Salary: Big 3 autoworker vs PhD college professor

[zdreg]

Quote from annaland:

...I suppose this applies if you're at a university that concentrates on teaching and not research. However, research universities require their faculty to publish continuously. Better universities aim at higher tier journals for publications. It’s quite time consuming (the research and referee process) and stressful so your 6-9hr <i>classroom</i> teaching becomes only a sixth or seventh+ of your entire work week. Summers are also filled with research and not just vacations. This is at least how it works for business school PhDs; it may be different for the liberal arts.

During my undergraduate days, I had some awful professors - not that they weren’t smart or even brilliant - they just could not communicate very well. It wasn’t until grad school that I learned that those professors, who could not seem to convey or internalize ideas, were the ones who were renowned because they were frequently published in the top tier finance journals. They were not there to teach and elaborate but to strictly do original research and get published; teaching was just a side note.

For those here undermining professors, please consider the following. Since most of the people here “know” finance; check out the SEC webpage and their regulations. Most, if not all of the regulations were established through research. Who did the research, you ask? Professors. The SEC hires professors, who in exchange for their research are paid and have access to the SEC data, which is hard to acquire. Often times their research is the reason for regulation changes. One would be surprised how through research the hands on jobs, that people here seem so excited about, are created and thus are merely the result of professors and research.

Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929.

but of course.

 

[saxon22]

Quote from zdreg:

a few people are chosen to live a life of leisure ie becoming a tenured professor after paying their dues by writing their phd thesis and presenting themselves as one of the boys. a job with tenure means that you have no responsibility for any kind of output as it pertains to your students. to repeat the hours are short 12hrs/week the vacations are long and for those whose loins are ready to explode there is always the impressionable sweet little things in the next freshman class.

It is not a life of leisure. Many professors travel during summer to further polish their knowledge, to meet with others from the same field or go to places to see what they have read about for the last 20 years. I visited Egypt a couple of years ago and while watching belly dancers was undoubtedly fun, half of the excursion was spent in the desert heat. It was a very fulfilling trip but I would not call it a vacation per se.

I doubt that many who eneter academia do it for what some would see as "easy life". Many professors seem to be very dedicated and passionate individuals who just want to dig deeper and discover new things. There are many individuals who spend their summers living with indigenous people of Guatemala and I mean living with, not next to them in a 5 star hotel, just to observe them and have a more profound understanding of their culture. To an outsider 3 months or 6 months in Guatemala sounds exotic and fun, and it is if you are an anthropology or history professor, but it is not a vacation.

As for tenure. It was created to allow professors to teach the material the way they feel it should be presented. Discussing whether the US should have carpet bombed Dresden or erased two japanese cities from the map, could never be presented from non-US point of view, because professor would fear retribution.

You seem to include your fantasies about freshmen classes and professors looking for sex. unfortunately, it is often the other side who is willing to commit the sin in hopes of receiving a higher grade. Also, there is always that never ending charm of an older intelligent man that some young ladies find irresistible.

 

[daddyeaux]

I wont buy Detroit because I dont believe in paying somebody $150K to screw a tire onto a wheel

 

[dtan1e]

actually having a Phds do not necessary mean they r smart, i once had a serious debate /w a Phd from Thomson who supposedly orginated something on attribution using Lagrange multiplier, then i told him his calcs is incorrect, i saw the correct calc from another Phd elsewhere, besides all it needs is a little common sense to figure out without even requiring rigorous math, the Phd argued /w me for 6 months before he grudgingly say yes he miscalculated, then say if i like he could show me how to calculate other formulas in attribution /w a calculator, i told him to use a PC next time so he won't mis-calculate. Another Phd i know one who is an expert in CRM goes to a bank & try to promote all kinds of CRM techniques to increase sales, i told him for a bank just by increasing sales do not mean increase the profit b/c there is the cost of funds, operational cost, hedging involve whether its worth promoting this products but this CRM expert can't see all this as he only knows to sell sell sell ... doesn't matter if u sell at a loss !!!

 

[rcanfiel]

Quote from zdreg:

a few people are chosen to live a life of leisure ie becoming a tenured professor after paying their dues by writing their phd thesis and presenting themselves as one of the boys. a job with tenure means that you have no responsibility for any kind of output as it pertains to your students. to repeat the hours are short 12hrs/week the vacations are long and for those whose loins are ready to explode there is always the impressionable sweet little things in the next freshman class.

It is apparent you have never taught; I have several friends and relatives who are university, tenured professors, who would laugh at your synopsis.

-- Playing around with the "sweet young things" can ruin your 20 year career.

-- 12 hours a week is the teaching load. They spend far more on that in prepping & grading lessons/exams, office hours for students. Also, most professors are expected to CONTINUE their research, which brings money, grad students, and prestige to the professor, the university, and the dept.

-- no responsibility as to your students is like saying someone can get a union job, do no work, and expect to be carried for the next 20 years. It is very simple. You screw up or refuse to produce, and they find a way to get rid of you. Do you think the other union workers would tolerate someone who sits around while they sweat and work? Same thing in a university goes...

As for your analytic ability, YUCK