4 ms·

I think academia is pretty sweet for the people with tenure, agreed. It's just hell for the postdocs, lecturers, adjuncts, ph.d. students without funding, etc.,

I think academia is pretty sweet for the people with tenure, agreed. It's just hell for the postdocs, lecturers, adjuncts, ph.d. students without funding, etc., who have no stability, no voice, and paltry income in the system. As someone who was told at the beginning of the term that he would have no job at the end of it, I'm not sure that foreknowledge was really less anxiety inducing than being told with no warning. It was more like knowing the end of the world was coming, and you were powerless to change it. And equally cruel, I'd say.

ModernMech 4y ago
Adjuncts and postdocs yes. Ph.D. students without funding... quit now, that's a really bad deal. But lecturers not so much anymore, that position is changing across academia. I'm a lecturer and I have a renewable 5 year contract where I'm guaranteed a job for that time. That's more job stability than most people have, where they can be canned on any given Friday. As far as voice, lecturers have a vote in the faculty senate, and they have a vote in our department. They even have a vote in choosing our chair! How many workers get a vote in choosing their boss? Lecturers can even become chair or vice chair if they want; our current vice chair was a lecturer. As far as income, it's definitely lower than industry and tenured faculty, but lecturers also have a full 4 months off every year, which is something money can't buy in almost any profession. YMMV at your school, but like I said, the lecturer role is becoming much more attractive at many schools. > It was more like knowing the end of the world was coming, and you were powerless to change it. And equally cruel, I'd say. Help me try to understand, what would not be cruel? The tone of this thread seems to be that canning a worker with not enough warning is cruel, but you're saying too much warning is just as cruel? You're given 14 weeks to find a new job, and they'll pay you that entire time. It's pretty much the softest let-go I can think of. What process would you prefer?

ModernMech 4y ago

Adjuncts and postdocs yes. Ph.D. students without funding... quit now, that's a really bad deal. But lecturers not so much anymore, that position is changing across academia. I'm a lecturer and I have a renewable 5 year contract where I'm guaranteed a job for that time. That's more job stability than most people have, where they can be canned on any given Friday. As far as voice, lecturers have a vote in the faculty senate, and they have a vote in our department. They even have a vote in choosing our chair! How many workers get a vote in choosing their boss? Lecturers can even become chair or vice chair if they want; our current vice chair was a lecturer. As far as income, it's definitely lower than industry and tenured faculty, but lecturers also have a full 4 months off every year, which is something money can't buy in almost any profession. YMMV at your school, but like I said, the lecturer role is becoming much more attractive at many schools. > It was more like knowing the end of the world was coming, and you were powerless to change it. And equally cruel, I'd say. Help me try to understand, what would not be cruel? The tone of this thread seems to be that canning a worker with not enough warning is cruel, but you're saying too much warning is just as cruel? You're given 14 weeks to find a new job, and they'll pay you that entire time. It's pretty much the softest let-go I can think of. What process would you prefer?