label
stringclasses 2
values | request
stringlengths 110
2.68k
|
|---|---|
A | POST: Why publish a 'new method' paper if you're not going to share the method? A bit of a rant, plus a genuine question. I work in a life sciences subfield where I deal quite a bit with image processing for data collection (high-throughput phenotyping). It's a quickly-growing area of interest, and papers are regularly published about new ways to count/assess/quantify characteristics from images. Obviously, these methods involve some sort of code - MATLAB, Python, etc. - but so few authors cite any sort of Github repo or any other method of sharing. Frustratingly, none of the authors I've ever reached out to have responded to my requests for code. This has happened a few times now, and more often than not I'm forced to re-write some program based on the sparse description in the paper (not a small feat for someone with a non-CS background). It just seems counterintuitive to me that a 'new method' paper wouldn't actually share the new method. Isn't that the point, accelerating the field of study and whatnot? There's some new journals that are moving in the right direction - not allowing submissions without proof of data and code in a repository, for example - and those who are committed to open-source programs, which is great. But, seriously: why the allowance of people to keep their 'new method' secret?
RESPONSE A: I too am in the life sciences and this shit is real. Methods papers are pretty meaningless. No one ever shares their code. It is no wonder so many life science papers get such little citation.
RESPONSE B: Have you reached out to the journals these methods were published in? Or directly to the lead author (not last author)?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Why publish a 'new method' paper if you're not going to share the method? A bit of a rant, plus a genuine question. I work in a life sciences subfield where I deal quite a bit with image processing for data collection (high-throughput phenotyping). It's a quickly-growing area of interest, and papers are regularly published about new ways to count/assess/quantify characteristics from images. Obviously, these methods involve some sort of code - MATLAB, Python, etc. - but so few authors cite any sort of Github repo or any other method of sharing. Frustratingly, none of the authors I've ever reached out to have responded to my requests for code. This has happened a few times now, and more often than not I'm forced to re-write some program based on the sparse description in the paper (not a small feat for someone with a non-CS background). It just seems counterintuitive to me that a 'new method' paper wouldn't actually share the new method. Isn't that the point, accelerating the field of study and whatnot? There's some new journals that are moving in the right direction - not allowing submissions without proof of data and code in a repository, for example - and those who are committed to open-source programs, which is great. But, seriously: why the allowance of people to keep their 'new method' secret?
RESPONSE A: I'd bet the code is not in a usable for for anyone else. It's not my field, but I know my code is a total mess.
RESPONSE B: Is it NIH-funded? They’d be obligated - if not required - to share if it is.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Why publish a 'new method' paper if you're not going to share the method? A bit of a rant, plus a genuine question. I work in a life sciences subfield where I deal quite a bit with image processing for data collection (high-throughput phenotyping). It's a quickly-growing area of interest, and papers are regularly published about new ways to count/assess/quantify characteristics from images. Obviously, these methods involve some sort of code - MATLAB, Python, etc. - but so few authors cite any sort of Github repo or any other method of sharing. Frustratingly, none of the authors I've ever reached out to have responded to my requests for code. This has happened a few times now, and more often than not I'm forced to re-write some program based on the sparse description in the paper (not a small feat for someone with a non-CS background). It just seems counterintuitive to me that a 'new method' paper wouldn't actually share the new method. Isn't that the point, accelerating the field of study and whatnot? There's some new journals that are moving in the right direction - not allowing submissions without proof of data and code in a repository, for example - and those who are committed to open-source programs, which is great. But, seriously: why the allowance of people to keep their 'new method' secret?
RESPONSE A: I'd bet the code is not in a usable for for anyone else. It's not my field, but I know my code is a total mess.
RESPONSE B: Have you reached out to the journals these methods were published in? Or directly to the lead author (not last author)?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :)
RESPONSE A: Unfortunately I've found it to be far too common to be entertaining anymore. My go-to response to anti-intellectualism baiting that usually shuts people down is "hmm, you should write that up for a journal" in a very neutral tone. Strangely enough, they seem to recognize that whatever they're spouting isn't actually intellectually rigorous and by not engaging with the ideas they don't have anywhere else to take the debate
RESPONSE B: Ugh, too many, though as I’m in history the stakes are a bit lower than folks working with, say, vaccinations or climate change. But I can’t tell you how many times someone gets wind of my specialty - medieval Ireland and the Norse - and starts *telling me* fictions about Vikings or ‘Celtic mythology’ or simply medieval living. And when I politely but firmly start to explain the falsehood, seeing as, I just said, I’m a *medieval Irish and Norse historian*, they get all pissy and ‘that doesn’t sound right’ and say I’m an elitist or bully or whatever. I really don’t get it.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :)
RESPONSE A: I generally just ignore them. In my expierence, you get a sense very quickly when someone is saying this stuff as to whether they'll actually listen if I talk shop. If that's the case, it's not worth the time effort or energy to throw myself at that brick wall. I won't change their mind regardless of what I say. I'll just be tired and frustrated by the end of it. So I'll generally crack a joke, and move the conversation onto something more fun. I've rarely had people doing this maliciously, or in deliberate bad faith so it's easy enough to do
RESPONSE B: Unfortunately I've found it to be far too common to be entertaining anymore. My go-to response to anti-intellectualism baiting that usually shuts people down is "hmm, you should write that up for a journal" in a very neutral tone. Strangely enough, they seem to recognize that whatever they're spouting isn't actually intellectually rigorous and by not engaging with the ideas they don't have anywhere else to take the debate
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :)
RESPONSE A: Having had it happen too many times in my very conservative part of the world, when I feel I'm being baited into something, I respond with something like "That's too much like work. I'm off-duty" and I change the subject.
RESPONSE B: Unfortunately I've found it to be far too common to be entertaining anymore. My go-to response to anti-intellectualism baiting that usually shuts people down is "hmm, you should write that up for a journal" in a very neutral tone. Strangely enough, they seem to recognize that whatever they're spouting isn't actually intellectually rigorous and by not engaging with the ideas they don't have anywhere else to take the debate
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :)
RESPONSE A: >Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? Go into renewables as an engineer, then you can also get most other academics doing this to you as well.
RESPONSE B: Unfortunately I've found it to be far too common to be entertaining anymore. My go-to response to anti-intellectualism baiting that usually shuts people down is "hmm, you should write that up for a journal" in a very neutral tone. Strangely enough, they seem to recognize that whatever they're spouting isn't actually intellectually rigorous and by not engaging with the ideas they don't have anywhere else to take the debate
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :)
RESPONSE A: Like marriage - you can be right or you can be happy but rarely both. I figure if it’s from a place of genuine ignorance that is not with bad intentions, I can gently try and clear a few things up. If it’s deliberately trying to rile me up (I’m in a field where everybody has an opinion, much of which is driven by Murdoch media) I crack a joke or downplay it and don’t bite.
RESPONSE B: Unfortunately I've found it to be far too common to be entertaining anymore. My go-to response to anti-intellectualism baiting that usually shuts people down is "hmm, you should write that up for a journal" in a very neutral tone. Strangely enough, they seem to recognize that whatever they're spouting isn't actually intellectually rigorous and by not engaging with the ideas they don't have anywhere else to take the debate
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Should I complain about my internal defence examiner I recently had my PhD defence/viva. It was a horrible experience lasting way over the 3 hours prescribed, with no break but I am happy to say I passed with minor corrections. The feeling of relief and joy about this was ruined by the stress and anxiety my internal examiner pushed onto me during the examination. Within the first 10 minutes he had wrongfully accused me of plagiarism and asked what was stopping him from burning my thesis in front of him. He was so rude that the external examiner actually told him to take it down a peg during the examination. I went into it expecting a productive academic discussion after speaking with colleagues about their experiences but I feel he over stepped the line into rudeness and borderline misogyny on several occasions. At the end he flicked a switch and told me the outcome and that I had a few corrections to do. I left the room with a migraine and wanting to sit in a dark room on my own for the rest of the evening. Luckily the external examiner was more professional and my supervisor was also in the room to witness all of this. My question is, should I complain about him and the general experience I had? I would really hate for someone to go through a similar experience. I think it would be best to say something after I am awarded my doctorate because unfortunately I have to liaise with this man for my corrections.
RESPONSE A: If you ever talk to someone, whether it's your supervisor or someone else, make sure to leave a paper trail. Try to do everything over email, and if conversation happens in-person, send a follow up email to the parties involved saying "just to reiterate what we discussed ...". This is the best way to protect yourself in professional conflicts, and no one can argue with direct quotes. Of course, be polite but firm. Also, when talking about the examiner, do your best to quote him directly. If you don't, your argument is completely reliant on how much the other person trusts your judgement. Congratulations on passing! I'm sorry you had to go through this, and I wish you luck moving forward.
RESPONSE B: This should be reported.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Should I complain about my internal defence examiner I recently had my PhD defence/viva. It was a horrible experience lasting way over the 3 hours prescribed, with no break but I am happy to say I passed with minor corrections. The feeling of relief and joy about this was ruined by the stress and anxiety my internal examiner pushed onto me during the examination. Within the first 10 minutes he had wrongfully accused me of plagiarism and asked what was stopping him from burning my thesis in front of him. He was so rude that the external examiner actually told him to take it down a peg during the examination. I went into it expecting a productive academic discussion after speaking with colleagues about their experiences but I feel he over stepped the line into rudeness and borderline misogyny on several occasions. At the end he flicked a switch and told me the outcome and that I had a few corrections to do. I left the room with a migraine and wanting to sit in a dark room on my own for the rest of the evening. Luckily the external examiner was more professional and my supervisor was also in the room to witness all of this. My question is, should I complain about him and the general experience I had? I would really hate for someone to go through a similar experience. I think it would be best to say something after I am awarded my doctorate because unfortunately I have to liaise with this man for my corrections.
RESPONSE A: This should be reported.
RESPONSE B: ask this in /r/AskAcademiaUK for UK specific advice. at the VERY least, bring it up with your current supervisor so other studentd dom't have to go through this again, particualrly the misogyny it's tough (for your advisor!) because this person presumably is a colleague of your advisor. but **still**.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Should I complain about my internal defence examiner I recently had my PhD defence/viva. It was a horrible experience lasting way over the 3 hours prescribed, with no break but I am happy to say I passed with minor corrections. The feeling of relief and joy about this was ruined by the stress and anxiety my internal examiner pushed onto me during the examination. Within the first 10 minutes he had wrongfully accused me of plagiarism and asked what was stopping him from burning my thesis in front of him. He was so rude that the external examiner actually told him to take it down a peg during the examination. I went into it expecting a productive academic discussion after speaking with colleagues about their experiences but I feel he over stepped the line into rudeness and borderline misogyny on several occasions. At the end he flicked a switch and told me the outcome and that I had a few corrections to do. I left the room with a migraine and wanting to sit in a dark room on my own for the rest of the evening. Luckily the external examiner was more professional and my supervisor was also in the room to witness all of this. My question is, should I complain about him and the general experience I had? I would really hate for someone to go through a similar experience. I think it would be best to say something after I am awarded my doctorate because unfortunately I have to liaise with this man for my corrections.
RESPONSE A: ask this in /r/AskAcademiaUK for UK specific advice. at the VERY least, bring it up with your current supervisor so other studentd dom't have to go through this again, particualrly the misogyny it's tough (for your advisor!) because this person presumably is a colleague of your advisor. but **still**.
RESPONSE B: Let your supervisor do the complaining. You could talk with them about it.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Should I complain about my internal defence examiner I recently had my PhD defence/viva. It was a horrible experience lasting way over the 3 hours prescribed, with no break but I am happy to say I passed with minor corrections. The feeling of relief and joy about this was ruined by the stress and anxiety my internal examiner pushed onto me during the examination. Within the first 10 minutes he had wrongfully accused me of plagiarism and asked what was stopping him from burning my thesis in front of him. He was so rude that the external examiner actually told him to take it down a peg during the examination. I went into it expecting a productive academic discussion after speaking with colleagues about their experiences but I feel he over stepped the line into rudeness and borderline misogyny on several occasions. At the end he flicked a switch and told me the outcome and that I had a few corrections to do. I left the room with a migraine and wanting to sit in a dark room on my own for the rest of the evening. Luckily the external examiner was more professional and my supervisor was also in the room to witness all of this. My question is, should I complain about him and the general experience I had? I would really hate for someone to go through a similar experience. I think it would be best to say something after I am awarded my doctorate because unfortunately I have to liaise with this man for my corrections.
RESPONSE A: As a supervisor, I’m quite annoyed your supervisor didn’t step in.
