Professor: I'm Leaving
A tenured prof with a comfortable job decides to leave academia. He is tired of students who expect - think they deserve - to be coddled and the whole scene of academia.
Inside Higher Ed
I am ready to move on – perhaps for a career where deadlines are honored, ideas are exchanged and gimmicks and fads are routinely avoided because they distract from advancing the mission of gaining and sharing knowledge.
Yes, it is time to find another line of work, where I can enjoy the fruits of my labor, even if I realize that the grass is grayer, if not greener, elsewhere.
posted by Ron at 6:15 PM
2 Comments:
I understand why someone would want to leave academia for the private sector, but I am surprised by the reasons the author gives. I expected he would complain about such things as petty politics and grantmongering, but he doesn't mention anything of that sort. Instead he complains students are spoiled and lazy. But he could hold his students to higher standards. I could see his wanting to leave if the administration forced him to lower his standards, but he doesn't indicate that's the case. I suppose he's just worn down by going against the current, which is understandable. But I imagine he will be disappointed to find similar problems in the private sector.
Academia and government are totally different from the private sector (also aka the Real World). So many of my friends who have taught in schools and universities have expressed consistently similar experiences with their students. So many of the children in our society are now living under the illusion that they're entitled to anything they think they want and they expect it handed to them right now. Much of it is a product of our own making. The Law of Unintended Consequences in full play.
The idea that everyone is equal has now come back to roost. So many young students have been pushed up through the system in public school and have now ended up in colleges where they expect more of the same. And jocks on the football team all know that they'll be pushed through their classes with the help of their coaches who depend on all those sports millions that their colleges receive from the sports industry.
So what's right with the system?
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