were really, really apparent:
1/2 https://mastodon.social/@workchronicles/113070343224237471
Paul Cantrell
First, a lot of people’s experience in grad school was of just naked, appalling psychological abuse — and a lot expectations about how faculty treat both students and each other is rooted in repeating that abuse. “If I don’t do it to them, how do I justify my own past?” — just like the comic.
Second, there’s a shift in the recent generation of new faculty. Treatment of students, treatment of adjuncts, the tenure gauntlet…. They are simply not putting up with this shit any more.
2/2
Aaron Sawdey, Ph.D.
@inthehands I lucked into a couple research groups that were led by decent people. But the madness was all around. I finished my Ph.D. and ran for industry. I enjoy teaching but doing it as an adjunct faculty has had zero appeal.
Paul Cantrell
@acsawdey
It’s brutal out there. There •are• good places (I really lucked out) and plenty of good people. But finding them and finding a home with them is mostly luck, and often requires the gamble of a move across the country. I respect running for industry. I always keep a clear path out the back door myself.
Aaron Sawdey, Ph.D.
@sennoma @inthehands And for the organization.. well the top talent is going to vote with their feet.
Paul Cantrell
@acsawdey @sennoma
It’s amazing the conclusions you can come to if you view humans as cost centers, and human relationships as completely valueless.
Bill Hooker
I've been through this four times now, and I think the people who decide layoffs are going to happen don't care about the human costs.
And you're right about those not laid off; I've been talking to colleagues who avoided the axe, and they are having just as shitty a time of it as those of us who got the chop.
Aaron Sawdey, Ph.D.
@sennoma @inthehands The human cost of layoffs is very much underestimated, I think. And there’s a cost to those who aren’t laid off as well.
Bill Hooker
@inthehands @acsawdey I was lucky, we lost the grant on my third (count 'em!) postdoc and I stumbled into an industry job. Turns out I like to make things, and I like being treated like a human being. (Last job, that laid me off last week, not so much. Beware the megacorps.)
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