RESPONSE B: This should be reported.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Should I complain about my internal defence examiner I recently had my PhD defence/viva. It was a horrible experience lasting way over the 3 hours prescribed, with no break but I am happy to say I passed with minor corrections. The feeling of relief and joy about this was ruined by the stress and anxiety my internal examiner pushed onto me during the examination. Within the first 10 minutes he had wrongfully accused me of plagiarism and asked what was stopping him from burning my thesis in front of him. He was so rude that the external examiner actually told him to take it down a peg during the examination. I went into it expecting a productive academic discussion after speaking with colleagues about their experiences but I feel he over stepped the line into rudeness and borderline misogyny on several occasions. At the end he flicked a switch and told me the outcome and that I had a few corrections to do. I left the room with a migraine and wanting to sit in a dark room on my own for the rest of the evening. Luckily the external examiner was more professional and my supervisor was also in the room to witness all of this. My question is, should I complain about him and the general experience I had? I would really hate for someone to go through a similar experience. I think it would be best to say something after I am awarded my doctorate because unfortunately I have to liaise with this man for my corrections.
RESPONSE A: Let your supervisor do the complaining. You could talk with them about it.
RESPONSE B: As a supervisor, I’m quite annoyed your supervisor didn’t step in.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Thinking of giving up on my dissertation after 7 years I'm just burned out, tired, and feel like a failure. My mom (suicide), step-father and my cat died during my PhD but I kept pushing forward anyway. Severe burnout, health issues (currently on medication), changing advisors, and a pandemic later and I am losing my TT job at the end of spring 2022. I don't know what I should do and don't really have people to talk to. I feel worthless and don't know what else I could do. Who would want to hire me? I know I shouldn't think this way but I am just completely at a breaking point. Has anyone been through this? What did you do? I could use some inspiration and guidance.
RESPONSE A: I gave up on my PhD (in a humanities) after 7.5 years. I was pretty depressed toward the end, making very little progress on the dissertation. My roommate had committed suicide and I was dealing with the end of a long term relationship. I decided to move across the country and do something else. Taught myself to program and I stumbled back into academia with a regular faculty position in a CS department. I've taught CS for about 5 years while splitting my time working in industry. Next term is my last before fully focusing on my industry career. I felt like a failure too and I worked retail to stay afloat while teaching myself. But I quickly learned that working on a PhD netted me lots of valuable skills and knowledge (also some bad habits and knowledge gaps, but those were relatively easy to remediate).
RESPONSE B: Talk to your committee try to wrap up and get your degree man
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Recommend a must read paper or scholarly article for the layman. What's a paper you read that you felt everyone in the world regardless of their academic background should read? Any field. Must be simple enough so that someone with only a general understanding can understand it.
RESPONSE A: Bruno Latour—Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam He explains in the first five pages how social science—including his work—contributed to conspiracy thinking. He ultimately argues social science is important to the world, but it has to be more careful with how and what it argues. Plus, he’s pithy as hell.
RESPONSE B: Ok, it's a book, not a scholarly article, but it's written by the same folks who publish the empirical work. It's "Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People". https://www.amazon.com/Blindspot-Hidden-Biases-Good-People-ebook/dp/B004J4WJUC/ref=sr\_1\_3?dchild=1&keywords=blindspot&qid=1610806984&sr=8-3 It's just so relevant to things that happen every day.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Recommend a must read paper or scholarly article for the layman. What's a paper you read that you felt everyone in the world regardless of their academic background should read? Any field. Must be simple enough so that someone with only a general understanding can understand it.
RESPONSE A: "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False"
RESPONSE B: Bruno Latour—Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam He explains in the first five pages how social science—including his work—contributed to conspiracy thinking. He ultimately argues social science is important to the world, but it has to be more careful with how and what it argues. Plus, he’s pithy as hell.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Recommend a must read paper or scholarly article for the layman. What's a paper you read that you felt everyone in the world regardless of their academic background should read? Any field. Must be simple enough so that someone with only a general understanding can understand it.
RESPONSE A: Doreen Massey “A Global Sense of Place” So many UK undergrad geography degrees give students this to read in week one. It serves as an excellent introduction as to why and how we think about, conceptualise and define ‘space’ and ‘place’ is a really important political question. As for the criteria OP asked for it’s a quasi academic paper. Published in a magazine that published political / social / economic theory, but not a peer reviewed academic journal. But became the basis of what would later be papers in academic journals and academic books. http://banmarchive.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/91_06_24.pdf
RESPONSE B: Ok but like what are you into?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Recommend a must read paper or scholarly article for the layman. What's a paper you read that you felt everyone in the world regardless of their academic background should read? Any field. Must be simple enough so that someone with only a general understanding can understand it.
RESPONSE A: The Paranoid Style in American Politics
RESPONSE B: Not a paper but a book, The Pedagogy of The Oppressed by Paulo Freire.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Recommend a must read paper or scholarly article for the layman. What's a paper you read that you felt everyone in the world regardless of their academic background should read? Any field. Must be simple enough so that someone with only a general understanding can understand it.
RESPONSE A: This is so helpful! I’ve been trying to find academic articles for my first-year English students to read, but I’m always running into the density issue. I’m excited to read some of these!
RESPONSE B: Not a paper but a book, The Pedagogy of The Oppressed by Paulo Freire.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Can Anyone Get ANY Work Done from Home? Sorry for this rant post, but I can't possibly the only one who can't get any work done from home. I feel like the only way anything is going to get done is if I start waking up at 4am, but I normally don't go to sleep until 1AM or later, so I'm not going to be in a good mood. I can rarely get work done in the evenings, because I'm just exhausted.
RESPONSE A: I have 2 kids. 2 and 5. It's hard. Really hard. It started off as an opportunity to spend more time with the kids, now it's just ruining my career.
RESPONSE B: I love my mornings when the house is quite. I sneak up early, makes a cup of coffee and usually gets 2 hours of uninterrupted work done before the house starts to rise. But - I crash into bed at 10PM at the latest. I wouldn’t function if I were up til after midnight (honestly - totally wrecked today after New Years!) I worked nights for many years which screwed everything up, today I am very happy for being tired early and getting to rise early.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Can Anyone Get ANY Work Done from Home? Sorry for this rant post, but I can't possibly the only one who can't get any work done from home. I feel like the only way anything is going to get done is if I start waking up at 4am, but I normally don't go to sleep until 1AM or later, so I'm not going to be in a good mood. I can rarely get work done in the evenings, because I'm just exhausted.
RESPONSE A: I LOVE IT. Complete solitude and maximum productivity. No annoying colleagues bothering me or in-person meetings.
RESPONSE B: I'm struggling too. I've spent years trying to separate work from home and now it's like I've got a mental block against working at home.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Can Anyone Get ANY Work Done from Home? Sorry for this rant post, but I can't possibly the only one who can't get any work done from home. I feel like the only way anything is going to get done is if I start waking up at 4am, but I normally don't go to sleep until 1AM or later, so I'm not going to be in a good mood. I can rarely get work done in the evenings, because I'm just exhausted.
RESPONSE A: I love my mornings when the house is quite. I sneak up early, makes a cup of coffee and usually gets 2 hours of uninterrupted work done before the house starts to rise. But - I crash into bed at 10PM at the latest. I wouldn’t function if I were up til after midnight (honestly - totally wrecked today after New Years!) I worked nights for many years which screwed everything up, today I am very happy for being tired early and getting to rise early.
RESPONSE B: I'm struggling too. I've spent years trying to separate work from home and now it's like I've got a mental block against working at home.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Can Anyone Get ANY Work Done from Home? Sorry for this rant post, but I can't possibly the only one who can't get any work done from home. I feel like the only way anything is going to get done is if I start waking up at 4am, but I normally don't go to sleep until 1AM or later, so I'm not going to be in a good mood. I can rarely get work done in the evenings, because I'm just exhausted.
RESPONSE A: I'm struggling too. I've spent years trying to separate work from home and now it's like I've got a mental block against working at home.
RESPONSE B: Yep, but I usually write in coffee shops so I am used to tuning out noise
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Can Anyone Get ANY Work Done from Home? Sorry for this rant post, but I can't possibly the only one who can't get any work done from home. I feel like the only way anything is going to get done is if I start waking up at 4am, but I normally don't go to sleep until 1AM or later, so I'm not going to be in a good mood. I can rarely get work done in the evenings, because I'm just exhausted.
RESPONSE A: Yes. Way more work actually.
RESPONSE B: I'm struggling too. I've spent years trying to separate work from home and now it's like I've got a mental block against working at home.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that!
RESPONSE A: While I was an (older, vet on GI Bill) undergrad my mentor asked if I could pick a next step of my choosing what would it be. This was at a Ivy-adjacent university. I responded with "easy, masters in public history, park ranger at historical site". "Why don't you do that?" "Because I want more than $40k to live on a year." "Well your parents would help out with expenses, right?" And right about then I realized my life experiences were very different from theirs. I knew this before hand, but it was a stern reminder. If you want to be wealthy as a humanities academic, it helps a lot to be born into money.
RESPONSE B: I suppose it depends what you mean by wealthy. There are a reasonable number of social science academics with 200k+ salaries which is nearly 4x the median annual income of Americans. So, assuming good savings and investment to turn income into wealth -- pretty wealthy compared to the average American. (Note:. Most do not make anywhere near this...but it happens) Now if you mean top 1% wealthy, I find it hard to believe any Soc sci academic would make it in that range without substantial intergenerational wealth. Though that is generally how the vast majority of those people get there...
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that!
RESPONSE A: UK perspective, might just be my circle. The wealthy ones I know make most of their money from consulting. They get very little money from their books and do most events for free as a favour to their connections. The academic salary is not much for the first 4-5 years. By the time you become a senior lecturer, you get to a junior banker level. Towards the end of PhD we were joking we either have to come from a rich family or have a wealthy, non-academia partner if we want to live like normal people.
RESPONSE B: The best paid professors in a large public R1 university humanities department—near retirement and bigger names in the field— pull down 200k salary, plus publishing, speaker fees etc. Everyone else is 70k-100k depending on tenure and years in the field. Adjuncts and grad students make 20-40k in the same department and do most of the teaching.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that!
RESPONSE A: The best paid professors in a large public R1 university humanities department—near retirement and bigger names in the field— pull down 200k salary, plus publishing, speaker fees etc. Everyone else is 70k-100k depending on tenure and years in the field. Adjuncts and grad students make 20-40k in the same department and do most of the teaching.
RESPONSE B: Sure, write a best-selling textbook... a must-have for every intro course in your field.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that!
RESPONSE A: My PhD supervisor bought his house in the 1970s at a time when his neighbourhood (close to the university) was considered a bit of a slum... but the neighbourhood gentrified and the house is now worth over a million. Both he and his partner were full professors when they retired, each making more than $200k/year. I don't know if you'd consider that wealthy, but I would imagine that sort of money would allow one to live a very comfortable lifestyle. Starting salaries for assistant professors (tenure line) in Canada typically range between $60-$100k, so even an early career researcher can be pretty comfortable.
RESPONSE B: If the landscape is so terrible for making a living, why do people chose this career path?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that!
RESPONSE A: My PhD supervisor bought his house in the 1970s at a time when his neighbourhood (close to the university) was considered a bit of a slum... but the neighbourhood gentrified and the house is now worth over a million. Both he and his partner were full professors when they retired, each making more than $200k/year. I don't know if you'd consider that wealthy, but I would imagine that sort of money would allow one to live a very comfortable lifestyle. Starting salaries for assistant professors (tenure line) in Canada typically range between $60-$100k, so even an early career researcher can be pretty comfortable.
RESPONSE B: If you spend less than you make, you can be wealthy - not 1%, but definitely comfortable. You get to choose how much your life costs. Having kids, buying lots of stuff and replacing it often, buying cars/boats/etc. on credit, living in an expensive city, and/or buying a house you cannot quite comfortably afford makes it much harder to live beneath your means. For tenured positions in the US, you can live a reasonably comfortable on a professor's salary. I am in STEM, not in the social sciences, but our pay scale is fairly consistent from department to department, and all of our salaries are publicly available. A different question is: will this be possible going forward? I am not sure, but I think it will be much more difficult as the tenure track positions are going away. So the answer may look very different in 10 years from now.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Inexplicable grading mysteries I have no idea where to share this, but this experience is too specific for anyone outside of Academia to understand. I have an X-files level anomaly in my grading. In a big lecture class, I have two students with the same first and last name (ok, first name is different by one letter, think Katerina vs Katrina). Not that weird, sometimes I've had siblings etc. These students just turned in a response assignment--the class has 120 students in it, and the response is due on Monday, but they submitted it at the exact same time--one email came at 11:24, one at 11:25. Weird coincidence huh? Their emails are identical--except for a single apostrophe: "Here's the second response" vs. "Here is the second response", and they signed them identically e.g. "--Katrina" vs "--Katarina"-- same double-dash, same format, everything is the same. The responses are similarly on the exact same subject (despite the essay topic being very open), and yet completely different. So what is this? Are they clones? Soulmates? Are they pranking me? How does this even happen? Am I ethically obliged to introduce them to their spiritual twin?
