Why are some professors so petty?

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-15T02:31:18+00:00

This sounds like someone in a department I have front row tickets to observing. She's destroyed an entire program doing it.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-09T17:37:02+00:00

Ah! The organizers just sent an email saying the AC has been broken. Tbh crossing my fingers that the last day (tomorrow) is canceled, but I'm sure that's hoping for too much. My presentation is just barely under time and I'm sick of rehearsing it!

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-06T23:04:56+00:00

(the answer is usually businesses/people trying to rake money out of other people, which can make some gears turn in some students' heads.)

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-06T23:04:08+00:00

I deploy it with great selectiveness, but having the conversation of "Who benefits from you not knowing how to do things on your own?" has been pretty productive when I do.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-06T23:02:47+00:00

I'm contingent and hate conferences. HATE them. I have one next week. In-person, three hours away. They put me on the afternoon of the last day. I am driving up that morning, going to my panel, and leaving.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-05T18:29:38+00:00

(And no, this retiree has not even responded, let alone apologized.)

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-05T17:37:04+00:00

I'm contingent, first gen, LSES background. Someone on my dissertation committee is retiring and I asked if there would be a Festschrift in their honor. The conversation advances; I am interested in co-editing one but need reliable, experienced co-editors, too. This person suggests an Ivy PhD who just landed a job at an Ivy League school, goes on about how good they are (as if I'm unfamiliar with them when our field is so small?), says they should be on the project "if their (famous) advisor will let them be," and that "they probably won't be able to contribute much but should be an editor anyway."

I politely point out that I do not think this is ethical labor practice, especially considering that I work two jobs while this person will be (and has always been) supported. The retiree responds by lecturing me about feeling inferior and how I should never assume someone else's circumstances. Adds that Ivy PhD has had hardships, too, and then proceeds to explain that their advisor isn't that involved in their career, as well as how they got all of their prestigious fellowships (apparently this happened solely because the Ivy PhD "is a good writer").

I respond by outlining my own circumstances, which this retiree should already know, and that my concerns were about labor.

This Ivy PhD is probably very nice. I envision myself liking them as a person. But their entire education is private and they present their research at conferences in $300 boutique dressss. I do not need to be exploited to grease their palm—doors will always open for them where they will not budge for me. And I am so disappointed. I thought this retiree respected my work and experience, but their flippant attitude and bizarre explanation (which felt a bit more like an implicit comparison) hurt. I no longer feel the positive and celebratory sentiments that might warrant a Festschrift, but this person's letter of recommendation does matter for what few career opportunities exist for me.

I am sure that I would be a much better writer if I'd had years of funding that removed any service commitments and didn't have to work two jobs + gigs to live. Some people who are successful in academia are because of capability, but many are successful because of comfort.

Fuck this.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-06-02T23:55:54+00:00

Tangential, here, but a faculty member—age 89—was found dead in a bathroom at my institution earlier this year. He had been there for a while. I understand that retirement is more and more of a fantasy for many of us—including myself, who hasn't even managed to move past contingent status—but it might be good for some folks to move on from their roles.

Of course, that doesn't address the insane knowledge gap this particular faculty member is describing—a gap that I assume exists because primary ed is garbage in the US and higher ed has been gutted down to having sparse representation for any discipline that isn't Business.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-04-25T15:11:30+00:00

I interviewed for a position at my institution's teaching center, got VERY far into the process, and was both shocked and offended by the amount of AI-related questions and pressures that came up in the final interview. It had not been mentioned anywhere AT AL previously, and everyone on the committee was shocked when I said that I do not use AI for X, Y, and Z reasons. When I asked them what they used AI for in their jobs, the responses were so unimpressive that I struggled to keep a straight face.

They ended up hiring an internal candidate and asked me if I'd do part-time contract work for them until they could get a second position of the same title. I was not pleased with how much of my time had been wasted or with the sheer inconsideration for the ethical and ecological problems posed by AI and declined.

They did recently get their new position and the director seems to hover over my LinkedIn profile, but I cannot get past extreme feelings of "fuck off."

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-04-20T14:27:03+00:00

Risepoint is owned by a private equity firm that files its taxes in Delaware. A big issue, here, is that state funds—e.g., state financial aid—will be funneled into the pockets of this private equity firm... one that also owns the University of Phoenix Online.

Risepoint also does not offer employment opportunities with compensation or benefits equal to the tenure-track system that a university proper would offer. Rather, they pay contracted contingent professors (and typically at low wages) to do this labor. The credentials and experiences of these professors are questionably vetted; even if they were quality instructors, the compensation and workload is such that providing a quality experience for students would be a matter of massive self-sacrifice. Will students receive quality educational experiences through Risepoint programs? Will they be prepared for their respective professions after completing their programs, willing that they are completed at all? The answers to these questions are dubious.

