The Philosophers' Cocoon

Interview with Zachary Ernst: the philosopher who became a data engineer

Zachary Ernst left a tenured position as a philosophy professor to work in the start up Narrative Science. Now, Ernst works for the company Civis Analytics as a data engineer. Given the increasing role of data science in lots of domains, I thought it would be interesting to interview him again (see here for an earlier interview for his position at Narrative Science, and here for an interview for his job at Trunk Club).

HDC: You’re a philosopher by training, and you work as a data engineer. Can you tell me something about the path that took you there?

ZE: I did my PhD work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I specialized in philosophy of biology, with an emphasis in logic. I enjoyed graduate school a lot, and had a very positive experience throughout. My first job was a tenure-track position at Florida State University, where I stayed for three years. Then I moved to the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I received tenure.

Study on humanities PhD's working outside of the academy

There was a very animated discussion on the Cocoon recently (see the comments section here) about whether one can expect to find a career outside of academia meaningful if one values "the life of the mind." Although as with all things there are likely to be individual differences, I for one am very skeptical about the value of debating these issues anecdotally or intuitively. For, if my understanding of the science of human well-being is broadly accurate, one general lesson (echoing some of Socrates' thoughts several millennia ago) seems to be that human beings are terrible at estimating what makes them happy or would make them happy. Because of this, I tend to think it is wise to be skeptical of our intuitive reactions and instead examine whether and to what extent the science suggests they are accurate.

What, then, does the science tell us about academics/intellectuals and their relative level of satisfaction in different types of jobs? Well, a new study of over 4,000 humanities and social science PhD's found the following:

In other words:

1. PhD's in tenure-track (TT) academic positions are neither more nor less satisfied on average than individuals working outside of academia in the public sector (the latter of which are paid significantly more and get more appreciation from colleagues and supervisors).
2. PhD's in TT academic positions are significantly less satisfied on average than those working those working outside of academia in the private sector.
3. PhD's in non-TT jobs are significantly less satisfied than everyone, including people in TT jobs are both types of jobs outside of academia.

In other words, humanities and social science PhD's are not, on average, any more satisfied with academic jobs than non-academic jobs, and they are significantly less satisfied in non-TT jobs than any other type of job. This alone does not show that a person who truly wants to "live the life of the mind" is likely to be just as happy or happier working outside of the academy. However, it is suggestive. Given the plausible assumption that people who pursue PhD's in the humanities and social sciences tend be people who self-identify as intellectual and want to "live the life of the mind" (an assumption which could be wrong, and gloss over individual differences), the data plausibly suggest that people of this sort tend to find jobs outside of the academy at least as satisfying, in some cases more so, than jobs in the academy. Fwiw

Star Wars, prudence, morality, and the future - Part 1

I like to keep an eye out for philosophical themes in films, novels, and other forms of art. It’s not only fun. I also think it can be fruitful. Art can illustrate philosophical ideas in particularly vivid ways, making abstract philosophical claims and arguments come to life. Last year, I shared how a couple of holiday classics—A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life—illustrate claims about morality and prudence I defend in my 2016 book, Rightness as Fairness. This year, over the course of three posts, I’m going to take a stab at Star Wars!

My spouse and I saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi on opening night. I’m not going to say what I thought of the film, as I like to let people make up their own minds. Instead, I’d like to explore some philosophical themes from The Last Jedi that have been central to the entire movie series dating all the way back to the original trilogy. A quick, important heads-up: I am not going to spoil any plot-points of the new film. What I will do is mention two themes that appear throughout the saga and in the new movie, playing a few central roles in its plot. So, if you do not even want to know what that theme is, please do not read on below the fold.

Tips for new faculty?

Sorry things have been slow around here. I over-committed myself a bit this year, and got really swamped at the end of the semester. On that note, I have a query for all of you! My college has started a cool formal mentoring program for new faculty, and I've been asked to be a mentor. Because in my experience transitioning to a new job can be difficult (particularly one's first job!), and because there are all sorts of "traps" new faculty can fall into, I thought it might be good to crowd-source tips for new hires--particularly, tips on things to do and things to avoid. Some things are fairly obvious and commonly mentioned:

1. Know your tenure requirements.
2. Don't over-commit/say "yes" to everything.
3. If you're in a job where research matters, make sure to set aside time for research. 
4. Always have multiple papers under review (mid-tenure and tenure review come quickly!).

But I'd really curious to hear from readers. Do you have any tips to share on things new hires should do or avoid? If so, do you have any helpful tips for how to do/avoid those things? 

Learning to Love One's Students

Nearly two years ago, I attended a panel at the APA Eastern hosted by the American Association for Philosophy Teachers. The topic of the panel was how to deliver a teaching demonstration during a campus visit. (An overview of the panel’s content can be found in this post on the APA Blog.)

While attending that panel, I was struck by what David Concepción said about job candidates. He said that the best candidates had three crucial features:

1. They are experts in their discipline – that is, they know the subject matter they are trying to teach.
2. They are experts in pedagogy – that is, they know what teaching techniques work and they know how to implement good teaching techniques in the classroom.
3. They love their students. This isn’t anything as idealistic as brotherly or familial love. Instead, it refers to taking genuine enjoyment in interacting with students and having an appropriate empathy and compassion for them as people.

David mentioned that virtually everyone who gave a teaching demo had the necessary expertise in their disciplinary area and often also had sufficient pedagogical expertise. But it was rare to see people who genuinely loved their students. He also stressed that he thought this was the most important characteristic of a good teacher.

Reader query on manuscript-central status

Several days ago, Ambrose wrote in with a comment asking about a status-designation for a paper under review:

This is not directly related to the post but I'm hoping for reassurance. Does anyone know what it means for a paper on scholarone to go from "awaiting decision" to "awaiting recommendation"? I ask because my whole future probably hinges on how this one paper gets treated at this one journal. Sounds dramatic, I know, but tgis is actually my situation. So any info would be much appreciated.

Although I would normally let people respond in the comments section, the comment ended up in Typepad's spam folder. Since Ambrose is stressing over it, I thought it might be nice to post it here to see if anyone can help clear things up! 

Reader query on alt-ac opportunities

A reader writes in:

I believe you’ve had these discussions before, but it might be interested to have a post about this again. I am planning to leave the philosophy job market next year, and I’m currently trying to figure out alternatives. I don’t have a STEM background but a humanities background. 

Questions. 

1. Does a philosophy PhD with a humanities background (not STEM) open up any opportunities outside academia, or are the jobs that are available basically the same as those for people graduating with humanities BAs?

2. Are there any good MA programs for PhDs in philosophy that would open up new career options? 

Good questions, and I don't know the answers. Anyone have any insight they're willing to share?