RESPONSE A: But the two essays, though on the same subject, were completely different? I'm not sure about you, but I have yet to have a student who wanted to write two separate essays just to fuck with a professor.
RESPONSE B: Did they use the same sources?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Inexplicable grading mysteries I have no idea where to share this, but this experience is too specific for anyone outside of Academia to understand. I have an X-files level anomaly in my grading. In a big lecture class, I have two students with the same first and last name (ok, first name is different by one letter, think Katerina vs Katrina). Not that weird, sometimes I've had siblings etc. These students just turned in a response assignment--the class has 120 students in it, and the response is due on Monday, but they submitted it at the exact same time--one email came at 11:24, one at 11:25. Weird coincidence huh? Their emails are identical--except for a single apostrophe: "Here's the second response" vs. "Here is the second response", and they signed them identically e.g. "--Katrina" vs "--Katarina"-- same double-dash, same format, everything is the same. The responses are similarly on the exact same subject (despite the essay topic being very open), and yet completely different. So what is this? Are they clones? Soulmates? Are they pranking me? How does this even happen? Am I ethically obliged to introduce them to their spiritual twin?
RESPONSE A: Could they be twins who take turns doing each other's work but in a way that doesn't look like plagiarism?
RESPONSE B: But the two essays, though on the same subject, were completely different? I'm not sure about you, but I have yet to have a student who wanted to write two separate essays just to fuck with a professor.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Inexplicable grading mysteries I have no idea where to share this, but this experience is too specific for anyone outside of Academia to understand. I have an X-files level anomaly in my grading. In a big lecture class, I have two students with the same first and last name (ok, first name is different by one letter, think Katerina vs Katrina). Not that weird, sometimes I've had siblings etc. These students just turned in a response assignment--the class has 120 students in it, and the response is due on Monday, but they submitted it at the exact same time--one email came at 11:24, one at 11:25. Weird coincidence huh? Their emails are identical--except for a single apostrophe: "Here's the second response" vs. "Here is the second response", and they signed them identically e.g. "--Katrina" vs "--Katarina"-- same double-dash, same format, everything is the same. The responses are similarly on the exact same subject (despite the essay topic being very open), and yet completely different. So what is this? Are they clones? Soulmates? Are they pranking me? How does this even happen? Am I ethically obliged to introduce them to their spiritual twin?
RESPONSE A: Here's one possibility--both students are fictitious and were conjured as part of a research study that tests how professors respond to small variations in student names (that might, for instance, contain racial or socio-economic information).
RESPONSE B: They know each other (siblings or cousins) and worked on it together. Did the right thing and wrote their own, but worked on them at the same time and decided together that they were done and it was time to submit.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Inexplicable grading mysteries I have no idea where to share this, but this experience is too specific for anyone outside of Academia to understand. I have an X-files level anomaly in my grading. In a big lecture class, I have two students with the same first and last name (ok, first name is different by one letter, think Katerina vs Katrina). Not that weird, sometimes I've had siblings etc. These students just turned in a response assignment--the class has 120 students in it, and the response is due on Monday, but they submitted it at the exact same time--one email came at 11:24, one at 11:25. Weird coincidence huh? Their emails are identical--except for a single apostrophe: "Here's the second response" vs. "Here is the second response", and they signed them identically e.g. "--Katrina" vs "--Katarina"-- same double-dash, same format, everything is the same. The responses are similarly on the exact same subject (despite the essay topic being very open), and yet completely different. So what is this? Are they clones? Soulmates? Are they pranking me? How does this even happen? Am I ethically obliged to introduce them to their spiritual twin?
RESPONSE A: Here's one possibility--both students are fictitious and were conjured as part of a research study that tests how professors respond to small variations in student names (that might, for instance, contain racial or socio-economic information).
RESPONSE B: Did they use the same sources?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Inexplicable grading mysteries I have no idea where to share this, but this experience is too specific for anyone outside of Academia to understand. I have an X-files level anomaly in my grading. In a big lecture class, I have two students with the same first and last name (ok, first name is different by one letter, think Katerina vs Katrina). Not that weird, sometimes I've had siblings etc. These students just turned in a response assignment--the class has 120 students in it, and the response is due on Monday, but they submitted it at the exact same time--one email came at 11:24, one at 11:25. Weird coincidence huh? Their emails are identical--except for a single apostrophe: "Here's the second response" vs. "Here is the second response", and they signed them identically e.g. "--Katrina" vs "--Katarina"-- same double-dash, same format, everything is the same. The responses are similarly on the exact same subject (despite the essay topic being very open), and yet completely different. So what is this? Are they clones? Soulmates? Are they pranking me? How does this even happen? Am I ethically obliged to introduce them to their spiritual twin?
RESPONSE A: Could they be twins who take turns doing each other's work but in a way that doesn't look like plagiarism?
RESPONSE B: Here's one possibility--both students are fictitious and were conjured as part of a research study that tests how professors respond to small variations in student names (that might, for instance, contain racial or socio-economic information).
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Access denied to the last version of a paper when I am first co-author I worked in a lab with a toxic PI until the end of 2020 and we try now to publish a paper with my work. We wrote the manuscript and at one point, the PI deleted the Dropbox we used and send me a pdf version of the article saying that the submission will come very soon and that there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do? Many thanks for your advices.
RESPONSE A: Illegal? No. Unethical? Maybe. You can confront him, or not. But we really can't provide any other advice.
RESPONSE B: Illegal - no. Unethical - yes. In breach of the journals publication requirements - almost certainly. Check the journals "Instructions to authors". There is almost certainly a statement or statements about authors agreeing to the submission and having seen the last version. If the PI is not in a retaliatory position, you can be quite tough on this. The PI almost certainly had to make a statement that all authors agreed to the authorship listing during the submission process. Lastly, you have a 100% right to NOT approve submission until you are happy. You can make that clear to the PI and if they go ahead without your consent, you can get in touch with the journal.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Access denied to the last version of a paper when I am first co-author I worked in a lab with a toxic PI until the end of 2020 and we try now to publish a paper with my work. We wrote the manuscript and at one point, the PI deleted the Dropbox we used and send me a pdf version of the article saying that the submission will come very soon and that there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do? Many thanks for your advices.
RESPONSE A: Illegal - no. Unethical - yes. In breach of the journals publication requirements - almost certainly. Check the journals "Instructions to authors". There is almost certainly a statement or statements about authors agreeing to the submission and having seen the last version. If the PI is not in a retaliatory position, you can be quite tough on this. The PI almost certainly had to make a statement that all authors agreed to the authorship listing during the submission process. Lastly, you have a 100% right to NOT approve submission until you are happy. You can make that clear to the PI and if they go ahead without your consent, you can get in touch with the journal.
RESPONSE B: You could escalate it to your or his institutional review board. It is an ethics breach.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: when I am first co-author I worked in a lab with a toxic PI until the end of 2020 and we try now to publish a paper with my work. We wrote the manuscript and at one point, the PI deleted the Dropbox we used and send me a pdf version of the article saying that the submission will come very soon and that there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do? Many thanks for your advices.
RESPONSE A: How are you supposed to address their concerns if you don't have a copy?
RESPONSE B: Unethical? Definitely. The PI may not have ill will or be trying to minimize your credit, but many journals require that all authors sign off on the final version and, even when they don't, every author should get a chance to review it. Your name will be on it; you deserve to decide what you publicly endorse. But, even more, this doesn't make sense. Certainly the reviewers suggested revisions (because that's almost always the case, and because otherwise what comments would the PI need your help to answer?). Did the PI make suggested revisions and now wants you to explain the revisions without even seeing them? Did the PI look at comments like "X needs to be further explained" and interpret that as "When you respond to our comments, tell us more about X in your letter"? Whatever's going on, there's some huge disconnect there. It's impossible for you to write a response until you see the final copy and all revisions (both those before submission and after review), and you should tell the PI that.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Access denied to the last version of a paper when I am first co-author I worked in a lab with a toxic PI until the end of 2020 and we try now to publish a paper with my work. We wrote the manuscript and at one point, the PI deleted the Dropbox we used and send me a pdf version of the article saying that the submission will come very soon and that there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do? Many thanks for your advices.
RESPONSE A: How are you supposed to address their concerns if you don't have a copy?
RESPONSE B: Raise a concern with your research integrity office, if your institute has one. In Australia this would be considered a potential breach regarding authorship. Best to deal with prior to publication. Much harder after publication.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do? Many thanks for your advices.
RESPONSE A: I’m worried about this happening too. If it does I will absolutely contact the journal and pull my data AND contact the university and let to know what he is doing. Does anyone know what my rights would be if he tried to make someone co-first author with me?
RESPONSE B: There's a way to handle it without escalating to direct confrontation (which might be an option too). Email the editor and CC the PI. Play it completely nice / cool / naive: like, "I was hoping to see the paper to respond to comments, but not able to access it in your system for some reason. Can you please send me a copy, provide credentials to access, so I can see the submission and respond on my part?" or something along these lines. Point being, you make it seem like some minor technical issue, but what you've done is involve other "adults" in the conversation and flagged that you have not seen the submission. CC/reply all to any further communication to the editor to create a paper trail. The PI cannot continue to do shady stuff in the open. If they try to escalate, respond only with positivity: "I really appreciate your work on this and would love to make sure to give it another read" etc. Repeat: all further communication has to be with others present. Your part is only to act in good faith (which is easy, when you are in the right). I'd recommend avoiding conflict, if you can.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: is 4-6 weeks notice enough? I've been more or less a postdoc in one lab for about 6 years and am now a key member of the lab. I cover for my boss when he is away, train grad students and RAs on protocols and technical SOPs, and run experiments, analyze data, mentor grad students, etc. This sounds like a lot, but my productivity as far as papers has not been much and TT is not in my future. I've been able to stay by jumping on projects as they come by but this is not sustainable and the stress of always worrying about funding is getting to me. The bulk of my funding is coming to an end this summer. I found a position in another department that I'm actually excited about in a research support role where I don't have to worry about funding or papers being the markers of success/value. My boss is panicking by my leaving and making passive aggressive comments and I just want to make sure I'm being fair. I've given him 4 weeks notice plus 2 weeks 50/50 time with the two positions to ensure a smooth transition. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to wrap up everything I need to wrap up/hand off, but to be honest I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me and I want to be sure that my relief at finding more stable ground (and a 40% increase in pay) is not me dumping all my commitments and burning bridges.
RESPONSE A: No funding gives you no choice. You have to support yourself. No one is irreplaceable. Trust me.
RESPONSE B: Sometimes you just have to put yourself first. I'm in the same boat because I got recruited to apply for a job that would be a huge step forward in my career. I will also have only 4-6 weeks notice and I found out my boss is going to be gone for the next 2 weeks. But he's also retiring at the end of the year, so I don't think he can give me shit for not seeing things through. A postdoc is not meant to run the lab, and your PI didn't seem to consider your career choices
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: is 4-6 weeks notice enough? I've been more or less a postdoc in one lab for about 6 years and am now a key member of the lab. I cover for my boss when he is away, train grad students and RAs on protocols and technical SOPs, and run experiments, analyze data, mentor grad students, etc. This sounds like a lot, but my productivity as far as papers has not been much and TT is not in my future. I've been able to stay by jumping on projects as they come by but this is not sustainable and the stress of always worrying about funding is getting to me. The bulk of my funding is coming to an end this summer. I found a position in another department that I'm actually excited about in a research support role where I don't have to worry about funding or papers being the markers of success/value. My boss is panicking by my leaving and making passive aggressive comments and I just want to make sure I'm being fair. I've given him 4 weeks notice plus 2 weeks 50/50 time with the two positions to ensure a smooth transition. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to wrap up everything I need to wrap up/hand off, but to be honest I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me and I want to be sure that my relief at finding more stable ground (and a 40% increase in pay) is not me dumping all my commitments and burning bridges.
