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Showing posts from May, 2006

What Ph.D. Students Really Have to Fear

Here is an article from Slate on the fluctuating job market for academics in economics. I think the statistics would probably look the same for any field, though. It's called " What Ph.D. Students Really Have to Fear ," and it's written by Joel Waldfogel. The gist is that if you are unlucky enough to graduate in a down cycle of the job market for your field, and you are not hired by a university of the same prestige level that you could have been hired by during an upswing in the market, you can expect to stay at a lower level throughout your career. One interesting fact, though, is that the ones who were hired by more prestigious universities published more during their career. The author suggests that the better journals are more likely to publish articles from authors at prestigious universities. I'd be interested in the details of that statistic -- what I wonder is whether the more prestigious schools apply more pressure to publish in order to achieve tenure.

Academic Distraction Disorder (Google Subtype)

In Praise of Simple Language

Here is part of a post from Daphne Gray-Grant . Do you think using long words makes you look smart? Daniel Oppenheimer knows it doesn't. A professor of psychology at Princeton University, he is the author of a new study to be published in a recent edition of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The study goes by the amusing title: Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly. But the study's findings are anything but funny for wordy writers. In a series of five experiments, Oppenheimer found that readers tend to rate the intelligence of people who wrote essays in simpler language, as higher than those who used more complex words. Yes, higher. Interestingly, the same "halo" effect applied to people who used simple fonts. The simpler the fonts, the more intelligent the writers were thought to be. "One thing seems certain," says Oppenheimer. "Write as simply and plainly as possible and it's m

Academia and free time: The tyranny of freedom

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the challenges facing professors in the summer. They have what I call the “tyranny of freedom.” Unlike most people who work 9 to 5 and have 2 weeks off in August, professors can pick and choose (to some extent) what they want to accomplish in the summer. Of course, for some, that means, as one of my professor clients pointed out, trying to fit what they should have done during the whole academic year into the summer months. And others commit themselves to chapters, papers, and conference presentations that loom large as the summer progresses. So there’s this luxury of being able to spend your time doing what you want to do. But, as another client so beautifully stated, “this open space is crushing me.” Because of this luxury of time, the academic has to take responsibility for how to shape his or her life. That can mean imposing a schedule or timeline on oneself, or the opposite – spending your vacation piddling your time away with guilt hang

Countries I've visited

Can you tell I like to travel? create your own visited countries map Just filling in the countries that I've visited makes me want to get on a plane. My favorite place to visit, by far? Italy, of course!

Advisor Teleclass

Jayne and I have scheduled a teleclass/interview on how to manage your relationship with your advisor. It will be on May 15, Monday, at 1:00 Eastern. I personally have seen how many of my clients get themselves into hot water because they don't have the knowledge or skills to communicate well with their advisor. Don't make the same mistake! Oh, and we'll be recording the teleclass so don't worry if you can't make the class -- you can download the recording later or listen to it online. Here is the link: http://advisor.notlong.com