Academic Gamesmanship;: How to Make a Ph.D. Pay

127 Pages·1970·53.643 MB·English

by  Pierre van den Berghe

© Copyright 1970 by Pierre L. van den Berghe
ISBN 0 200 7|?15 4
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 70-128772
LUNDUN NEVA" YORK TORONTO
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An Intext Publisher
Printed in the United States of America
To the memory of Maurice Caullery (1868-1958), zoolo-
gist and geneticist, former Sorbonne Professor, Presi-
dent of the French Academy of Sciences and Foreign
Member of the Royal Society, my maternal grandfather
and academic exemplar, who, over half a century ago.
wrote as one of his 244 publications a book on Les Uni-
versités et la Vie Scientifique aux Eran-Um}.

Author’s Notes
This is very much an insider’s book. I wrote it because,
as a third generation academic. I find writing the best way
of expressing myself, a kind of conditioned reflex. But, of
course, my debt to my colleagues is immense, for their
behavior constitutes my subject matter. They are too nu-
merous to mention, and in any case, most of them would
rather not be named here, I am sure. I will make an excep-
tion, however, for my friends Edward Gross and John F.
Scott, who have too good a sense of humor to mind, and
who gave me the benefit of a critical reading of parts of the
manuscript. The majority of my colleagues will have to be
satisfied with the assurance that any resemblance between
themselves and characters between these covers is not
purely coincidental. In last analysis, this book is not di-
rected at my peers who are, by and large, beyond redemp-
tion, but at the students who will have to decide whether
to play the game for what it is worth or to use their
creativity to change the rules.
My personal hope is that they will help make this book
obsolete. Among my distinguished predecessors in the
viii
study of academia, I am CSpecially indebted to 'I‘horstein
Veblen whose [fig/yer Learning in America is an un-
dcservedly neglected classic of American social science. I
regard Veblen as one of the few truly great American
social scientists whose honesty and brilliance caused him
to be hounded and persecuted by his more meagerly en-
dowed colleagues.
Finally, I am grateful to my wife. lrmgard, who wisely
chose the bliss of domesticity over the hustle of academia.
and strongly advised me against publishing this scandalous
tract under my own name. After duly considering her
sound advice, I decided as usual to disregard it and to give
free rein to the vanity of seeing my name in print once
more. As a tenured full professor I have not got much to
gain; but, then. neither do I have much to lose.
P.L.v.d.B.
Seattle, March 197
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Contents
The Protective Myths
The Academic Packing Order
The Lean Years: Apprenticeship 23
Career Strategies
35
The Fat Years: Salary, Tenure,
and Promotions
47
Teaching: What To Do About It 71
»
:
Publishing: How To Do It
4
1
0 Grants, Research. and Foundations 103
9
2
« Conclusion 115

ACADEMIC GAMESMANSHIP