RESPONSE A: He had to have seen it coming. If it were me I would have given him more like 8-10 weeks, but, you did your best. Don't worry about it.
RESPONSE B: No funding gives you no choice. You have to support yourself. No one is irreplaceable. Trust me.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: bridges.
RESPONSE A: You're being totally fair. Removing yourself from a lab after such a long time is always going to leave a mark, but beyond reasonable efforts on your part (which you've made) that's something that the lab just has to deal with. Aside: can you tell me more about this 'research support' role? I think I'm in a similarish boat to you, albeit only 2 years into my post-doc. My paper output is rubbish, I have little interest or chance of climbing the academic ladder, but I've been useful for my boss in his first few years as lab leader and I am good with the younger students. I know in a couple of years I'll either be out on my arse with no funding, or get to the point where I can't carry on treading water without being expected to push on with my career. I do like research though, I like being helpful around the lab on various projects, I just don't care about going further. What kind of role did you find?
RESPONSE B: I wouldn't even do the 50/50 time - you want to be starting your new position not looking back at your old one! Or using that time for some vacation :) Between now and when you leave just document the heck out of everything you do. I assume you'll be getting a new email address and FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY do NOT give it to your current boss & lab. Set up an autoresponder on your old email that directs people to the documentation that you'll be creating over the next 4 weeks. You have no obligaiton to this person or this lab and they have no power over you - your funding is running out, you're leaving, you don't work for them for free going forward. Don't let the passive aggressive comments make you think otherwise, this is exactly what your boss is trying to make you do. Academia can really be the island of misfit toys sometimes and PIs re used to having an absurd amount of power because people depend on them for letters of rec forever. You don't need that, so don't work for free. And congrats on the new position!
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: value. My boss is panicking by my leaving and making passive aggressive comments and I just want to make sure I'm being fair. I've given him 4 weeks notice plus 2 weeks 50/50 time with the two positions to ensure a smooth transition. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to wrap up everything I need to wrap up/hand off, but to be honest I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me and I want to be sure that my relief at finding more stable ground (and a 40% increase in pay) is not me dumping all my commitments and burning bridges.
RESPONSE A: When I quit my last job, I asked. It was late November, and I said to my boss that I could quit in a couple of weeks, to start before Christmas, or quit in January, because new job didn't want people to start at the beginning of the new year. My boss sensibly said that we don't want someone hanging around for 2 weeks with little enthusiasm or investment in the future. What does your boss want? A dead weight?
RESPONSE B: I wouldn't even do the 50/50 time - you want to be starting your new position not looking back at your old one! Or using that time for some vacation :) Between now and when you leave just document the heck out of everything you do. I assume you'll be getting a new email address and FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY do NOT give it to your current boss & lab. Set up an autoresponder on your old email that directs people to the documentation that you'll be creating over the next 4 weeks. You have no obligaiton to this person or this lab and they have no power over you - your funding is running out, you're leaving, you don't work for them for free going forward. Don't let the passive aggressive comments make you think otherwise, this is exactly what your boss is trying to make you do. Academia can really be the island of misfit toys sometimes and PIs re used to having an absurd amount of power because people depend on them for letters of rec forever. You don't need that, so don't work for free. And congrats on the new position!
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: I've been able to stay by jumping on projects as they come by but this is not sustainable and the stress of always worrying about funding is getting to me. The bulk of my funding is coming to an end this summer. I found a position in another department that I'm actually excited about in a research support role where I don't have to worry about funding or papers being the markers of success/value. My boss is panicking by my leaving and making passive aggressive comments and I just want to make sure I'm being fair. I've given him 4 weeks notice plus 2 weeks 50/50 time with the two positions to ensure a smooth transition. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to wrap up everything I need to wrap up/hand off, but to be honest I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me and I want to be sure that my relief at finding more stable ground (and a 40% increase in pay) is not me dumping all my commitments and burning bridges.
RESPONSE A: I wouldn't even do the 50/50 time - you want to be starting your new position not looking back at your old one! Or using that time for some vacation :) Between now and when you leave just document the heck out of everything you do. I assume you'll be getting a new email address and FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY do NOT give it to your current boss & lab. Set up an autoresponder on your old email that directs people to the documentation that you'll be creating over the next 4 weeks. You have no obligaiton to this person or this lab and they have no power over you - your funding is running out, you're leaving, you don't work for them for free going forward. Don't let the passive aggressive comments make you think otherwise, this is exactly what your boss is trying to make you do. Academia can really be the island of misfit toys sometimes and PIs re used to having an absurd amount of power because people depend on them for letters of rec forever. You don't need that, so don't work for free. And congrats on the new position!
RESPONSE B: whatever is in your contract as notice period is enough
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Why is expertise often disregarded by the general public with regard to the humanities? Serious question, btw. I’m relatively new to academia, and my area of study is in the humanities, specifically critical theory and literature. I teach humanities as well. I find when I talk to people about what I do, they often seem to feel like just about anyone who has a heartbeat is an “expert” in the humanities. I don’t mind it really, because I love talking about my work and a subject that I personally care a lot about. But why is it that this same thing doesn’t happen to people with degrees in, say, physics or mathematics? Or does it?
RESPONSE A: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." Isaac Asimov, Column in Newsweek (21 January 1980)
RESPONSE B: I guess people expect mathematics, engineering etc to be more rote learning and linear than humanities, which means it's more immediately obvious wether somebody is proficient or educated in them. That's just my take though.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: What are the negative things in the academia that a person should be aware of? Hello everyone, I want to do a PhD but I keep hearing such negative stuff about the academia environment. To be honest, I am a bit anxious about this. So what things should I be aware of before going into the academia in general? Any advice?
RESPONSE A: Journal writing is really fickle, and academic publishing doesn't pay you, despite time and effort and reviewers can be absurd in their decisions sometimes. Academic feedback from your supervisors can be useless or vague. They have a curse of knowledge the old school academics. Time consuming But if you're committed to wanting to further knowledge, have a career studying what you're motivated by and willing to sacrifice time and money (or at least not earn as much as other industries) then go for it
RESPONSE B: If you are successful you will not get to pick where you live and you may not be able to go someplace else if you get tenure.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: What are the negative things in the academia that a person should be aware of? Hello everyone, I want to do a PhD but I keep hearing such negative stuff about the academia environment. To be honest, I am a bit anxious about this. So what things should I be aware of before going into the academia in general? Any advice?
RESPONSE A: One thing I'd want you to be aware of is that if you need to ask, you're in trouble already (a). The tiny percentage of people who have a good time in academia \*tend\* to start off with knowing how to play the game and (knowing how to get) all kinds of support from mentors and Gatekeepers. It helps a lot if at least one of your parents is a professor. That said, it isn't 100% fixed of course - e.g., what defines "privilege" changes somewhat over time, and you can get lucky. Just don't get scammed into working yourself into a burnout because you got fooled into thinking it's a meritocracy. Apart from that there're the issues with the number of jobs and what they're like. You really need a specific plan and to check whether what you think the actual job is like is what it's actually like, for various career paths. ​ (a) Which isn't to say it's not very good to ask!
RESPONSE B: If you are successful you will not get to pick where you live and you may not be able to go someplace else if you get tenure.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: What are the negative things in the academia that a person should be aware of? Hello everyone, I want to do a PhD but I keep hearing such negative stuff about the academia environment. To be honest, I am a bit anxious about this. So what things should I be aware of before going into the academia in general? Any advice?
RESPONSE A: If you are successful you will not get to pick where you live and you may not be able to go someplace else if you get tenure.
RESPONSE B: I mean, the actual answer to this question is going to be highly field-dependent, as well as what you would want to do *after* getting a PhD.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Is it unusual to be asked to do a panel presentation at a conference AND be required to pay registration? I've been invited to be on a panel, I agreed. I was planning on going ahead and signing up for the conference and attending in person, but I'll have to pay full registration price. Now I'm told my session will be virtual, so I don't really even have to show up at the conference. But they are requiring me to pay the 'virtual attendance' price of about $500. If I'm virtual, I really would wind up not going to any of the other sessions virtually. I think its odd, that I've been asked to sit on the panel, give a presentation and required to pay $500 to do so, especially when I wasn't seeking this organization, nor would get much value out of it. So is this normal procedure to require presenters to pay full registration price?
RESPONSE A: I would say definitely not. My organization sees it as a donation of your time, but maybe not everyone sees it that way?
RESPONSE B: It varies a lot, but it's not uncommon to require regular/not high profile speakers to be paid attendees if they are also the target audience for the conference or if they applied to be a speaker (vs being invited). Unless the conference is a total scam, they will probably waive your registration fee if you tell them that you have no intention of attending the conference sessions and cannot remain on the panel if it requires a $500 fee. It could also possibly have been a mistake that they sent the registration instructions--that happened to a panel I was organizing one year with government speakers who were absolutely not required to pay, but someone accidentally sent the email to the full speakers list.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Is it unusual to be asked to do a panel presentation at a conference AND be required to pay registration? I've been invited to be on a panel, I agreed. I was planning on going ahead and signing up for the conference and attending in person, but I'll have to pay full registration price. Now I'm told my session will be virtual, so I don't really even have to show up at the conference. But they are requiring me to pay the 'virtual attendance' price of about $500. If I'm virtual, I really would wind up not going to any of the other sessions virtually. I think its odd, that I've been asked to sit on the panel, give a presentation and required to pay $500 to do so, especially when I wasn't seeking this organization, nor would get much value out of it. So is this normal procedure to require presenters to pay full registration price?
RESPONSE A: That sounds fishy, if for no other reason than the amount. Even the big conferences in my field (English/creative writing) were around half that for basic fees (this was 7 or so years ago, mind). Unless it's a big-name flagship conference for your field, I'd worry this is a money grab. Would the bullet point on your CV be worth the $500? If not, I'd be wary.
RESPONSE B: It varies a lot, but it's not uncommon to require regular/not high profile speakers to be paid attendees if they are also the target audience for the conference or if they applied to be a speaker (vs being invited). Unless the conference is a total scam, they will probably waive your registration fee if you tell them that you have no intention of attending the conference sessions and cannot remain on the panel if it requires a $500 fee. It could also possibly have been a mistake that they sent the registration instructions--that happened to a panel I was organizing one year with government speakers who were absolutely not required to pay, but someone accidentally sent the email to the full speakers list.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Is it unusual to be asked to do a panel presentation at a conference AND be required to pay registration? I've been invited to be on a panel, I agreed. I was planning on going ahead and signing up for the conference and attending in person, but I'll have to pay full registration price. Now I'm told my session will be virtual, so I don't really even have to show up at the conference. But they are requiring me to pay the 'virtual attendance' price of about $500. If I'm virtual, I really would wind up not going to any of the other sessions virtually. I think its odd, that I've been asked to sit on the panel, give a presentation and required to pay $500 to do so, especially when I wasn't seeking this organization, nor would get much value out of it. So is this normal procedure to require presenters to pay full registration price?
RESPONSE A: If you were invited you shouldn’t have to pay. It’s one thing if you applied, but if they sought you out and ask you to pay - that’s sketch.
RESPONSE B: If you've been in the field for a while and you haven't heard about the conference, then it's probably a scam.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Is it unusual to be asked to do a panel presentation at a conference AND be required to pay registration? I've been invited to be on a panel, I agreed. I was planning on going ahead and signing up for the conference and attending in person, but I'll have to pay full registration price. Now I'm told my session will be virtual, so I don't really even have to show up at the conference. But they are requiring me to pay the 'virtual attendance' price of about $500. If I'm virtual, I really would wind up not going to any of the other sessions virtually. I think its odd, that I've been asked to sit on the panel, give a presentation and required to pay $500 to do so, especially when I wasn't seeking this organization, nor would get much value out of it. So is this normal procedure to require presenters to pay full registration price?
RESPONSE A: That sounds fishy, if for no other reason than the amount. Even the big conferences in my field (English/creative writing) were around half that for basic fees (this was 7 or so years ago, mind). Unless it's a big-name flagship conference for your field, I'd worry this is a money grab. Would the bullet point on your CV be worth the $500? If not, I'd be wary.
RESPONSE B: If you've been in the field for a while and you haven't heard about the conference, then it's probably a scam.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Is it unusual to be asked to do a panel presentation at a conference AND be required to pay registration? I've been invited to be on a panel, I agreed. I was planning on going ahead and signing up for the conference and attending in person, but I'll have to pay full registration price. Now I'm told my session will be virtual, so I don't really even have to show up at the conference. But they are requiring me to pay the 'virtual attendance' price of about $500. If I'm virtual, I really would wind up not going to any of the other sessions virtually. I think its odd, that I've been asked to sit on the panel, give a presentation and required to pay $500 to do so, especially when I wasn't seeking this organization, nor would get much value out of it. So is this normal procedure to require presenters to pay full registration price?
