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That's a widespread problem, and I don't see how tenure affects it. The problem there is that we're no longer trying to win a cold war with the USSR, and there'
by api 16y ago
That's a widespread problem, and I don't see how tenure affects it. The problem there is that we're no longer trying to win a cold war with the USSR, and there's no domestic demand for such things. People don't want to go to the stars. They want to gossip on Twitter.
- tptacek 16y agoI think the connection to tenure is obvious. Instead of a very select few people getting a vast reward for engaging with the field, a less select few people will get a less significant reward. More people will have the opportunity to contribute, and, because the stakes will be lower, it will be less risky for academia to hire and thus easier for people to switch between industry and academia.
- starkfist 16y agoThe stakes are already as low as they can get. There is no shortage of postdocs who will work for peanuts. In relation to tenure, what you are proposing is already in place. When a tenured prof dies, they don't replace him, they just hire 2-3 adjunct faculty. With this in mind, the article is somewhat pointless; most universities have been in the process of effectively eliminating tenure for at least a decade. The ones that don't have billions of dollars worth of endowment money, so who really cares what they do?