[Cerek]

Originally posted by Stratos: Exactly what is the 'real world', and how are academics somehow seperated from it? Is, say, a carpenter, cleaner or a lawyer closer to the real world? What are the 'real world pressures'? Bills, debts and traffic jams? Don't we all suffer those? Any seperation from the 'real world' is self-imposed, both for academics and for everyone else.

Not necessarily, Stratos. I agree that Magik has a point - to a certain degree.

First of all, there is a HUGE difference between being a college student and being out in the "real world" humping it every day. The average college student is NOT paying their own grocery bills, car payment, insurance, utility bills or mortgage payment. The parents have to pay all those regular bills AND find the several thousand extra dollars necessary to send their kid to school. Many students DO work jobs in school, but very few are earning more than spending money - and the parents usually send extra spending money to help with that. Grants and financial aid help a lot and some students (such as myself) do Work Study where part of our financial aid is "earned" by working a job on campus. I did ALL of that. I had Work Study, financial aid and I worked at McD's during my entire college career. But I still had no clue how much money it cost to actually survive once I was on my own.

Professors are also somewhat "insulated" against the real world. Regardless of whether we have a recession or not, thier jobs and pay scale are still going to be relatively secure. The only effect a recession has on them are the prices they pay for goods and how well or poorly their stocks do (I was a Marketing/Financial Planning major and ALL of my profs invested heavily in stocks). The fact is that - unless a prof makes a REALLY egregious error (such as failing a student for not sleeping with them) OR they have a very LONG litany of complaints filed against them year after year, they are NOT going to be fired from their jobs. One of the profs I had was a young Iranian who had a penchant for dating several of the girls in his class. He finally got in hot water when he started criticizing those that would NOT go out with him in front of the entire class (but he still didn't lose his job). Another prof had several complaints filed against him by students on their Evaluation forms and some taken directly to the Administer of Business Education because of his highly subjective grading curve (90% of the class ended up with averages 1 point below the next grade up - coincidence? I don't THINK so). Still, it took well over 5 years of continuous complaints before he was finally canned by the school.

As for healthcare, university employees almost always qualify for the State Health benefits and these are almost ALWAYS the most affordable programs with the best benefits.

Professors (to a large degree) share the same type of garuanteed job security as doctors. First of all, it takes a LOT to get them "fired" in the first place (especially if they have gained tenure). Secondly, even if they do lose a position at one facility, there are literally hundreds of others where they can go and be working again in very short notice. Economics professors may pontificate on the effects of the recession, but very few of them actually have to worry about losing their jobs due to the university "downsizing" or exporting their job overseas.

I will disagree with the esteemed Magik Man in that most of the profs I studied under HAD actually worked out in the "real world". The Head of the Econ/Finance Dept was a successful stockbroker. The Head of the Management Department had spent many years in the private sector and even worked overseas for one of his companies. Most others had similar experiences in Corporate America or the private sector before entering the world of Academia. And I think even THEY would agree that one of the primary bonuses of BEING a professor is that it provides a somewhat unique "job security" and it DOES insulate them from the full effects of the social and economic policies and climates.

Whether the stock market is up or down, whether Saddam stays in power or we run him out, whether the economy enters a big recession or is booming - Professors are GOING to have a job paying a pretty good wage and providing excellent benefits. So, yeah, to a point, they ARE protected from the "real world" more than the average working Joe.