RESPONSE A: If you've been in the field for a while and you haven't heard about the conference, then it's probably a scam.
RESPONSE B: It happens. Sometimes there are two parallel "systems". The organizers, who initiate the conference, make the schedules, invites to panels and keynotes, etc., and the registry folks. The latter may see it as fees paid = registered. Not paid = not registered. The organizers may or may not be aware of this. Or they may have drawn a line somewhere between poster presenters, paper presenters, panels, and keynote speakers, where some get to pay and others don't.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: For Those on the Academic Job Market This Year: How is it Going? How many applications have you or do you plan to send out? How is it going? How many shortlists/interviews/campus visits are you getting? What are your overall thoughts on this year's market? Anything to celebrate? We all know it's rough out there.
RESPONSE A: I am on a faculty hiring committee right now (CS TT hire at a SLAC) and to be honest, I am rather disappointed in the number of applications we received. We are on the second round of interviews and have some solid candidates, don't get me wrong, but still. Makes me wonder if CS people are just jumping ship and heading into industry?
RESPONSE B: First year on the market, have already successfully defended for my PhD, and I already have my JD. I'm an interdisciplinary scholar, and I've applied to basically everything for which I am qualified. I am up to 106 applications, with 32 rejections. I had three first-round interviews, but I got rejections after. I requested feedback, and I was repeatedly told that my CV is strong, my interview performance is good, but the market is killing me. For one entry-level position, the committee head told me they decided not to go entry-level at all, and that I was competing with full professors with 10+ years of experience. At least a couple positions were canceled due to lack of funding, and I get the sense that several positions are waiting to do interviews until they know whether they will be able to hire anyone.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: For Those on the Academic Job Market This Year: How is it Going? How many applications have you or do you plan to send out? How is it going? How many shortlists/interviews/campus visits are you getting? What are your overall thoughts on this year's market? Anything to celebrate? We all know it's rough out there.
RESPONSE A: First year on the market, have already successfully defended for my PhD, and I already have my JD. I'm an interdisciplinary scholar, and I've applied to basically everything for which I am qualified. I am up to 106 applications, with 32 rejections. I had three first-round interviews, but I got rejections after. I requested feedback, and I was repeatedly told that my CV is strong, my interview performance is good, but the market is killing me. For one entry-level position, the committee head told me they decided not to go entry-level at all, and that I was competing with full professors with 10+ years of experience. At least a couple positions were canceled due to lack of funding, and I get the sense that several positions are waiting to do interviews until they know whether they will be able to hire anyone.
RESPONSE B: Got incredibly lucky. Applied to maybe....10 total, and had thrown in the towel and looked at industry jobs when I was invited to a 1st round early Jan. 2nd round/virtual campus end of Jan, offer made and accepted late Feb (Non-US R1 equivalent). I've since received 2 more 1st round invites from R2. My friend from PhD has had one 1st round, and a 1st+2nd round coming soon. It's a bloodbath out there.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: For Those on the Academic Job Market This Year: How is it Going? How many applications have you or do you plan to send out? How is it going? How many shortlists/interviews/campus visits are you getting? What are your overall thoughts on this year's market? Anything to celebrate? We all know it's rough out there.
RESPONSE A: First year on the market, have already successfully defended for my PhD, and I already have my JD. I'm an interdisciplinary scholar, and I've applied to basically everything for which I am qualified. I am up to 106 applications, with 32 rejections. I had three first-round interviews, but I got rejections after. I requested feedback, and I was repeatedly told that my CV is strong, my interview performance is good, but the market is killing me. For one entry-level position, the committee head told me they decided not to go entry-level at all, and that I was competing with full professors with 10+ years of experience. At least a couple positions were canceled due to lack of funding, and I get the sense that several positions are waiting to do interviews until they know whether they will be able to hire anyone.
RESPONSE B: First year on the market and still ABD. Sent in 3 TT applications and one VAP (already had 3 VAP offers from places where I adjunct). Got an interview for the VAP. No word from 2 of the TT. Accepted an offer last week for the other TT! Edit: should add that I technically sent in materials for a 4th TT but the search was cancelled.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: For Those on the Academic Job Market This Year: How is it Going? How many applications have you or do you plan to send out? How is it going? How many shortlists/interviews/campus visits are you getting? What are your overall thoughts on this year's market? Anything to celebrate? We all know it's rough out there.
RESPONSE A: Basically the sound of your username being read aloud
RESPONSE B: I am on a faculty hiring committee right now (CS TT hire at a SLAC) and to be honest, I am rather disappointed in the number of applications we received. We are on the second round of interviews and have some solid candidates, don't get me wrong, but still. Makes me wonder if CS people are just jumping ship and heading into industry?
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: For Those on the Academic Job Market This Year: How is it Going? How many applications have you or do you plan to send out? How is it going? How many shortlists/interviews/campus visits are you getting? What are your overall thoughts on this year's market? Anything to celebrate? We all know it's rough out there.
RESPONSE A: Got incredibly lucky. Applied to maybe....10 total, and had thrown in the towel and looked at industry jobs when I was invited to a 1st round early Jan. 2nd round/virtual campus end of Jan, offer made and accepted late Feb (Non-US R1 equivalent). I've since received 2 more 1st round invites from R2. My friend from PhD has had one 1st round, and a 1st+2nd round coming soon. It's a bloodbath out there.
RESPONSE B: Basically the sound of your username being read aloud
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Research "Penpal"? Would anyone be interested in being research "penpals"? I'm working on finishing up my undergrad thesis before I move for my PhD program next month. I think it would be helpful to have a sort of "penpal" to help keep me accountable, and of course I would do the same in return. We could just chat once a week or so and update each other on what we've accomplished this week. I wouldn't mind looking at your writing to give my opinion either, and do some light editing. My field is clinical psych, but I think it would be cool to hear about research from another area too!
RESPONSE A: Awesome idea! This would have been helpful for me during grad school!
RESPONSE B: I love this! I’m a org behavior/IO psych student and I’ll be the only one in my cohort. Would love to have someone to share experiences with
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Research "Penpal"? Would anyone be interested in being research "penpals"? I'm working on finishing up my undergrad thesis before I move for my PhD program next month. I think it would be helpful to have a sort of "penpal" to help keep me accountable, and of course I would do the same in return. We could just chat once a week or so and update each other on what we've accomplished this week. I wouldn't mind looking at your writing to give my opinion either, and do some light editing. My field is clinical psych, but I think it would be cool to hear about research from another area too!
RESPONSE A: Not quite penpals, but you could join us on the r/PhD discord: https://discord.gg/RhP4ECs
RESPONSE B: Great idea! Would definitely help stay accountable the summer before grad school
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Research "Penpal"? Would anyone be interested in being research "penpals"? I'm working on finishing up my undergrad thesis before I move for my PhD program next month. I think it would be helpful to have a sort of "penpal" to help keep me accountable, and of course I would do the same in return. We could just chat once a week or so and update each other on what we've accomplished this week. I wouldn't mind looking at your writing to give my opinion either, and do some light editing. My field is clinical psych, but I think it would be cool to hear about research from another area too!
RESPONSE A: I would love this! I'm in computer science though. Anyone else in that area?
RESPONSE B: Great idea! Would definitely help stay accountable the summer before grad school
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: 4th Year Phd...My Advisor Was Denied Tenure... Hello everyone! ​ I found out this morning that my advisor was denied tenure. His contract runs through May 2020, which is conceivably when I should graduate, but I have so many questions. I very firmly do NOT want to switch advisors, he's the most supportive professor I've ever met and has been helping me develop my research all 4 years of the program so he is very familiar with my work and is supportive despite my fairly controversial dissertation topic (I'm doing applied stats in a political science program). I'm his only student. I don't know what happens next...has anyone been through this? What happens now? I'm devastated.
RESPONSE A: Talk to your advisor. The best thing is to push and do your best to graduate in 2020 as planned. If there's a chance that you will take longer, you may have the option to transfer with your advisor to wherever they go next (it's not uncommon for faculty hires to bring senior PhD students with them). However the devil is always in the details with that sort of thing, as there are issues to work out with respect to qualifying exams, where your degree actually comes from, etc.
RESPONSE B: Make plans for a co-chair. It doesn't matter if you don't want to switch - your advisor may be gone before 2020. And let this stand as a message to all the earlier-career students out there: Don't pick something only one person at your department can conceivably chair, and don't pick pretenure faculty to chair (alone) a dissertation committee.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: 4th Year Phd...My Advisor Was Denied Tenure... Hello everyone! ​ I found out this morning that my advisor was denied tenure. His contract runs through May 2020, which is conceivably when I should graduate, but I have so many questions. I very firmly do NOT want to switch advisors, he's the most supportive professor I've ever met and has been helping me develop my research all 4 years of the program so he is very familiar with my work and is supportive despite my fairly controversial dissertation topic (I'm doing applied stats in a political science program). I'm his only student. I don't know what happens next...has anyone been through this? What happens now? I'm devastated.
RESPONSE A: Talk to your advisor. The best thing is to push and do your best to graduate in 2020 as planned. If there's a chance that you will take longer, you may have the option to transfer with your advisor to wherever they go next (it's not uncommon for faculty hires to bring senior PhD students with them). However the devil is always in the details with that sort of thing, as there are issues to work out with respect to qualifying exams, where your degree actually comes from, etc.
RESPONSE B: I'm not going to lie, this may cause some problems, but I think that you'll be able to make it. The first thing I recommend you do is TALK TO YOUR ADVISOR openly and honestly. Find out if he's planning on staying out his contract. My advisor didn't get tenure and quit a month later (although he was secretly planning on quitting for a while, I believe) which left me in a difficult position. Your greatest ally in this situation is foreknowledge. Edit: Also, assuming you have a committee, talk to them as well. One of your committee members may end up being your new advisor (this is what my department tried to have me do), so make sure there is somebody there who is on your side and who you mutually like.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: 4th Year Phd...My Advisor Was Denied Tenure... Hello everyone! ​ I found out this morning that my advisor was denied tenure. His contract runs through May 2020, which is conceivably when I should graduate, but I have so many questions. I very firmly do NOT want to switch advisors, he's the most supportive professor I've ever met and has been helping me develop my research all 4 years of the program so he is very familiar with my work and is supportive despite my fairly controversial dissertation topic (I'm doing applied stats in a political science program). I'm his only student. I don't know what happens next...has anyone been through this? What happens now? I'm devastated.
RESPONSE A: I'm not going to lie, this may cause some problems, but I think that you'll be able to make it. The first thing I recommend you do is TALK TO YOUR ADVISOR openly and honestly. Find out if he's planning on staying out his contract. My advisor didn't get tenure and quit a month later (although he was secretly planning on quitting for a while, I believe) which left me in a difficult position. Your greatest ally in this situation is foreknowledge. Edit: Also, assuming you have a committee, talk to them as well. One of your committee members may end up being your new advisor (this is what my department tried to have me do), so make sure there is somebody there who is on your side and who you mutually like.
RESPONSE B: You dont have to be devastated. Since you are far along into your program, ideally, you could finish whatever project you are doing in another lab that is part of your department. In the worst case where all of your PI colleagues are not cooperative, youll have to wrap things up. Since you are probably not doing wetlab work, you can negotiate that you could TA to pay yourself while you finish your thesis. Everything I told you surely applies to a life science PhD, it can be that the rules in your particular school are different. I suggest that you approach and discuss your situation with the programs ombudsperson. All the best !
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: 4th Year Phd...My Advisor Was Denied Tenure... Hello everyone! ​ I found out this morning that my advisor was denied tenure. His contract runs through May 2020, which is conceivably when I should graduate, but I have so many questions. I very firmly do NOT want to switch advisors, he's the most supportive professor I've ever met and has been helping me develop my research all 4 years of the program so he is very familiar with my work and is supportive despite my fairly controversial dissertation topic (I'm doing applied stats in a political science program). I'm his only student. I don't know what happens next...has anyone been through this? What happens now? I'm devastated.
RESPONSE A: Talk to your advisor. The best thing is to push and do your best to graduate in 2020 as planned. If there's a chance that you will take longer, you may have the option to transfer with your advisor to wherever they go next (it's not uncommon for faculty hires to bring senior PhD students with them). However the devil is always in the details with that sort of thing, as there are issues to work out with respect to qualifying exams, where your degree actually comes from, etc.
