speaking as a postdoc: precarity. everything is contingent on grants that increasingly don't get funded. we're expected to hang on longer and longer for a shrinking number of TT jobs in positions that only pay enough to live life on pause, and attacks on higher ed just keep shrinking the job pool. - ThreadSky

jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social • 488 days ago

speaking as a postdoc: precarity. everything is contingent on grants that increasingly don't get funded. we're expected to hang on longer and longer for a shrinking number of TT jobs in positions that only pay enough to live life on pause, and attacks on higher ed just keep shrinking the job pool.

Reposted from Miriam B. Goodman, PhD

I have questions for biosci researchers (students, postdocs, faculty) in the US: what is the biggest *threat* to our basic research ecosystem? What is the biggest *opportunity* emerging in the next decade? Thanks for thinking with me!

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jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social•488 days ago

we're supposed to drop everything every couple of years to move vast distances, all on a shoestring budget. have kids? family responsibilities? can't safely live or work in certain jurisdictions? congrats, you're playing this already difficult game on Extreme Challenge mode.

jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social•488 days ago

and if you *do* land a job, it might all evaporate as soon as some rabid conservative thinks you're teaching Marxist Propaganda™ or some corporate strategist decides your department isn't profitable enough for the university. fun times for all....

wormsense.bsky.social•488 days ago

Would a longer postdoc contract help? Some unions have negotiated for a minimum 2 year postdoc contract.

jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social•488 days ago

i think that's a piece of it, but it needs to come with institutional support + funders *also* embracing that. i had a situation at UC Berkeley where our 2 year minimum was used to try and deny my hiring- i started my position ABD, and so when formally done needed to convert it into...

jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social•488 days ago

...an actual postdoc (because of university rules on it). but the university tried to claim that they couldn't do that bc the remaining time was < 2 yrs. luckily my PI had my back and the union helped, but it was demonstrative that universities will use that to fuck w people if there's not...

jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social•488 days ago

...wholesale change to back it up.

marspidermonkey.bsky.social•488 days ago

Yep… the promise of TT jobs is stability, but that’s gone now.

drmikewiser.bsky.social•488 days ago

And then if you want to teach your classes in ways consistent with the education research data, you can expect a ton of student evals calling for you to be fired and how you don't teach so the students need to teach themselves the material.

wormsense.bsky.social•488 days ago

Sorry about that. The research also shows that students learn better through active learning, but they like it less. A tight squeeze, indeed.

drmikewiser.bsky.social•488 days ago

Yep. I run a ton of activities in my classes, and my evals always feature a lot of "We were just doing worksheets, he wasn't even teaching" ... while I am walking through the class, asking and answering questions, going over the clicker questions, explaining where to look for things ...

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