On 15 Aug 1997, Diane Carlisle wrote:
>> This is all interesting stuff, but one major problem (IMHO) that none of
> this addresses is the fact that many people are forced to do more than one
> post-doc before they get that "real" position. Most solutions like this
> will both prejudice the system against those people that don't find a
> position immediately after a 1-2 year post-doc, and (at least initially)
> put more people in competition for the limited number of postions out
> there.
Right, but many of those people will not find the position they want after
5-6 years of postdoc either. They will seek some other type of job.
It may be kinder in the long run to make them aware of that sooner.
> I wouldn't be so concerned about the immediate problem of no money in the
> wallet as a post-doc, if I felt like if was limited to certain length of
> time. But, with as common as multiple post-docs have become, my
> perception is that it can last almost indefinately.
Right, that was my point. A low-paid postdoc is fine -- as long as it
is short-term.
