Bereits vor einiger Zeit fragte der US-Geograph Austin Kocher auf Twitter:
Does anyone actually enjoy being in academia?
— Austin Kocher, PhD (@ackocher) June 28, 2021
Inzwischen hat er darunter über 1.400 Antworten gesammelt, warum die einen es genießen, in der akademischen Forschung aktiv zu sein – und warum andere eben nicht.
Da wären die durchweg positiven, wie etwa:
What kind of question is that? The pay is atrocious for the level of expertise and training, so what would keep someone here other than enjoyment? – the intellectual freedom and flexibility of it.
— Amy Shaub Maddox (@AmyShaubMaddox) June 28, 2021
Love it. Besides some admin work obviously. But I can peruse any research i want As long as i can convince someone to pay for it. I would never get that at industry or even a national lab where others tell me which roads to follow.
— Roland Hatzenpichler (@environmicrobio) June 28, 2021
I do. And most of the complaints about it are actually possible precisely because of the freedom and systematic reflexivity implied in being an academic: we think and talk about the stuff we do -and its limitations- in ways that many other occupations do not allow.
— Cristian R. Montenegro (@Cris_Monteneg) June 28, 2021
Aber es gibt natürlich auch weniger positive, wie etwa:
I think that some of the folks who do are the reason why so many more do not. Some, not all, but definitely some. Individuals having a good time, ignoring their chairs, doing their own thing, etc. may inadvertently contribute to shitty working environments for others.
— Jennifer Polk, PhD (she, her) (@FromPhDtoLife) June 28, 2021
my wife & my dad spent spent decades in academia. From the perspective of a spectator, it is a horrific set up. Seeing what people have to endure to progress as academic professionals has been eye opening. It is a very broken system imo, the pursuit of knowledge is tainted.
— danie 💀 (@daansteraan) June 29, 2021
Und es gibt die klar negativen wie diesen hier:
I enjoyed leaving. Dunno if that counts?
— David Moscrop (@David_Moscrop) June 28, 2021
Insgesamt sind die positiven aber ganz klar in der Überzahl. Wer also mal wieder hadert, ob sie oder er in der akademischen Forschung richtig ist, kann sich von dieser Twitter-Konversation mit über tausend „Überzeugungstätern“ gut wieder aufrichten lassen ;-).