On 8/20/2011 11:32 AM, Aaron T. Dossey wrote:
Personal interests like "but my wife/child/friend wants a job too!" should not be a consideration of any hiring entity.
I think it should be. You do not want your new faculty member leave after two years for a place closer to her partner. After she spend most of the setup money and forcing you to go through a new hiring round (any idea how expensive they are money and time wise?).
Where does it end? Is it ok for a chair and group of faculty to decide only to hire members of their church or their own religion, or only hire other atheists? Is it ok for them to only hire their friends to the exclusion of all other applicants regardless of QUANTITATIVE qualification/skill/talent? Maybe a department wishes to be all white, or all Chinese, or all Jewish? Kosher?
You seem to miss the point. A spousal hire is not a prerequisite set by the university before they can hire someone; it is a added issue that needs to be resolved before someone is willing to come. It is not a university set requirement but an applicant set requirement. Having a specific religion etc are university set requirements.
Spousal hiring is not benign, it is not a victimless crime. It is an unethical tragedy which is leading to many very good hard working scientists to leave the field and their dreams, some of us who have worked hard all our lives toward this goal of starting our own lab one day, and were the first in our families to even go to graduate school (and second to college at all).
I would argue that the opposite takes place. Many highly qualified scientists left and still leave the field when forced to choose between love and passion. But really, when you apply without a spouse needing a job, and you are passed by for a guy who also demands a job for his wife, I think you better start thinking about the quality difference between you and that person. The problem with this discussion is that this is a non-issue. Universities do not ALWAYS hire a spouse. No, they weigh that on a case-by-case basis.
The "American Dream" has been dead in the private sector for many years, is it dead in Academia too?
No, you can still make it. The illusion is that you would have MORE changes if there were no spousal hires. Because if a university is willing to pay for a spousal hire, it means that the person they intent to hire is a lot better than the person who does not require a spousal hire. That most likely also means that there are a lot of candidates between you and the top choice. Kim