RESPONSE B: Honestly what I would be more worried about is getting letters of recommendation for job applications. Your PhD advisor should write one for you and I'd be a little concerned with how it'd be perceived if he was no longer in a tenure track role. I don't have magic answers for you, unfortunately, aside from having an open and honest discussion with your advisor, and perhaps a second one with your graduate director and/or department chair.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: 4th Year Phd...My Advisor Was Denied Tenure... Hello everyone! ​ I found out this morning that my advisor was denied tenure. His contract runs through May 2020, which is conceivably when I should graduate, but I have so many questions. I very firmly do NOT want to switch advisors, he's the most supportive professor I've ever met and has been helping me develop my research all 4 years of the program so he is very familiar with my work and is supportive despite my fairly controversial dissertation topic (I'm doing applied stats in a political science program). I'm his only student. I don't know what happens next...has anyone been through this? What happens now? I'm devastated.
RESPONSE A: You dont have to be devastated. Since you are far along into your program, ideally, you could finish whatever project you are doing in another lab that is part of your department. In the worst case where all of your PI colleagues are not cooperative, youll have to wrap things up. Since you are probably not doing wetlab work, you can negotiate that you could TA to pay yourself while you finish your thesis. Everything I told you surely applies to a life science PhD, it can be that the rules in your particular school are different. I suggest that you approach and discuss your situation with the programs ombudsperson. All the best !
RESPONSE B: Honestly what I would be more worried about is getting letters of recommendation for job applications. Your PhD advisor should write one for you and I'd be a little concerned with how it'd be perceived if he was no longer in a tenure track role. I don't have magic answers for you, unfortunately, aside from having an open and honest discussion with your advisor, and perhaps a second one with your graduate director and/or department chair.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: 19853725122561?s=21
RESPONSE A: There are several aspects of this letter that tell us that this isn't a matter of "professional courtesy". 1. Is it expected that every conversation in the student lounge/study area is only about research matters? Anyone who has spent any time in these spaces knows that people talk about all kinds of crap there, related or not to research, and that it's absurd to expect that while people are at work they will only be discussing work matters. "I encourage you to commit to using English 100% of the time." When you make a joke with a friend? When you talk about your lunch in the break room? When you vent after a failed test? Why would English be necessary in any of these situations? 2. As also stated by OP /u/misschang - Writing down names "so they could remember them if the students ever interviewed for an internship or asked to work with them for a master's project." Forgive my assumption, but it's difficult to read this as anything other than suggesting these students be blacklisted for having an animated discussion in their first language. Whether or not you think that the students should be allowed to talk in Chinese, this seems like an absurd overreaction. 3. There's no indication that the professors complaining even tried to approach the students directly. Do they even want to solve the supposed problem? Or are there other factors at play? Sure, there's nothing that could be called overtly racist in this letter, but many of the things that it says make absolutely no sense from the "professional" perspective it claims to have.
RESPONSE B: Hey I know the email may come off as intolerant, but here's an alternative perspective. I'm in a graduate program where over 80% of students are international and the department head of the program advised us to speak English in public settings so we can establish a community feel, where people are open to join any conversations. His advice did not come from a place of hostility towards diversity but rather he wanted students to be inclusive and try to dissuade students from establishing exclusive cliques with students of their own race. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with speaking your native language, however speaking English allows for a more collaborative environment.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Duke U director of biostats tells Chinese students to only speak English https://twitter.com/siruihua/status/1089219853725122561?s=21
RESPONSE A: Hey I know the email may come off as intolerant, but here's an alternative perspective. I'm in a graduate program where over 80% of students are international and the department head of the program advised us to speak English in public settings so we can establish a community feel, where people are open to join any conversations. His advice did not come from a place of hostility towards diversity but rather he wanted students to be inclusive and try to dissuade students from establishing exclusive cliques with students of their own race. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with speaking your native language, however speaking English allows for a more collaborative environment.
RESPONSE B: If the director wrote a letter saying "Hey everyone, please keep it down and be considerate of other people in public areas" this would be totally a-OK This letter does not say that, instead it says "Hey Chinese people: Stop being so Chinesey and loud and speak English, plus you all look the same--make it easier to identify you so we can blacklist you better".
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Duke U director of biostats tells Chinese students to only speak English https://twitter.com/siruihua/status/1089219853725122561?s=21
RESPONSE A: I'm not chinese or from Duke university, but I'd like to ask the director which faculty members contacted her so I know who to avoid as future employers.
RESPONSE B: I get the intention behind it, being that language can create a bit of division actually. Although, I don't agree with how quick and severe the faculty wanted to be with their response. This is where I would like administrators to try and think about what kind of events/programs can they develop to form interactions and camaraderie in the workplace. That to me is trying to form unity, rather than creating bad blood singling out people due to their cultural background.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Duke U director of biostats tells Chinese students to only speak English https://twitter.com/siruihua/status/1089219853725122561?s=21
RESPONSE A: I get the intention behind it, being that language can create a bit of division actually. Although, I don't agree with how quick and severe the faculty wanted to be with their response. This is where I would like administrators to try and think about what kind of events/programs can they develop to form interactions and camaraderie in the workplace. That to me is trying to form unity, rather than creating bad blood singling out people due to their cultural background.
RESPONSE B: She stepped down from her administrative role but remains a professor: https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2019/01/duke-university-emails-director-of-grad-studies-steps-down-after-telling-students-not-to-speak-chinese
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Duke U director of biostats tells Chinese students to only speak English https://twitter.com/siruihua/status/1089219853725122561?s=21
RESPONSE A: I get the intention behind it, being that language can create a bit of division actually. Although, I don't agree with how quick and severe the faculty wanted to be with their response. This is where I would like administrators to try and think about what kind of events/programs can they develop to form interactions and camaraderie in the workplace. That to me is trying to form unity, rather than creating bad blood singling out people due to their cultural background.
RESPONSE B: I think it is completely OK to ask for people to speak at a lower volume, regardless of what is the language they are speaking. Complaining about a specific ethnic student group is out of limits though.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: major corrections (and I'm not even going to entertain the notion of minor corrections!). Frankly, anything better than failing is more than I'm expecting. Either way, at least it's submitted and I don't have to think about it right now. Thank you for all your advice and kind words. If I managed to get to this point, anyone can! But I urge anyone who is struggling to communicate with their advisers. Please! If I could go back in time and shake my previous self until she listened to me, I would tell her that! I never told them about the personal problems I was having or the grief I was experiencing because I was scared of their reaction. But they are people, and it's in their best interests for their supervisees to pass, so they would have helped me out. Right now I'm feeling underwhelmed with a strong vein of panic running through me. I don't think my thesis is good enough, and also I don't know what to do with myself. I'm just going to work really hard at my job and only do nice things in the evenings.
RESPONSE A: Congratulations on submitting, many people don't even make it that far! The UK PhD system is a joke when it comes to time limitations and you're not alone in feeling its bite. The same is true for running out of funding for the fourth year. Oh yeah sure we can just keep on being full-time students whilst having zero income because it's so easy to build savings on the generous stipends they provide! /s I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me. I have been writing my thesis for two months now (due to submit in less than two) and it is the most miserable thing I have ever done. I have a job lined up and don't need to finish this, but the idea of not finishing the thesis is something I can't deal with. I could deal with failing it, but not completing would always hang over my head. If you have any sage words of advice on how to keep writing when it brings no joy I would love to hear them.
RESPONSE B: Hang in there! I know I'm a random internet stranger but I'm proud of you!
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: . My advisor seems to want to just push it out as a paper and I do think it’s worth publishing the results if everything is done right. However there’s just not a huge incentive for me personally unless it’s incorporated into my progress in some way. I was thinking about asking the undergrad if they really intend to do any more work and if not, I can take over and they can be second author which I think is fair. In this case I feel a little bad because it feels like I’m just “stealing” their paper but realistically I feel like I’ve been doing essentially all the work. I’m also thinking about asking my advisor if this could be incorporated as part of a chapter of my dissertation (and I drop part of another part) just to take the load off of my plate. It’s kind of an awkward situation for me right now and I’m not sure if I’m just overthinking this so any insight would be great!
RESPONSE A: Sounds like you should be the first author, I don’t really understand the PI pushing some random graduated Master student to be the first author where the “resident” PhD is doing a big chunk of the work, makes no sense to me. Either way, the labs I know wouldn’t push the Master student to be the first author when it all fits in the project and under the guidance of a PhD student.
RESPONSE B: It's very unclear from this how much you've discussed this with your PI. It sounds like you've told them the student isn't responding but you haven't said anything about the quality of the work, your concerns about its accuracy or the amount of redoing you need to do. If this was me, I'd use my next 1:1 to go through all the work in detail. I'd break the paper down into all the individual tasks that need doing, assign the amount of time I think each task is going to take and give a RAG (red, amber, green) for how close each task is to completion, and possibly put in a time line. The visualisation of the number of tasks and the RAG might help convey just how much work there is to be done and how little the student has done.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: but I’m not quite sure. My advisor seems to want to just push it out as a paper and I do think it’s worth publishing the results if everything is done right. However there’s just not a huge incentive for me personally unless it’s incorporated into my progress in some way. I was thinking about asking the undergrad if they really intend to do any more work and if not, I can take over and they can be second author which I think is fair. In this case I feel a little bad because it feels like I’m just “stealing” their paper but realistically I feel like I’ve been doing essentially all the work. I’m also thinking about asking my advisor if this could be incorporated as part of a chapter of my dissertation (and I drop part of another part) just to take the load off of my plate. It’s kind of an awkward situation for me right now and I’m not sure if I’m just overthinking this so any insight would be great!
RESPONSE A: What is the purpose of this data to be published? Your advisor have some publication plan issues? Because if nobody wants to work on the article you just should not even bother yourself. At my uni we have some money bonus for a publication in a high ranking journals, it helps to motivate myself to do the pointless job. If you have such thing just do it for money :)
RESPONSE B: It's very unclear from this how much you've discussed this with your PI. It sounds like you've told them the student isn't responding but you haven't said anything about the quality of the work, your concerns about its accuracy or the amount of redoing you need to do. If this was me, I'd use my next 1:1 to go through all the work in detail. I'd break the paper down into all the individual tasks that need doing, assign the amount of time I think each task is going to take and give a RAG (red, amber, green) for how close each task is to completion, and possibly put in a time line. The visualisation of the number of tasks and the RAG might help convey just how much work there is to be done and how little the student has done.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: my advisor this and he said something like it’s our job to “clean up the plate”. I have spent 2 weeks recalculating the results and analysis but now I’m very hesitant to proceed with writing. I have my own PhD projects to work on and tusks now taking up a lot of my time considering it would not contribute to my PhD progress and I would not be first author. I also feel it is not right for the undergrad to be first author their end contribution at this point but I’m not quite sure. My advisor seems to want to just push it out as a paper and I do think it’s worth publishing the results if everything is done right. However there’s just not a huge incentive for me personally unless it’s incorporated into my progress in some way. I was thinking about asking the undergrad if they really intend to do any more work and if not, I can take over and they can be second author which I think is fair. In this case I feel a little bad because it feels like I’m just “stealing” their paper but realistically I feel like I’ve been doing essentially all the work. I’m also thinking about asking my advisor if this could be incorporated as part of a chapter of my dissertation (and I drop part of another part) just to take the load off of my plate. It’s kind of an awkward situation for me right now and I’m not sure if I’m just overthinking this so any insight would be great!
RESPONSE A: What is the purpose of this data to be published? Your advisor have some publication plan issues? Because if nobody wants to work on the article you just should not even bother yourself. At my uni we have some money bonus for a publication in a high ranking journals, it helps to motivate myself to do the pointless job. If you have such thing just do it for money :)
RESPONSE B: >The methods used in the thesis is sloppy and I had to completely redo everything. Undergrad is unenthusiastic about publishing now that they are graduated and possibly ignoring me. Unsure how to handle situation because I’m busy with my own work and this project has no impact on my PhD progress currently. Tell your advisor this
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: up the plate”. I have spent 2 weeks recalculating the results and analysis but now I’m very hesitant to proceed with writing. I have my own PhD projects to work on and tusks now taking up a lot of my time considering it would not contribute to my PhD progress and I would not be first author. I also feel it is not right for the undergrad to be first author their end contribution at this point but I’m not quite sure. My advisor seems to want to just push it out as a paper and I do think it’s worth publishing the results if everything is done right. However there’s just not a huge incentive for me personally unless it’s incorporated into my progress in some way. I was thinking about asking the undergrad if they really intend to do any more work and if not, I can take over and they can be second author which I think is fair. In this case I feel a little bad because it feels like I’m just “stealing” their paper but realistically I feel like I’ve been doing essentially all the work. I’m also thinking about asking my advisor if this could be incorporated as part of a chapter of my dissertation (and I drop part of another part) just to take the load off of my plate. It’s kind of an awkward situation for me right now and I’m not sure if I’m just overthinking this so any insight would be great!
