The Least Stressful Job for 2013? A Real Look at Being a Professor in the US
The brain trust at CNBC just published this little fluff piece about the least stressful jobs for 2013 and of course the least stressful job was being a university professor. Their rationale? There are no physical demands, no deadlines, no environmental condition hazards, we don't put our lives on the line, nor are we responsible for other peoples' lives. I will grant that we're not crab fishing on the Bering Sea nor making command and control decisions on the front lines of a military conflict; however, this feeds the myth that being a professor in the US is like living in a plush ivory tower disconnected from the world -- holding class like we've all seen in the movies.
Not that the situation is exactly the same in the UK (we don't really have this concept of tenure, for one...), this seems to be a pretty good reflection of my chosen career path. Yep...
Thanks for the reblog — ah the joys of the academy :) LOL
Embarking on an academic career is hugely difficult. I’ve made it to the top of the university system (full professor, 50 years old, VERY decent pay) but working 70+ hours every week means that my salary is effectively halved and my ‘work-life balance’ (as the therapists put it) is absolutely shot (and I don’t even have children). My advice to PhD applicants? Just don’t even start unless you want to do the project anyway, no hope of jobs or other stuff, just intrinsic motivation. The worst thing is that I got employed (on a 5 year contract before later being made permanent) in 1996 after working and scraping as a tutor and adult education lecturer since 1984. The big tsunami of retirements and re-hires was supposed to have happened years ago. It still hasn’t.