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Faculty Are Godzillas
- jonhohle 3y agoIf the author was aware that Godzilla was a metaphor for the atomic bomb, they may or may not have chosen a different movie monster. I would hate to think that faculty are unwitting weapons of complete and utter annihilation aimed primarily at students. Godzilla’s design and purpose was to indiscriminately destroy. As US/Japan relations improved Godzilla could be seen as a protector, but that strains the faculty/student metaphor too far, imho. There are other movie monsters that may be more appropriate.
- morelisp 3y ago> faculty are unwitting weapons of complete and utter annihilation aimed primarily at students But - especially the "unwitting" part - this is exactly the point of the article.
- mmaunder 3y agoThe bullets in this post are surprisingly applicable to executives, and CEOs in particular. The lack of awareness of the first list is very common among new CEOs. And the second list has some solid advice to improve things.
- jwie 3y agoTenured faculty at university still exist to provide an aspiration to academic labor that they too can receive tenure. They're more like jackpot winners. Casinos need to produce some winners, but only because nobody would play otherwise. The casino, however, is more fair. At least in the casino the winners don't have to submit their bets for approval to a committee of former winners who don't understand that they are a product of chance and had published many books and papers on gambling strategies. Awarding tenure at random might even produce better outcomes.
- earthboundkid 3y agoI was speaking to some PhD students this summer, and the thought that popped in my head was “grad school is child abuse.” It preys on your self-conception as a bright person, a good student, etc. and takes your twenties away with nothing to show for it. It’s abusive to take in more grad students than you place in jobs the year before.
- slowmovintarget 3y agoForgive me if I'm reading too much into your quoted statement, but I really wish we lived in a culture where adults in their twenties weren't actually children.
- candiddevmike 3y agoBlame the culture, or blame the "adults"?
- slowmovintarget 3y agoThe adults are the ones making the culture. But by the time you're a twenty-something, you're the one making choices for your own behavior, regardless of who failed you or not. I dearly wish our system helped make that clear to the 19 year olds emerging into higher education. I suspect that the 19 year-olds joining the workforce instead have it tougher and are already a long way toward understanding that. I will certainly take a portion of that responsibility. I am doing what I can with my own child. Work hard, teach strategies for self-control, strategies for understanding and dealing with adversity... But the hardest work of all as a parent is being the kind of person you want your child to be. They're going to emulate the behavior of the adults around them no matter what you say. The single greatest thing you can do to mold your child into a good person, is to show them you mean it by adopting those behaviors. The same goes for being a career manager, or faculty in school, I suppose.
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- sdwr 3y agoI'm not a fan of the monster metaphor, it blows the power disparity way up and doesn't leave room for reconciliation. Prefer thinking of the author as a pig instead, as in "men are pigs". In this case, instead of feasting sexually, they are gorging emotionally on attention that comes from their status. Seeing "eye-to-eye" is an equal meeting of souls. It gets corrupted by power - the moment might be neutral, but the 2 parties aren't entering on even terms.
- morelisp 3y agoAs someone still struggling with this after recent-ish promotion to an engineering leadership role, first I was heartened to read that it's common; then worried to read it might take several more years to fully come to terms with; and finally devastated to hear even then it's only resolved by factors in the academy not applicable to those of us with a private industry job (especially given a huge lack of "reformed kaiju" to turn to for advice).
- logdap 3y agoSelf aggrandizing comparison, whole article is a humblebrag about how powerful the author is. You're an insignificant spec compared to the old grand lizard. In your most destructive, you are nothing like him. In your most heroic moments, you are nothing like him. If you ever think to compare yourself to Godzilla, the only similarity is your rampaging ego.
- derbOac 3y agoAs former tenured faculty I can attest some are aware of their power. Some are not; some pretend not to know; some think they have more power than they do. I think it's a bit dangerous to generalize about power in academics. Academics is a heterogenous environment, and even assuming faculty have more power than they realize can be a detriment to those who truly don't have it.
- rossdavidh 3y agoIt's a useful if (as the author admits) hyperbolic metaphor. And really, no single metaphor (or essay) needs to (or can) address all relevant issues. But, I think the next thing that comes to mind after reading it (if, like I, you fundamentally agree) is, "why is it like that?" Academia is, at the graduate level, one of the most fundamentally hierarchical, arbitrary, and unfair work environments. It is the very opposite of all of the progressive, power-to-the-people ideology that most of the people in it would profess to believe in. The reason that faculty are godzillas, is that the system is designed that way. I can believe that using this metaphor is a great way for someone (especially newly in the role) to realize their perceived power, and how to minimize the destructive consequences of that. But, really, the problem is that the way in which academia is structured is far more unjust and hierarchical than even the corporate world.
- aborsy 3y agoDue to strong demand, the salaries are also usually low. With tough competition and low wages, it takes a special character to be in academia.
- Simon_O_Rourke 3y agoAs an (academic) friend of mind mused rhetorically recently over a few beers, "Why is there so much politics in academia... Perhaps because the stakes are so low".
- sofal 3y agoThe idea that politics in academia are so fierce because the stakes are so low is a meme that has been around for many years, so perhaps it's just the first time you heard it? I'm not convinced of the meme despite its cleverness or the many blog articles discussing it. I don't think it would get less politically intense if the stakes were raised.
- aborsy 3y agoIt’s a well known quote attributed to Henry Kissinger and others. A professor of mine who did some entrepreneurship used to say academics are pussies in politics compared to industry people.
- dredmorbius 3y agoQuote Investigator cites a Charles Frankel, in 1964, though my sense is that the saying long predates that (I seem to recall a variant attributed to Woodrow Wilson circa 1915). There are similar observations dating to Samuel Johnson in the 18th century: <https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/18/acad-politics/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/18/acad-politics/>
- say_it_as_it_is 3y agoWhy employ anyone labeling colleagues as transphobic? They're pushing religious beliefs onto others. That's not appropriate for any workplace.
- tmalsburg2 3y agoWhy has this submission been flagged? I see nothing wrong with it, and the discussion here is constructive and insightful.
- l0b0 3y agoPresumably it offends someone. Have a look at the bottom of the comment section, that's usually where the haters live.
- tmalsburg2 3y agoThe fact that the author lists her pronouns is probably enough to offend some people here.