Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Seems that I won't be trying to be a lecturer in chemistry in India

Via Neil Withers, an ad from an Indian newspaper on the very popular Language Log linguistics blog.

Even though I might be qualified, I think I'll pass on this job opportunity, thanks.

(Some needed context: apparently "chowdikar" is a pseudo-security guard. Also, the second position is suspected to be two positions folded into one salary.

15 comments:

  1. @CJ

    Probably good judgment on your part; as of today, 7000 Rupees = $108 (rounded up).

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  2. Just as well, CJ, lots of competition, and I suspect you are not a fluent "Hindglish" speaker...

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    Replies
    1. Not to be demeaning - I must have sat through over 100 presentations in grad school, only a small fraction of which were actually comprehensible.

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    2. @Anon1212

      Popular quote/misquote attributed to biochemistry professor Donald Voet:
      "The universal language of science is broken English."

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    3. More like "The universal language of engineering presentations is broken English." Science generally has to be clear, non-ambiguous, and intelligible.

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  3. Anyone else notice the rent-a-cop/sweeper position pays better than the chemistry lecturer position requiring a MS?

    I bet a lot of American colleges also have guards and janitors who make more than adjuncts!

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    Replies
    1. This is true. At the CC I work at, I think even if you take the max load of courses you will make about $25 K (no benefits) a year as an adjunct, which is about what a janitor makes. And you need an MS to teach Chem Average faculty there makes about $55 K with benefits.

      My CC has absolutely no trouble finding adjuncts in Chemistry. Immigrants with PhD's are happy to accept these positions.

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    2. I think that's the point KT. The school values the security guard/janitor more than a lecturer with an advanced degree. And yes, I'd bet that this disparity is also true in some American institutions.

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    3. I'm going to say something wildly unpopular here - I'm betting the chowdikar/sweeper position is more strenuous and involves longer work hours, doing nastier things - and probably from time to time requires the occasional personal confrontation. I'm also willing to bet that there aren't nearly as many applicants as for the lecturer position.

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    4. Anon 2:28 pm: please tell me you are joking. I mean in soviet russia that logic might be fine, but here we pay (or supposed to pay) folks according to how much of a intellectually challenging the position is. At my old alma mater, they paid adjuncts around 7.5k/class whereas janitors started out at 27k; This should be completely unacceptable considering all that STEM shortage and all.

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    5. Told you it would be wildly unpopular.

      However, you're way off on my economic leanings. You could think of it as a question of the labor market. Are there more wannabe chemistry lecturers than wannabe bouncers/gatekeepers/sweepers? Is there a discrepancy in the working hours of the two positions? Are people generally more adverse to "lower-class" physical labor? I think probably so - even in India. Let the market work to resolve the issue.

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    6. "... here we pay (or supposed to pay) folks according to how much of a intellectually challenging the position is." Whoever told you this? Beyond the atrocious grammar, this has very little to do with how most (and possibly any) economies function.

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  4. Hi anon 3:55 PM,

    Would it be possible for you to state the name of your "old alma mater"? Also, I noticed that you wrote "they paid adjuncts". Why are you using the past tense? What has changed, since then?

    Thanks

    GC

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  5. Well, I for one was mildly shocked to see that somebody would recruit for a "cum sweeper" in the first place...

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  6. Of the ACS members who read this blog, how many of you would like to see a petition, e.g. through change.org, to change the ACS bylaws? The topic of the petition would be open to discussion. The overall goal of such a petition would be to institute changes within the organization for it to become a member-centered one. However, it would be necessary to use your real names in signing a petition.

    Thanks

    Still Anonymous for the Time Being (SATB)

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looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20