RESPONSE A: What is the purpose of this data to be published? Your advisor have some publication plan issues? Because if nobody wants to work on the article you just should not even bother yourself. At my uni we have some money bonus for a publication in a high ranking journals, it helps to motivate myself to do the pointless job. If you have such thing just do it for money :)
RESPONSE B: Sounds like you should be the first author, I don’t really understand the PI pushing some random graduated Master student to be the first author where the “resident” PhD is doing a big chunk of the work, makes no sense to me. Either way, the labs I know wouldn’t push the Master student to be the first author when it all fits in the project and under the guidance of a PhD student.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: a paper and I do think it’s worth publishing the results if everything is done right. However there’s just not a huge incentive for me personally unless it’s incorporated into my progress in some way. I was thinking about asking the undergrad if they really intend to do any more work and if not, I can take over and they can be second author which I think is fair. In this case I feel a little bad because it feels like I’m just “stealing” their paper but realistically I feel like I’ve been doing essentially all the work. I’m also thinking about asking my advisor if this could be incorporated as part of a chapter of my dissertation (and I drop part of another part) just to take the load off of my plate. It’s kind of an awkward situation for me right now and I’m not sure if I’m just overthinking this so any insight would be great!
RESPONSE A: What is the purpose of this data to be published? Your advisor have some publication plan issues? Because if nobody wants to work on the article you just should not even bother yourself. At my uni we have some money bonus for a publication in a high ranking journals, it helps to motivate myself to do the pointless job. If you have such thing just do it for money :)
RESPONSE B: > Undergrad is unenthusiastic about publishing now that they are graduated and possibly ignoring me. I can tell you more about this because I have been in this situation. After graduating I didn't give a care about publishing my thesis anymore, because I get a job with decent pay and the project was crappy anyway. However, my undergrad thesis advisor insists on me publish it, but I simply say I don't have time. That is just a reason because now I have other similar projects which I am very enthusiastic about and I spend all of my free time doing it. So, when the undergrad says he/she is not interested, yeah he/she is not interested. To not "steal all the work", you can list he/she as second author if you re-do everything. Yeah I don't mind, and probably so does he/she.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Professor wont let me see my own final- grade discrepency My final exam got messed up and instead of getting my accommodation of "time and a half" on a 3 hour exam i got "half time" on a 866 point final with 14 problems, I got stopped at 1 hour and 30 minutes. I notified the Prof who told me to just log back in and finish the text. It began an "attempt 2" where he said to just do the ones I missed the first time around. My first score for 9/14 was around 530 points give or take. The grade he presented with was the 53(4?) plus what he implied was an obvious 54 points from my second attempt. That seems bonkers low and I really want to see the graded exam so I know how and where I messed up. what reason would he have for refusing to let me see? after all, he is the one who fucked up my disability accommodations. Does the grading confuse anyone else?
RESPONSE A: Contact the disability services office—whoever you worked with to get the accommodation—and ask them for help on this. Don’t wait until next semester because your school might have a narrow window to resolve issues like this. Mine does. This is the weirdest sounding final. 14 questions worth 866 points. If there are students who have yet to take this exam, I can understand why the prof won’t let you see it yet. It’s not unusual to make a graded exam available after finals are finished. You should still follow up with disability services, though, because your accommodation wasn’t granted.
RESPONSE B: Get in touch with an ombudsperson. You have a right, as a student, to see your exam after it’s marked.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: What are your favorite scientific articles of all time? I’m an undergraduate biology student and I’m interested in reading a bunch of scientific works over the winter break coming up. What are your favorite articles of all time?
RESPONSE A: I read this article in undergrad, and it opened my eyes to a career path I didn't know was an option. I'm now in an epidemiology PhD program studying access to contraceptive care. I don't know that it will be as impactful to others, but it certainly changed my life: The Contraceptive CHOICE Project: Reducing Barriers to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
RESPONSE B: The mundanity of excellence: An ethnographic report on stratification and Olympic swimmers
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: What are your favorite scientific articles of all time? I’m an undergraduate biology student and I’m interested in reading a bunch of scientific works over the winter break coming up. What are your favorite articles of all time?
RESPONSE A: not a paper, but a talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AysOj1ewaYI
RESPONSE B: I read this article in undergrad, and it opened my eyes to a career path I didn't know was an option. I'm now in an epidemiology PhD program studying access to contraceptive care. I don't know that it will be as impactful to others, but it certainly changed my life: The Contraceptive CHOICE Project: Reducing Barriers to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: What are your favorite scientific articles of all time? I’m an undergraduate biology student and I’m interested in reading a bunch of scientific works over the winter break coming up. What are your favorite articles of all time?
RESPONSE A: I read this article in undergrad, and it opened my eyes to a career path I didn't know was an option. I'm now in an epidemiology PhD program studying access to contraceptive care. I don't know that it will be as impactful to others, but it certainly changed my life: The Contraceptive CHOICE Project: Reducing Barriers to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
RESPONSE B: The dog evolution paper - one of the referenced papers in this review: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6232/277
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: What are your favorite scientific articles of all time? I’m an undergraduate biology student and I’m interested in reading a bunch of scientific works over the winter break coming up. What are your favorite articles of all time?
RESPONSE A: The mundanity of excellence: An ethnographic report on stratification and Olympic swimmers
RESPONSE B: As a biology student, you should read "Why are juveniles smaller than their parents?" possibly with "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm," if somehow you haven't read that classic as an undergrad (a paper with it's own Wiki page, weirdly-- how often does that happen). The juveniles paper is a joke paper in response to the Gould piece, looking for adaptive reasons why juveniles are smaller than their parents. Plus it starts off with a quote from "S. Martin," which is from a Steve Martin stand-up about getting high. Very fun article for us bio nerds.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: What are your favorite scientific articles of all time? I’m an undergraduate biology student and I’m interested in reading a bunch of scientific works over the winter break coming up. What are your favorite articles of all time?
RESPONSE A: not a paper, but a talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AysOj1ewaYI
RESPONSE B: As a biology student, you should read "Why are juveniles smaller than their parents?" possibly with "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm," if somehow you haven't read that classic as an undergrad (a paper with it's own Wiki page, weirdly-- how often does that happen). The juveniles paper is a joke paper in response to the Gould piece, looking for adaptive reasons why juveniles are smaller than their parents. Plus it starts off with a quote from "S. Martin," which is from a Steve Martin stand-up about getting high. Very fun article for us bio nerds.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: I would like to become a professor but don't know if the endeavor is worth it for a variety of reasons. What do you think? What are the ways to make yourself stand out? I have a ton of questions regarding becoming a professor. I am wondering just how difficult overall it is. I have heard that it is difficult because there are a lack of jobs and for one position there may be up to 400 applicants. I have heard that only the top students at top schools get these positions. I am not a bad student, I just know I'm not the best. I am 30 years old and looking to go to grad school within the next 2-3 years but don't know how old I can realistically be to apply for professorship. Speculating I will be doing so in my late to early 40's. I live in Canada and have heard there are less opportunities in Canada and therefore competition is that much more tough. I have a stable unionized job that I cannot leave here in Canada. -- If there is space and time, are there any ways to make yourself stand out as a candidate. Does specializing in a narrow sub field help?
RESPONSE A: I just think "I want to become a professor" is the wrong starting point. What is it that you really want? If you want some fancy title there are easier ways to do it. You should reflect on the things you actually want out of life, and at various stages of your development you should make choices based on those. Doing a PhD can be a stepping stone to several different career paths that will give you lots of the same things being a professor would.
RESPONSE B: When I have kids I will make sure they dont enter this profession.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: I would like to become a professor but don't know if the endeavor is worth it for a variety of reasons. What do you think? What are the ways to make yourself stand out? I have a ton of questions regarding becoming a professor. I am wondering just how difficult overall it is. I have heard that it is difficult because there are a lack of jobs and for one position there may be up to 400 applicants. I have heard that only the top students at top schools get these positions. I am not a bad student, I just know I'm not the best. I am 30 years old and looking to go to grad school within the next 2-3 years but don't know how old I can realistically be to apply for professorship. Speculating I will be doing so in my late to early 40's. I live in Canada and have heard there are less opportunities in Canada and therefore competition is that much more tough. I have a stable unionized job that I cannot leave here in Canada. -- If there is space and time, are there any ways to make yourself stand out as a candidate. Does specializing in a narrow sub field help?
RESPONSE A: I am in my thirties and currently doing a PhD with the goal of becoming a professor one day. I turned down several industry job offers for this, as I really wanted to be in academia. I specialise in a very narrow sub-field that is currently getting a lot of attention and funding. I naively thought this would almost guarantee me a faculty position. I no longer think so. I love teaching, so I’ll probably continue working for peanuts without any security for the rest of my life. [Edit: a word]
RESPONSE B: I just think "I want to become a professor" is the wrong starting point. What is it that you really want? If you want some fancy title there are easier ways to do it. You should reflect on the things you actually want out of life, and at various stages of your development you should make choices based on those. Doing a PhD can be a stepping stone to several different career paths that will give you lots of the same things being a professor would.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: I would like to become a professor but don't know if the endeavor is worth it for a variety of reasons. What do you think? What are the ways to make yourself stand out? I have a ton of questions regarding becoming a professor. I am wondering just how difficult overall it is. I have heard that it is difficult because there are a lack of jobs and for one position there may be up to 400 applicants. I have heard that only the top students at top schools get these positions. I am not a bad student, I just know I'm not the best. I am 30 years old and looking to go to grad school within the next 2-3 years but don't know how old I can realistically be to apply for professorship. Speculating I will be doing so in my late to early 40's. I live in Canada and have heard there are less opportunities in Canada and therefore competition is that much more tough. I have a stable unionized job that I cannot leave here in Canada. -- If there is space and time, are there any ways to make yourself stand out as a candidate. Does specializing in a narrow sub field help?
RESPONSE A: I am in my thirties and currently doing a PhD with the goal of becoming a professor one day. I turned down several industry job offers for this, as I really wanted to be in academia. I specialise in a very narrow sub-field that is currently getting a lot of attention and funding. I naively thought this would almost guarantee me a faculty position. I no longer think so. I love teaching, so I’ll probably continue working for peanuts without any security for the rest of my life. [Edit: a word]
RESPONSE B: That stable unionized job sounds pretty good to me considering academic working conditions! I went to a top program (Berkeley) in the 00s when the market was better and of the 11 people in my entering PhD class, only four of us are still practicing academics. Some did not complete the program and others never got jobs. There were really smart people among those who didn't "make it" and there is a lot of luck involved in getting a tenure-track job.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: How common is it to pass a PhD defense with conditions? I passed my defense last week “with conditions”. Are conditions the same as revisions? I have an official list of things to address, it’s much more work than I was hoping to have to do after defending. Honestly I feel pretty downtrodden meanwhile everyone around me keeps congratulating me for “passing”. My advisor has stressed that what I have to do is par for the course but he’s also not super great at interpersonal relationships so I never know how to interpret what he says. I don’t disagree with anything I’m being asked to do necessarily. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Plus I’ve already started a full time (non academic) job.
RESPONSE A: I passed my MA with conditions. It was basically a list of things that my readers wanted to see in my thesis. My advisor did not necessarily agree with the addendum, but I already wanted to write about these beforehand. So I did the research and added the sections in a few days.
RESPONSE B: Conditions are revisions if rhey are requesting changes to the thesis and are near universal. A pass with revisions is still a pass. Examiners feel like they have to request some changes to justify their role, and nothing is ever 100% perfect anyway. Minor revisions is as good as it gets. Congrads. You got a PhD, Doctor.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: How common is it to pass a PhD defense with conditions? I passed my defense last week “with conditions”. Are conditions the same as revisions? I have an official list of things to address, it’s much more work than I was hoping to have to do after defending. Honestly I feel pretty downtrodden meanwhile everyone around me keeps congratulating me for “passing”. My advisor has stressed that what I have to do is par for the course but he’s also not super great at interpersonal relationships so I never know how to interpret what he says. I don’t disagree with anything I’m being asked to do necessarily. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Plus I’ve already started a full time (non academic) job.
