Um...You actually know professors who are 'nicely paid'???
Please tell me this is a joke!
As far as a salary 'far, far about the median for a full-time worker'...what the heck are you talking about? Are you really trying to compare someone who walked through hell to get a Ph.D. with a minimum-wage job? I've worked both ends of the spectrum and let me tell you there is no comparison. Just remember all the potential income forsaken for that stupid degree!! Academics are grossly underpaid by any economic analysis.
One of the reasons I chose academia (as opposed to joining my other friends who didn't bother finishing their undergrads but are all extremely overpaid managers at Microsoft - talk about socioeconomic injustice) was the free work schedule. I am a single mom. The ability to work at home is a life savor for me and my son. Besides which, I actually do get a lot more done without students and colleagues dropping by to 'chat' every five seconds. I accepted half the starting pay I could have garnered in industry. Over the next 20 years the gap between what I will earn in academia and what I would have earned in industry with triple (without stock options).
I think the important question is how productive are these people? Do they have grants and students? If the answer is no...I applaud you calling them on a gross abuse of the system. Noone should get paid for not doing their job. However, if the answer is yes, they are productive...then are you really complaining that you have noone to talk to?
Sorry to be negative but this one hit a nerve.
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Posted by Anonymous to academicsecret at 9/02/2006 11:50:29 PM
