I found this article by a college professor writing under a pseudonym who discusses, quite candidly, why he (or she) chooses not to do more at his job. One of the main points of the article is that he (or she) works to buy things for his or her family and taking on extra work leads to time away from his or her family, which is why he or she works in the first place. After explaining that, he or she then rationalizes that the dean, who is single and has no family, may not understand because he or she has no family.
What do you think?
Feel free to leave your opinion because, after all, we have free will and free speech...and commenting is free.
5 comments:
I think many people if they were honest feel this way. There isn't loyalty to people by employers today. You're let go in a blink of an eye and you have to think of yourself and your family first. I'm not saying I wouldn't do anything extra but I can understand the general attitude of working without pay anywhere anytime is kind of stupid. This person teaches college and is smart. That's my opinion.
I must admit when I read this I was trying to think as a regular reader (or should I say lurker) of your blog what it had to do with anything. Still not sure exactly but I'll answer anyway. I do some extra unpaid work in my career and I have 8 count them kids and 2 grandkids. It's a sacrifice sometimes but God's been good to us and I think it's the right thing to give back when I can and I teach my kids the same thing.
I found it odd how the professor felt the dean who was single wouldn't understand the importance of family. I'm single and that's an unfair assumption. But having a family doesn't excuse anyone from giving more at their profession. I'm not sure why he draws that conclusion or wants to teach his kids that.
The thing that is not obvious, because the article is written for a publication that is aimed at academics, is the existing structure of the work week. Faculty are salaried and don't punch a time clock. When my Soc students interview the faculty members for a paper they write for my class, most report that they work about 55 hours per week. We are supposed to do research and write for publication, constantly update the content of our classes, serve on various committees, mentor students, and a ton of other things. Each of them can be seen as a "minimum" part of the job. In all honesty, if I did all the things that someone here thinks is a "minimum" part of my job, I would work 80+ hours a week.
The difference, for me, is that I never see my salary - it goes straight to the monastery. I see my colleagues being tempted to do things they really don't want to do, simply because they want more money. I see the college creating unreasonable workloads rather than hiring more full-time faculty (which costs more) - and then inducing people into mind-numbing overwork by offering more money (yes, our salaries are like those of the author, well below the national average).
The hard part is, once the money is offered, bosses tend to feel that a person has no right to say, "no." There are quite a few folks at our college who spend their lives thinking about early retirement, sneaking away to be with their children, and in general trying to have a decent life. In the academic world, the use of part-time teachers for up to 1/3 of classes leaves the full-timers doing all the support work. It's just like that old show on I Love Lucy where they speed up that assembly line in the candy factory. No one thing is unreasonable, but the whole picture is.
I'm glad that there's a mom or dad somewhere who is conscious of recognizing the need to spend time with her family. It's a human need - we can't be 100% available to all the demands.
Sorry to go on so long - this is a raw topic with me.
I work about 70 to 75 hours a week for a salary in my job which is not at a college. I agree that you need to make time for your family but I also hate when I have to cover for people at work being paid the same amount who take time off to be with their kids, run around for family responsibilities etc. They never thank me by the way but what's in that for me? If that's the attitude, then next time I'm asked to cover I should say no.
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