Sunday, February 14, 2010

Scary tales of going to grad school



A brutal story about going to graduate school and never ever finding success or even a place in life
"[...] what happens to graduate students by saying, distantly, "there are no guarantees." But that phrase suggests there's only a chance you won't get a tenure-track job, not an overwhelming improbability that you will.
...
There should be a special place in hell for the professors who—at the end of an advisee's 10-year graduate program with no job in sight—say, <<well, academe is not for everyone.>>"
http://tinyurl.com/lifeofmind
And an horrifying news item about one such graduate - a biology professor, Harvard-trained Dr Amy Bishop at University of Alabama Huntsville campus. Dr Bishop shot 6 colleagues last Friday, fellow professors and a staff member. Three professors are dead, and one is in critical condition. Prior to the shooting, professor Bishop has learned that she had been denied a promotion and her position at the University of Alabama was coming to an end.