2 ms·
This article doesn't reflect my experience in academia (but I was in a different field/country). Success is highly corollated with the quality of your publicati
by yodsanklai 7y ago
This article doesn't reflect my experience in academia (but I was in a different field/country). Success is highly corollated with the quality of your publications (and your ability to gather money and students to write them), not so much local politics. I found local politics to be important for administrative careers.
> That’s it. Stay positive, never criticize. That’s the secret.
That applies to other fields too. Actually, I was an academic and switched to the software industry. I feel that a somewhat sensitive part of the job is trying not hurt anyone's feeling. Could be when reviewing code, or discussing technical choices, or company orientation.
- lala26in 7y agoStudents who make good use of the initial momentum in school are best candidates for academia. It's hard to self-start or do alone. Very few succeed in pushing boundaries alone.
- tkgally 7y ago> This article doesn't reflect my experience in academia... Nor mine (also in a different field and country). It does, though, reflect how some academics, especially younger ones, seem to view academia: as a politicized, factionalized battle of personalities. More than once I've had a junior colleague who perceived himself or herself to be a victim of such a battle when in fact the reason for their failure to get a contract renewal, promotion, tenure, or lighter teaching load was mere bureaucratic inflexibility or budgetary constraints and had nothing to do with them personally. The way the blogger hedges his account—“to my best guess,” “probably,” “it appears”—suggests to me that he might have been reading too much into his situation as well.