tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079841100149848531.post1205424468164603869..comments2023-03-23T04:17:35.867-05:00Comments on ... ponderings of a fool: Oh what great news...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079841100149848531.post-46811971276632575572007-08-24T18:19:00.000-05:002007-08-24T18:19:00.000-05:00It takes a great deal of effort. Grad students an...It takes a great deal of effort. Grad students and post-docs need to organize to push for reforms. Graduate unions are nice and would be useful. The problem is that most unions in this nation are not set-up in a manner that would be truly useful for graduate students. Typical unions in this country are top-down and treat their members as pawns. Bottom-up options (i.e. democratic, locally controlled) are necessary to prevent the abuses you find in most unions. In addition, the unions can not just focus on being an employee union. It must be a student union. Work/academics for those in the sciences are intertwined. It is silly and absurd to split the two up. This organization could be a student government under the control of the students themselves. <BR/><BR/>Regardless students & post-docs turning to one another is an important mechanism for overcoming faculty with outdated views about the point of getting a PhD. It gives more contacts and lets you know which faculty you can talk to about exploring "alternative" careers. My PI in grad school was approached by other students who had advisors who were not so open.<BR/><BR/>The trouble with all of this of course is that the competitive nature of science drives people to focus on themselves and work long hours creating artificial barriers to the establishment of such connections.PonderingFoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10767758746935185528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079841100149848531.post-65028518604557401482007-08-24T14:13:00.000-05:002007-08-24T14:13:00.000-05:00Great suggestions so far. I am in total agreement...Great suggestions so far. I am in total agreement. Most of the faculty at my school act like academia is the only option, and if we as students even broach other topics of employment it is frowned upon. Obviously all of the students in our program can not do the academia route but saying so feels taboo. How do we get the public/ legislature/ school boards etc. to understand the problem and agree to put money where it is needed? Maybe some the PhD's should help w/ solving this problem by contributing in this realm somehow w/ public policy.Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03538444339633484256noreply@blogger.com