If you think a professor only works 100 days a year and is a cake job, then you are a fucking idiot. Ever heard of publish or perish?
The hard part of being a professor, I think, is getting the PhD and then getting tenure. I did my Master's work in EE and just didn't enjoy it, so I don't think I'd ever consider a PhD in it.
What's the difference between a large pizza and a PhD in mathematics?
The pizza can feed a family of four.
You could probably get a couple hundred bucks if you do one of those "I am a Phoenix" commercials, or was it DeVry?
Ask the PhD to cut the pizza into equal angles...
They work like 100 days a year.
If you think a professor only works 100 days a year and is a cake job, then you are a fucking idiot. Ever heard of publish or perish?
There is no more competitive a field than academia. There are very very few permanent jobs relative to the number PhDs out there, and the way to get a permanent professorship is to work your ass off and get published while teaching 4 or 5 classes. Oh, and if you do manage to get tenure track assistant professorship, then for the next 7 years you have to keep researching and publishing until you create a book-length tenure packet that get's reviewed by your colleagues. Guess what happens if they don't sign off on you? You're fired.
Yes, I have heard of it as I've published papers before. When I was in grad school, we did all the work on papers (research and writing them) and when we were done, our professor's name went on them too and lists them in his publications.
If you think a professor only works 100 days a year and is a cake job, then you are a fucking idiot. Ever heard of publish or perish?
There is no more competitive a field than academia. There are very very few permanent jobs relative to the number PhDs out there, and the way to get a permanent professorship is to work your ass off and get published while teaching 4 or 5 classes. Oh, and if you do manage to get tenure track assistant professorship, then for the next 7 years you have to keep researching and publishing until you create a book-length tenure packet that get's reviewed by your colleagues. Guess what happens if they don't sign off on you? You're fired.
My ex-gf graduated from FSU with a PhD in English literature. That year there are a total of about 60 positions open for her field. This was a larger number than usual. Hundreds of PhDs were minted and there also already established English Profs looking for work. She got a temp professorship in Oklahoma for 2 years and then a tenure track position in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. If she ever wants to leave and come move to a real city, she has to write a book, literally. She knows Middle English, Old English, French, and Japanese, is extremely motivated, and organized. If she went into the private sector she would be making at the very least double her salary, she would be living in a much nicer place, and she would be less busy.
They work like 100 days a year.
Think about school teachers. Also in your line of work at your age if you make 100k+ you are in the cream of the crop. Cream of the prof crop make 200k+. These are the poeple who research shrimp on treadmill, who emphatic mouses are and stuff like that, they bring in grants and make big bucks. And they can come and go whenever they want, make their own deadlines and work from home for a year...
So basically your research is mistaken, you are not comparing apples to apples
No offense but she got a PhD in a field without a lot of demand from the low ranked school. The PhD market is certainly competitive but she should have known that she was unlikely to get a good teaching gig going in. If you look at PhD recruiting virtually everyone moves laterally or more likely down from the school they did their PhD at.
That might be, but if you could play video games for 12 hours a day and make $80K/yr doing it or if you had to work in corporate America for 8 hours a day doing the normal stressful and life sucking office work for $100K per year, which would you choose?
No. IndycoltsFan and you are just generalizing things. There are a few lazy professors.. not all. I too feel the same as the OP.. people in academia are generally paid less considering their qualifications and the work they put in.
You are also ignoring the fact that.. they start their life as associate prof. It takes more than 5-8 years for them to get promoted to being professors. No one is going to be appointed directly as a professor.
Why do you think that working in a research lab is in any way comparable to playing video games?
Regardless of what F@H wants you to think...
They work like 100 days a year.
Think about school teachers. Also in your line of work at your age if you make 100k+ you are in the cream of the crop. Cream of the prof crop make 200k+. These are the poeple who research shrimp on treadmill, who emphatic mouses are and stuff like that, they bring in grants and make big bucks. And they can come and go whenever they want, make their own deadlines and work from home for a year...
So basically your research is mistaken, you are not comparing apples to apples
I don't know what field you're talking about, but that doesn't sound nearly representative of mine.They work like 100 days a year.
Think about school teachers. Also in your line of work at your age if you make 100k+ you are in the cream of the crop. Cream of the prof crop make 200k+. These are the poeple who research shrimp on treadmill, who emphatic mouses are and stuff like that, they bring in grants and make big bucks. And they can come and go whenever they want, make their own deadlines and work from home for a year...
So basically your research is mistaken, you are not comparing apples to apples
And? That's life in just about any profession
Just look up the internet at how much they earn when they are Associate professors. This is also the time they work their ass off to secure funding/ publish papers/ teach. They do this after working as lab rats for 5 years during Ph.D.
Just look up the internet at how much they earn when they are Associate professors. This is also the time they work their ass off to secure funding/ publish papers/ teach. They do this after working as lab rats for 5 years during Ph.D.
And? I'm not sure I see your point. You know that going in -- am I supposed to feel bad or something?
If it is so easy and if the job is so amazing, then why don't you go do it? Should only take 10 to 15 years to get to that level.
IndyColtsFan said:The hard part of being a professor, I think, is getting the PhD and then getting tenure.