In article <33F34859.1064FDEE at ag.arizona.edu>,
Bart Janssen <bjanssen at ag.arizona.edu> wrote:
Furthermore, instead of
>being considered cheap labour (as many post-docs are now) visiting
>fellows/post-docs used to be given all the respect and consideration of
>fellow scientists. They were considered the equal of established
>faculty. They were treated as genuinely valuable members of the
>institute.
When I started my postdoc at Caltech in 1993, I got this impression very
much: that postdocs were respected and considered to be genuinely
valuable members of the institute. I got a "Faculty" ID card and all
the benefits accrued to faculty (being able to join and eat at the faculty
club, use the gym for free). There was also a minimum salary requirement
that was higher than the NIH minimum.
Things have changed somewhat, in that Caltech has created a separate
category now, called "research fellows" for the newer postdocs. But
nonetheless, as a postdoc, I felt quite well-treated by the institution.
>It is extremely rare for present day post-docs to be treated with any
>such respect.
That's a shame, if true. But I don't think it's universally true, as I
said.
Remember also that for Linus Pauling and Jim Watson there
>was no question that they would have jobs when they returned "home".
And there, I think, is really "the rub" for the current batch of postdocs.
Karen