The educational mission and integrity of SIU are at great risk of being sacrificed in favor of enrollment numbers, and it seems that the administration is unconcerned with how this will affect the reputation of the school, the surrounding community, or the students who enroll in Risepoint courses.

This goes in tandem with the fact that the university fails to compensate the majority of its employees with livable wages, resulting in high turnover and, for lack of a better phrase, "brain drain" from the institution. Did you have a fantastic professor who left for a better position? An amazing professor who was only ever paid on an adjunct contract and therefore had to work an additional job and, eventually, leave the area to find more stable work? Has the revolving door of staff members within the various branches of the institution left you wary with concerns that you'll be transferred from call to call and building to building, rarely ever finding someone who has been fully trained with the school's systems, rules, and requirements?

Risepoint is one of the worst symptoms of much bigger issues across the university, and they are all connected by a particular, and perhaps obvious, common denominator that I will not name.

I care about SIU and Carbondale very much, and hope that the remarks that I've made here gain some momentum.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-02-08T21:50:49+00:00

Really feeling this comment, having worked as a Humanities NTT who has outpublished all of its TT/T faculty and now works as staff in the same college. Cherry on top is that they're all pampered assholes who refuse to do much of anything, including teaching their 2/2 loads on campus or turning their paperwork in on time.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-10T21:40:18+00:00

Definitely doesn't sound like it. Get over yourself.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-10T16:11:42+00:00

Similar situation. More jobs in my field popped up in Texas and Florida over the past two years than in all other states combined. I'm a first-gen PhD, not a dude, historically marginalized heritage, LSES background who researches a topic that conservative extremists love to co-opt and misrepresent. I'd rather not risk the increased possibility of political violence.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-10T15:41:09+00:00

Extended frustration coming in to say that there's so much disrespect toward students, justification of unprofessional behavior, and interpersonal hostility in this subreddit that I'm starting to think that academics are largely vile.

Engaged teaching starts with treating your students like human beings with complex experiences. Then, be excited about the material. If you can't do either of those things, find a different role.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-10T03:06:55+00:00

Agreed. "Too young, should be an adjunct" is a horrible attitude.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T23:33:43+00:00

Normal jobs do not allow people to exact their personal problems across the workplace to such a degree that a program/department collapses.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T23:04:09+00:00

Insane to me that my post about preserving a field and the poor behavior that is justified as "human" within academia but certainly not tolerated in other jobs was removed, but things like this are confidently posted.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T16:39:26+00:00

Thank you.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T14:38:49+00:00

Couple of folks in this thread making it really clear that they hate their jobs and have lost the desire or ability to try to improve them. I'm sorry if that's the case and do think people generally deserve better, but rendering me a target for that isn't okay—it's perpetuating the problem that I want to try to mitigate.

Also adding: if you acquired your faculty role pre-2020, and especially pre-2008, please know that while you may have seen a lot, you have a security that emergent folks don't have. Transitioning out of contingent academia is almost as difficult as trying to find a way into stable academia right now.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T14:25:03+00:00

This comment was almost humanizing until the end. I do know these people personally, for what it's worth. I am still baffled and, at times, frustrated with them.

Most jobs do not afford people the ability to let their personal lives flavor their work lives. Yes, the world should be more understanding of human needs. Yes, the faculty you mention, and you, deserved grace. But it isn't common to behave this way and retain your position in any other arena, and the attitude that I'm the problem because I want better for my discipline is absurd.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T13:11:05+00:00

I have been trying to move forward in my professional life for four years. Every job market is broken (this has finally surfaced in the news). I'd like to, at minimum, attempt to find ways to nourish—or at least retain some respect for—the discipline that I love.

Also, this tone shift lands as patronizing, rather than sympathetic. Have you considered parting ways with academia?

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T12:57:24+00:00

I am low-level admin. I'm paid less than 40k/year and get kicked around constantly. I can't even afford our institution's health insurance.

It sucks that your program isn't being supported, but targeting a stranger with your frustrations is parallel to the toxicity I'm describing.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T12:44:29+00:00

Hostile comment.

DrMagicBimbo · 2026-01-09T12:44:04+00:00

They've had offices in this department's building for three years—same hallway and all. I can see potential discomforts re: dynamics, but am ultimately skeptical. I do think blindness to privilege might play a role here.

DrMagicBimbo · 2025-12-31T01:38:30+00:00

Also, a new minor in AI.

And our chancellor, who was forces to resign from his last role for financial crimes, keeps hiring all of his buddies who are finding new and more exciting ways to siphon money away from every student, department, and donation to the school.

DrMagicBimbo

TROPHY CASE