Word: scientistic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Another major gripe coming from the junior ranks is the distance they feel from the tenured faculty. The extreme view is that they are treated as hired help, brought in to teach a certain number of courses for a certain number of years. One social scientist says there is a rumor that "the senior faculty in History take pride in not knowing the names of the junior faculty members." In the Government Department, "the majority of the tenured faculty members just don't give a damn about the junior faculty members. They feel life was created for them, at least...
...several departments, like a "second tenure." It is disputable whether such promotions used to be routine--some senior professors say yes, and some no--but in the social sciences, primarily, promotion is definitely not automatic. "In eight years you can get a fair amount done," says one social scientist, adding, "But if you might have to look for work in your fifth year, that's different." "You can't coast at all," adds another assistant professor. "You can't really relax...
...natural sciences other problems emerge. The feeling of alienation is particularly galling, professors say, because different research groups have little contact. Such atomization "doesn't foster any interaction between faculty members at any level," says one junior scientist. The best way to find out what's happening next door, says another, is to talk to friends at other universities...
...social sciences the job market is a little better. Harvard "is a good place from which to seek your second job," says one social scientist. The Economics Department in particular, but also the Government Department, has recently sent junior faculty to tenured positions at prestigious universities around the country, says Economics Department chairman and incoming Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence...
...natural sciences, the job market seems ambiguous for Harvard junior faculty. "Being an ex-Harvard professor is not as important an entree as it used to be," says one scientist. "As people get out of Harvard, there just aren't positions available." But others disagree. "I don't know of anybody who left here and didn't get a good job," says another junior scientist. A third scientist points out that "you find it easier to get the attention of your colleagues across the country if you are speaking from a podium with the Harvard name...