Friday, Jul 25, 2008
Slaves to science
BY WILLIAM SPEED WEED
(02/28/00)
William Speed Weed's piece on science post-docs hits a number of true notes, but the picture he portrays is not the whole picture.
First, Weed's piece would have us think that post-docs work hard so professors don't have to. This is absolute nonsense. Science faculty who maintain funded research programs work as hard or harder than post-docs. As an assistant professor, I work harder than I did when I was a post-doc, way back in the mid-90s, and harder than the two post-docs that I have employed since achieving my supposed exalted professor status. Faculty not only have to produce research, they have to teach, prepare lectures, grade, meet with undergraduate students about their classwork and graduate students about their classwork or research, write proposals, review proposals, review papers, manage the finances of the research program, attend faculty meetings and committee meetings, and so on. It is true that I spend less time in the lab than I did when I was a post-doc and less time than my current post-doc; I wish I had the time to be in the lab more, but other duties call.
Second, Weed would have us think that the "narrow" research we do is of little interest to anyone and that post-docs only do it because they hope that it'll eventually get them a job and because they've been conned into thinking that doing science is prestigious. He is partly right -- many post-docs are in exactly that situation, but he is also partly wrong. Believe it or not, some post-docs do it because they love what they are doing. Sure they want a job, but they also get a huge thrill out of understanding what is going on in that Petri dish or that far-away galaxy. These are the people who should be on the academic track. Anybody who doesn't love it is surely underpaid and underappreciated.
In closing, let me note that it's 3 a.m. Sunday evening. I am in my office, writing a research paper and writing a problem set to distribute to one of my classes (and OK, blowing off a little steam by surfing the net-I'm human too). I have to be back here at 9 a.m. to attend class. And my post-doc, who's a very bright fellow and who generally works hard indeed, hasn't been here since 5 p.m. on Friday.
-- Marc Hirschmann
Assistant Professor of Geology
University of Minnesota
While your article raises some interesting points, it's important not to generalize too broadly from the bad experiences of a handful of people, or from a large group of people in the same field. The situation is not so dire in all of the sciences -- I draw a quite reasonable salary as a post-doc in physics, and some colleagues at national labs would end up taking a pay cut in moving to a tenure-track faculty position.
Moreover, no one should go into the system with any illusions, at this point. Even as an undergrad, I was well aware that research science was not the path to fabulous riches, and the tight academic job market is exhaustively documented within the field. I went into the field, despite the long hours and low wages, because this is what I want to do. Yes, there are days when it's drudgery -- for every mad scientist cackling maniacally over his recently animated creation, there are three more waiting for UPS to deliver crucial body parts from Kuala Lumpur while Igor plays Nethack on the Frankenstein Castle workstation. But on the good days, it still amazes me that I can get paid to do what I do.
Finally, while it's always tempting to admire the green grass on the other side of the fence, one shouldn't overstate the advantages of other fields. Do some lawyers draw six-figure starting salaries? Sure. There are also recent law school grads stuck fetching coffee for federal judges, or working as public defenders, or chasing ambulances in the seedier parts of town. And the ones making the big bucks are not going home at quarter to 5 every afternoon.
-- Chad Orzel
William Speed Weed's article on post-doc hell seems pretty bang-on from where I sit. As a biology M.Sc. student at a major Canadian university I see many post-docs trudging in to the lab on evenings and weekends, sometimes with children and spouses in tow. The standard post-doc salary in Canada is $29,000, and that's Canadian dollars! As a result of this eye-opening exposure to the lifestyle, I some time ago decided to forego a Ph.D. and seek work with my Master's. I can skip the four to five years of extra student debt and 80-hour weeks and use my skills in a government or commercial lab, where I'd be paid about $35,000 starting out. That's a lot better than living and working like a student until you're 35 years old, in a world where secure academic positions are few and disappearing fast.
-- Allison Mackay
Get Salon in your mailbox!