This Is How You Kill a Profession (Chronicle of Higher Education)

[eppur_se_muova]

How did we decide that professors don’t deserve job security or a decent salary?

By HERB CHILDRESS

How did we discard the idea of college faculty? That is, how did we decide to systematically eliminate an entire class of professionals whom we once trusted to conduct the final distillation of our children into capable, confident adults? How did we come to decide that college teachers didn’t deserve job security, didn’t deserve health insurance, didn’t deserve to make more than convenience-store clerks?

It wasn’t hard, really.

We discarded college faculty in the same way that we discarded medical general practitioners: through providing insane rewards to specialists and leaving most care in the hands of paraprofessionals.

We discarded college faculty in the same way that we discarded cab drivers: by leveling the profession and allowing anyone to participate, as long as they had a minimum credential and didn’t need much money.

We discarded college faculty in the same way that we discarded magazine and newspaper writers: by relabeling the work “content” and its workers “content providers.”
***
more: https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/2019-03-27-childress?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits


A worthwhile read, but I have to take exception to that line about "providing insane rewards to specialists" -- the insane rewards are going to the upper of echelons of administration, with university vice-presidents in charge of xyz expecially needing some form of population control. If they are "specialists", it's not clear what they specialize in, except sucking up salaries so facutlty can't have them.

[exboyfil]

1. They could mean paying market rates for

professors in medicine ($500K-$1M), engineering ($250K-$350K), and science. After you get past coaches, presidents, and deans; the highest paid state workers in Iowa are teaching doctors.

You are right about the endless number of high paid administrators. Do we need so many, and do they need to be paid so much. Kind of fits into the conservative criticism of the pay for the VP of Diversity ($250K at Iowa) for example.

Coaches, doctors, and engineers/scientists bring in revenue in their positions. In addition their are significant opportunities outside of the university for doctors, engineers and scientists in private industry.

Iowa puts all state salaries online. It is a useful reference to understand market pricing on faculty.

https://db.desmoinesregister.com/state-salaries-for-iowa/?searchterms%5Bcol3%5D=&searchterms%5Bcol2%5D=&searchterms%5Bcol6%5D=&searchterms%5Bcol11%5D=

[exboyfil]

2. My BIL wanted to be faculty at a research

university after he completed his Doctorate in Biochemistry from Harvard. He was never able to achieve that goal. He has carved out a great life for his family as a research scientist at a private company though.

[3Hotdogs]

3. There is an article in today's Newark Star Ledger. There are shitloads of Rutgers administrators

making north of $2150K.

Meanwhile, more and more classes are taught by adjuncts.

Oh, and the football. Millions for stadium, coaches and the team that nobody gives enough of a shit to go and watch.

[dalton99a]

4. Every college has been infested by an army of useless VPs and assistant deans in charge of bullshit

sucking up all the resources

[JayhawkSD]

5. I would take issue with at least one part of this.

"We ... discarded medical general practitioners: through providing insane rewards to specialists..."

That could not have happened if doctors were in the profession for the sake of caring for people. It happened because doctors were in the profession for the purpose of becoming wealthy. The fault lies as much with the person who took the money as with the person who offered it.

My father was in the military for most of his career, but a couple of times was in a civilian medical practice because my mother didn't like the military. His medical practice always failed. Not because of a lack of patients - he had too many patients, in fact, and they loved him. It was about money. He would tell the administrator not to send a bill to a patient if he knew that the patient would not be able to pay it. She sometimes sent the bill anyway, but he strictly forbid her to do any collection efforts on unpaid bills.

I cannot speak to other professions, but I suspect the same principle applies. Professions are overpaid because the people working in those professions set out to become wealthy. It is as much the fault of the practicionors as of the institutions.