4 ms·

Nepotism out the wazoo in much of America. In NYC, the police officer's son gets the police officer job, and the fireman's son gets the fireman job. They're con

Nepotism out the wazoo in much of America. In NYC, the police officer's son gets the police officer job, and the fireman's son gets the fireman job. They're considered plum jobs because they have good healthcare and early retirement. Personal anecdote: old professor married a young student. Got her to do a PhD. Got her a non-tenure track position with his department. Refused to retire until she was given his tenure track job. Said it openly. (Can you guess his subject? You guessed it: Philosophy.)

AtlasBarfed 5y ago
I keep reading that social mobility is far lower (and geographical is as well). A lot of that is probably the war/disenfranchisement on/of the Millenials. Nepotism is one way of protecting your children then. Why would Philo be particularly bad as nonrevenue humanities go? I'm shocked they grant tenure in humanities anymore, colleges are so morally bankrupt. I assume that is going to change very soon.
- reactspa 5y ago
  I meant it more in the line of they teach ethics and morality, etc., and then do this.
- reactspa 5y ago
  In defense of tenure: its function is to allow faculty to speak their mind. I believe in tenure. If you want to know what would happen without tenure, look at places such as Pakistan (technically a democracy, but basically nobody speaks their mind, including Supreme Court Justices).
  - AtlasBarfed 5y ago
    I too am not necessarily opposed to tenure, I was more remarking since the vampire management MBA class has inculcated themselves into "higher education" administration, they've gradually hollowed out the professorship class with adjuncts and the like. Humanities aren't generally "revenue" departments in terms of grants, so I'd assume they'd go after those with the usual union busting techniques (since tenure is kind of a distributed union). One trick corps did for unions was to have the established union workers "sell out" the incoming workers. So the old guard gets to keep sweet benefits, pay, seniority, while new hires did not. The people in charge of the unions and the existing base would drop that negotiation, but the management knew that attrition and age would phase out the union. I'm pretty sure institutions are doing this by increasing adjunct percentages and the like. Meanwhile, the professors with tenure turn a blind eye and as long as they keep their position, who cares about anyone else. Of course most of these people were... baby boomers.
    - reactspa 5y ago
      > One trick corps did for unions was to have the established union workers "sell out" the incoming workers. So the old guard gets to keep sweet benefits, pay, seniority, while new hires did not. The people in charge of the unions and the existing base would drop that negotiation, but the management knew that attrition and age would phase out the union. I've wondered about such trends, and wondered why I as a new employee didn't get the same healthcare and retirement benefits that older "grandfathered-in" employees got. Thank you for clarifying. Finally, I understand.

AtlasBarfed 5y ago

I keep reading that social mobility is far lower (and geographical is as well). A lot of that is probably the war/disenfranchisement on/of the Millenials. Nepotism is one way of protecting your children then. Why would Philo be particularly bad as nonrevenue humanities go? I'm shocked they grant tenure in humanities anymore, colleges are so morally bankrupt. I assume that is going to change very soon.

reactspa 5y ago
I meant it more in the line of they teach ethics and morality, etc., and then do this.
reactspa 5y ago
In defense of tenure: its function is to allow faculty to speak their mind. I believe in tenure. If you want to know what would happen without tenure, look at places such as Pakistan (technically a democracy, but basically nobody speaks their mind, including Supreme Court Justices).
- AtlasBarfed 5y ago
  I too am not necessarily opposed to tenure, I was more remarking since the vampire management MBA class has inculcated themselves into "higher education" administration, they've gradually hollowed out the professorship class with adjuncts and the like. Humanities aren't generally "revenue" departments in terms of grants, so I'd assume they'd go after those with the usual union busting techniques (since tenure is kind of a distributed union). One trick corps did for unions was to have the established union workers "sell out" the incoming workers. So the old guard gets to keep sweet benefits, pay, seniority, while new hires did not. The people in charge of the unions and the existing base would drop that negotiation, but the management knew that attrition and age would phase out the union. I'm pretty sure institutions are doing this by increasing adjunct percentages and the like. Meanwhile, the professors with tenure turn a blind eye and as long as they keep their position, who cares about anyone else. Of course most of these people were... baby boomers.
  - reactspa 5y ago
    > One trick corps did for unions was to have the established union workers "sell out" the incoming workers. So the old guard gets to keep sweet benefits, pay, seniority, while new hires did not. The people in charge of the unions and the existing base would drop that negotiation, but the management knew that attrition and age would phase out the union. I've wondered about such trends, and wondered why I as a new employee didn't get the same healthcare and retirement benefits that older "grandfathered-in" employees got. Thank you for clarifying. Finally, I understand.