competition
I'm borrowing this from http://feistieneuropsych.blogspot.com/ blog where she discussed competition and how people from the same programs get the same degree but with varying amounts of work.
I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm still not all clear with everything.
There are so many variables that make people's research different, even within program that it is hard to compare. However, there always seems to be people that work incredibly hard for very little, people that crank out data like crazy and make it look easy, people who seem to get everything handed to them and others who just work at their own pace oblivious to everyone else. In the end they all (or mostly) get a degree, but it can be very frustrating to see one person put in hours and hours and hours of work only to be hassled by their committee and another person have very little data and sail through the whole process unscathed.
I try not to be bitter or to worry too much about people comparing students but I know that faculty do it. If you work hard but don't have anything concrete to show for it, the hard work doesn't count. It is an intangible that means squat.
I don't begrudge people that finish faster than me if they are putting in time and contributing to their own work. I do get annoyed when new students get handed a great project that works w/ no set backs, or problems and they have great data in no time.
So I guess I'm not that competitive myself because I just want to do good work. But I know that things aren't equal in lots of ways, workload, money availability, having people to help you (techs, RAs), how much help you get w/ ideas, writing etc. So in the end there is no real way to compare. The degree doesn't really mean anything unless you have the stuff to back it up. Can you come up with research ideas on your own? Can you find ways to answer those questions? Can you think critically and evaluate research? Can you play the game to get funded? That is the stuff that counts. I try to keep that in mind when I see someone finish w/ a degree where they didn't put in all that I see others putting in.
I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm still not all clear with everything.
There are so many variables that make people's research different, even within program that it is hard to compare. However, there always seems to be people that work incredibly hard for very little, people that crank out data like crazy and make it look easy, people who seem to get everything handed to them and others who just work at their own pace oblivious to everyone else. In the end they all (or mostly) get a degree, but it can be very frustrating to see one person put in hours and hours and hours of work only to be hassled by their committee and another person have very little data and sail through the whole process unscathed.
I try not to be bitter or to worry too much about people comparing students but I know that faculty do it. If you work hard but don't have anything concrete to show for it, the hard work doesn't count. It is an intangible that means squat.
I don't begrudge people that finish faster than me if they are putting in time and contributing to their own work. I do get annoyed when new students get handed a great project that works w/ no set backs, or problems and they have great data in no time.
So I guess I'm not that competitive myself because I just want to do good work. But I know that things aren't equal in lots of ways, workload, money availability, having people to help you (techs, RAs), how much help you get w/ ideas, writing etc. So in the end there is no real way to compare. The degree doesn't really mean anything unless you have the stuff to back it up. Can you come up with research ideas on your own? Can you find ways to answer those questions? Can you think critically and evaluate research? Can you play the game to get funded? That is the stuff that counts. I try to keep that in mind when I see someone finish w/ a degree where they didn't put in all that I see others putting in.
posted by B @ Saturday, October 27, 2007
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home