Month: November 2019

To get your PhD you have to do a dissertation. For some this is an important product that demonstrates your ability to produce original research. To others, it’s a vestigial ritual and a waste of time on the way to becoming a productive scholar. In this episode we discuss dissertations – what they’ve been in the past, what they are today, and where they might go in the future. Is a dissertation necessary for the kinds of work that someone might do with a PhD? As graduate training has evolved, how well has the dissertation kept up? Are oral defenses a valuable part of the process or an elaborate hazing ritual? Are they better if they’re public, private, or don’t happen at all? And most importantly, should all defenses involve swords? Plus: We discuss a letter about escaping from a toxic and abusive advisor.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 70. It was recorded on November 20, 2019.

Speaking up about injustice and bad behavior in a professional setting – as a witness, or as the target of it – is hard. It’s uncomfortable, it’s difficult, and it can generate backlash and other risks for yourself and your career. In this episode, we talk about that moment when people finally decide to say something or do something. Simine shares the story of how she decided to go on the record about being groped at a conference – what brought her to that decision, and what happened as a result. And we talk about other cases of people speaking up about harassment, discrimination, professional misconduct, and more, including Jennifer Freyd’s pay discrimination lawsuit against the University of Oregon. We talk about the burden of knowing something is wrong, how this dilemma often falls disproportionately on people who are vulnerable in other ways, and what factors can help somebody speak out. Plus: we respond to a letter about department leaders who are obsessed with bean-counting of grant dollars and impact factors.

Links:

• N-best evaluation for academic hiring and promotion, by Michael Frank
• Making research evaluation more transparent: Aligning research philosophy, institutional values, and reporting, by Michael Dougherty, L. Robert Slevc, and James Grand, published at Perspectives in Psychological Science
• Dan Engber’s Slate article where Simine went on the record
• What Reporting Sexual Harassment Taught Me, by Simine Vazire, published at Slate
• a little bit louder now, by Simine Vazire
• Taylor Swift’s Sexual Assault Testimony Was Sharp, Gutsy, and Satisfying
• Coverage of Jennifer Freyd’s lawsuit: Psychology professor appeals dismissal in equal pay lawsuit with UO, Daily Emerald; and 47 Women’s And Civil Rights Groups Support Equal Pay Lawsuit Against UO, OPB
• Why We Find and Expose Bad Science, by James Heathers

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 69. It was recorded on October 30, 2019.