RESPONSE A: Am not from stem, I graduated from a department of Public Policy and Administration - but it is rare to see dissertation proposals or the final defence go through without revisions/conditions. I understand your position - I also felt very weird - everyone was like - congratulations you are a Doctor and I was like - how many more drafts do I need to write? It is something we don't prepare for but this is the normal. I didn't even publish my papers from my dissertation - now am kind of obliged to get them out. I already got a job and I am like - am happy to learn more applied stuff but don't make me write papers anymore. This is why I wanted out of academia in the first place. None the less, do not get disheartened - it is a fairly common occurrence.
RESPONSE B: I run 500+ PhD defences a year. About 10 of them pass without revisions, the vast majority have minor revisions. If they are congratulating you, then you're all good. Minor revisions range from "fix some typos" to "add a chapter and/or some additional sources".
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: How common is it to pass a PhD defense with conditions? I passed my defense last week “with conditions”. Are conditions the same as revisions? I have an official list of things to address, it’s much more work than I was hoping to have to do after defending. Honestly I feel pretty downtrodden meanwhile everyone around me keeps congratulating me for “passing”. My advisor has stressed that what I have to do is par for the course but he’s also not super great at interpersonal relationships so I never know how to interpret what he says. I don’t disagree with anything I’m being asked to do necessarily. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Plus I’ve already started a full time (non academic) job.
RESPONSE A: I run 500+ PhD defences a year. About 10 of them pass without revisions, the vast majority have minor revisions. If they are congratulating you, then you're all good. Minor revisions range from "fix some typos" to "add a chapter and/or some additional sources".
RESPONSE B: I passed my MA with conditions. It was basically a list of things that my readers wanted to see in my thesis. My advisor did not necessarily agree with the addendum, but I already wanted to write about these beforehand. So I did the research and added the sections in a few days.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: How common is it to pass a PhD defense with conditions? I passed my defense last week “with conditions”. Are conditions the same as revisions? I have an official list of things to address, it’s much more work than I was hoping to have to do after defending. Honestly I feel pretty downtrodden meanwhile everyone around me keeps congratulating me for “passing”. My advisor has stressed that what I have to do is par for the course but he’s also not super great at interpersonal relationships so I never know how to interpret what he says. I don’t disagree with anything I’m being asked to do necessarily. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Plus I’ve already started a full time (non academic) job.
RESPONSE A: Pretty rare to pass without revisions. Some have more than others. But the standard is revisions. Pretty much no one writes that thing perfectly. Sometimes they request more experiments or figures. Many times revisions take a few weeks.
RESPONSE B: I run 500+ PhD defences a year. About 10 of them pass without revisions, the vast majority have minor revisions. If they are congratulating you, then you're all good. Minor revisions range from "fix some typos" to "add a chapter and/or some additional sources".
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: How common is it to pass a PhD defense with conditions? I passed my defense last week “with conditions”. Are conditions the same as revisions? I have an official list of things to address, it’s much more work than I was hoping to have to do after defending. Honestly I feel pretty downtrodden meanwhile everyone around me keeps congratulating me for “passing”. My advisor has stressed that what I have to do is par for the course but he’s also not super great at interpersonal relationships so I never know how to interpret what he says. I don’t disagree with anything I’m being asked to do necessarily. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Plus I’ve already started a full time (non academic) job.
RESPONSE A: I run 500+ PhD defences a year. About 10 of them pass without revisions, the vast majority have minor revisions. If they are congratulating you, then you're all good. Minor revisions range from "fix some typos" to "add a chapter and/or some additional sources".
RESPONSE B: My first masters required revisions. My second masters required revisions. My Ph.D. comprehensive exams didn’t, but that I was a rare case there. My dissertation required revisions. This may vary by school/department, but it’s been my experience that most benchmarks have something like this.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: COVID-19 Effects on University Budgets/Graduate Student Stipends I am a graduate student at a US university in the epicenter of the pandemic. This morning, we received word that our program is likely to lose the funds available for graduate student stipends. This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. This includes previously awarded stipends (i.e., your guaranteed 5 years of funding is no longer guaranteed). No official announcement yet, but it seems as though university administrators are giving us a 'heads up' about this. Obviously, this news has been quite difficult for me and other students in my department. Has this happened to anyone else? Are you anticipating your department/university will do the same?
RESPONSE A: I was told to take a leave of absence and go get a job while I write up whatever I’ve got.
RESPONSE B: Definitely speak to a lawyer about this. Did you sign a contract? Your department can’t just unilaterally cancel a contract without going through bankruptcy-like proceedings (financial exigency).
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: COVID-19 Effects on University Budgets/Graduate Student Stipends I am a graduate student at a US university in the epicenter of the pandemic. This morning, we received word that our program is likely to lose the funds available for graduate student stipends. This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. This includes previously awarded stipends (i.e., your guaranteed 5 years of funding is no longer guaranteed). No official announcement yet, but it seems as though university administrators are giving us a 'heads up' about this. Obviously, this news has been quite difficult for me and other students in my department. Has this happened to anyone else? Are you anticipating your department/university will do the same?
RESPONSE A: Talk to your union rep ASAP! You’re more powerful when you collectively organize!
RESPONSE B: I have a fulbright grant just sitting in my university's piggy bank, while I'm sitting here poor as fuck, because I did not get my 'Grant Activation request' approved before this shit show. So now they got my money; i can't get it; and they fucking win. and i fucking lose. Good luck, though. Hope you arent as fucked as it seems.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: COVID-19 Effects on University Budgets/Graduate Student Stipends I am a graduate student at a US university in the epicenter of the pandemic. This morning, we received word that our program is likely to lose the funds available for graduate student stipends. This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. This includes previously awarded stipends (i.e., your guaranteed 5 years of funding is no longer guaranteed). No official announcement yet, but it seems as though university administrators are giving us a 'heads up' about this. Obviously, this news has been quite difficult for me and other students in my department. Has this happened to anyone else? Are you anticipating your department/university will do the same?
RESPONSE A: So far not for me. I am at a public US university. I am paid by a grant. I was also concerned about my work performance according to the PI but thank goodness I got my renewal letter for next year last week. I almost cried seeing it.
RESPONSE B: I have a fulbright grant just sitting in my university's piggy bank, while I'm sitting here poor as fuck, because I did not get my 'Grant Activation request' approved before this shit show. So now they got my money; i can't get it; and they fucking win. and i fucking lose. Good luck, though. Hope you arent as fucked as it seems.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: COVID-19 Effects on University Budgets/Graduate Student Stipends I am a graduate student at a US university in the epicenter of the pandemic. This morning, we received word that our program is likely to lose the funds available for graduate student stipends. This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. This includes previously awarded stipends (i.e., your guaranteed 5 years of funding is no longer guaranteed). No official announcement yet, but it seems as though university administrators are giving us a 'heads up' about this. Obviously, this news has been quite difficult for me and other students in my department. Has this happened to anyone else? Are you anticipating your department/university will do the same?
RESPONSE A: > This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. Our university hasn't made any cuts to grad student funding. However, we're now in a hiring freeze and there's a chance of layoffs and furloughs (apparently even tenured profs can be furloughed at our school).
RESPONSE B: Talk to your union rep ASAP! You’re more powerful when you collectively organize!
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: COVID-19 Effects on University Budgets/Graduate Student Stipends I am a graduate student at a US university in the epicenter of the pandemic. This morning, we received word that our program is likely to lose the funds available for graduate student stipends. This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. This includes previously awarded stipends (i.e., your guaranteed 5 years of funding is no longer guaranteed). No official announcement yet, but it seems as though university administrators are giving us a 'heads up' about this. Obviously, this news has been quite difficult for me and other students in my department. Has this happened to anyone else? Are you anticipating your department/university will do the same?
RESPONSE A: So far not for me. I am at a public US university. I am paid by a grant. I was also concerned about my work performance according to the PI but thank goodness I got my renewal letter for next year last week. I almost cried seeing it.
RESPONSE B: > This is likely the result of the state reallocating funds towards combatting the virus. Our university hasn't made any cuts to grad student funding. However, we're now in a hiring freeze and there's a chance of layoffs and furloughs (apparently even tenured profs can be furloughed at our school).
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Professors of Reddit- Do you dislike students who perform poorly? To the Professors of Reddit, I was wondering what the general opinion was of poor performers. Is it dislike? Indifference? If someone who had an F or a D came to office hours in the middle of the semester, would this annoy you?
RESPONSE A: Those are the students I WANT to come in. They're the one's that need it. Your performance in no way changes my opinion of you. Your behavior, however, may.
RESPONSE B: I can honestly say some of my favorite students of all time were "C" students. They were funny, they were interesting, and I usually got to know them as humans in smaller classes so they were more than just a letter grade to me. They just weren't great at studying and/or turning in all their work. But I really enjoyed them as people. The "bad" students I don't like were the ones who did not own their own failures. The students who come in mid-semester or even late in the semester and somehow manage to blame me and take zero personal responsibility for the situation they are now in. I actually have respect for students who say "look, I fucked up and now I'm trying to fix it." Particularly if there is more than two weeks left in the semester to fix it in.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
B | POST: Professors of Reddit- Do you dislike students who perform poorly? To the Professors of Reddit, I was wondering what the general opinion was of poor performers. Is it dislike? Indifference? If someone who had an F or a D came to office hours in the middle of the semester, would this annoy you?
RESPONSE A: It depends. If that F or D is because they're simply not turning in the work, and they're not offering an explanation or working to getting back on track (or they're clearly ignoring the suggestions I give to help them), then yeah, I'm not going to lie, I dislike them a little bit, or at least I find them frustrating. More often, though, I'm not mad at poor performers, I'm concerned and want to know what I can do to help them improve.
RESPONSE B: I can honestly say some of my favorite students of all time were "C" students. They were funny, they were interesting, and I usually got to know them as humans in smaller classes so they were more than just a letter grade to me. They just weren't great at studying and/or turning in all their work. But I really enjoyed them as people. The "bad" students I don't like were the ones who did not own their own failures. The students who come in mid-semester or even late in the semester and somehow manage to blame me and take zero personal responsibility for the situation they are now in. I actually have respect for students who say "look, I fucked up and now I'm trying to fix it." Particularly if there is more than two weeks left in the semester to fix it in.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Professors of Reddit- Do you dislike students who perform poorly? To the Professors of Reddit, I was wondering what the general opinion was of poor performers. Is it dislike? Indifference? If someone who had an F or a D came to office hours in the middle of the semester, would this annoy you?
RESPONSE A: I can honestly say some of my favorite students of all time were "C" students. They were funny, they were interesting, and I usually got to know them as humans in smaller classes so they were more than just a letter grade to me. They just weren't great at studying and/or turning in all their work. But I really enjoyed them as people. The "bad" students I don't like were the ones who did not own their own failures. The students who come in mid-semester or even late in the semester and somehow manage to blame me and take zero personal responsibility for the situation they are now in. I actually have respect for students who say "look, I fucked up and now I'm trying to fix it." Particularly if there is more than two weeks left in the semester to fix it in.
RESPONSE B: Nah. I feel bad for them. I sent emails to a few students who have done nothing in an online course. I asked them to calculate if passing was still possible or consider dropping. One of them asked me if they could pass the course at this point. So basically, she either (1) can’t read or (2) can’t calculate an average. Neither one is a good thing.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
A | POST: Professors of Reddit- Do you dislike students who perform poorly? To the Professors of Reddit, I was wondering what the general opinion was of poor performers. Is it dislike? Indifference? If someone who had an F or a D came to office hours in the middle of the semester, would this annoy you?
RESPONSE A: I can honestly say some of my favorite students of all time were "C" students. They were funny, they were interesting, and I usually got to know them as humans in smaller classes so they were more than just a letter grade to me. They just weren't great at studying and/or turning in all their work. But I really enjoyed them as people. The "bad" students I don't like were the ones who did not own their own failures. The students who come in mid-semester or even late in the semester and somehow manage to blame me and take zero personal responsibility for the situation they are now in. I actually have respect for students who say "look, I fucked up and now I'm trying to fix it." Particularly if there is more than two weeks left in the semester to fix it in.
RESPONSE B: Nope. I only dislike rude, arrongant or disruptive students. I am here to help each student make the most out of the class given their background, motivation and circumstances. Also, someone may be learning somethings which is better than nothing and still failing the course.
Which response is better? RESPONSE |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.