20100318

小城困局

我已談過哲學教席是如何的難找,事實上其他的人文學科(歷史、文學、藝術等)都有這個情況,因此,這些博士們只要在教席爭奪戰勝出了,無論那是間甚麼大學位處美國那個角落,大多都會先接受了,寧可騎牛揾馬,總好過失業無收入。

這隻牛,一騎可能就是幾年,甚至要以後騎下去,加上美國很多大學都位於只有數萬人的小城市或小至人口數千的小鎮,對於兩類人,這可能會令他們處於一種困局。

第一類是單身人士。單身自然想找伴侶,但在校園裏的選擇不多(很多已婚,學生免問);校園外的,除了難有學歷興趣匹配者,還有一個問題:人文學科的博士教授多是自由派,而美國小城鎮的居民卻保守派為多,自由碰上保守,絕少會擦出愛的火花。我的大學有很多單身同事來時只有三十出頭,現在已年近四十,男的孤家寡人,女的雲英未嫁,心裏乾著急,亦只有無可奈何花落去。

第二類是已婚的。已婚的有甚麼問題?問題在夫妻兩人也是搞學術的,或另外一個是專業人士,不能在同一地方找到教席或工作,沒有工作的只好陪有工作的一起搬到這小城鎮來。可是,沒有工作的那個往往一直沒有工作,幾年過後,便會覺自己的事業前途漸漸萎縮,雖然不至鬧離婚,卻可能心生怨懟;不必牛衣對泣,亦有坐困愁城的感覺。

我很幸運,妻子在我們搬來後的兩三年找到一份不錯的工作,否則,我們可能也會覺得自己是在一個小城的困局裏掙扎。

18 則留言:

  1. 很有同感。很多華人都要隔幾年去找另一隻牛。現在學術市場僧多粥少(其實可能連粥都冇),如果拿不到終身教席,朝不保夕,人工又少,不如轉行好過。

    美國有所謂大學城,一到假期,學生雞飛狗走,小城頓變死城。教書要住在那些鬼地方,真的悶鬼死。我的一位好友就是因為在小城找到教席,要全家搬去,幸好她是已婚,丈夫也很支持。我常在電話裡扮牛笑她(因為她家方圓附近人影不多,只有牛)。捱了七年,她終於可以在這裡找到另一教席了,暑假前就會回歸這裡,開心死我。

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  2. testing。

    我的留言又不見了。唉。仲好長添。

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  3. 呀~~~~

    我第二條留言又不見了﹗﹗我要投訴﹗﹗

    明明話"your comment was published",又不見了﹗

    我不留了。好谷氣﹗

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  4. 噢,blogspot跟我有仇?

    不好意思,好彩冇爆粗。

    我去檢討吓我的脾氣。

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  5. readandeat,

    留言是否都出來了,抑或是仍然不見了;若是前者,你看不見留言時可先reflesh網頁一次。

    我也替你朋友高興,做了七年仍轉到工,可算百中無一。我不想拖著妻兒到處走,所以沒有申請過其他工作,但我住的城鎮不太小,亦不乏文化活動,連Pink Floyd和Joan Baez也來過表演,不至於只有牛那麼慘。

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  6. 我看到了。謝謝﹗

    可能是我沒有用先登入wordpress就留言。算了算了。

    總之做得開心住得安樂就可以了。

    忘了說,你上次舞獅好勁喎。

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  7. readandeat,

    多謝多謝!我都舞得幾開心。

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  8. 為甚麼「學生免問」?學生過幾年就不是學生了嘛。

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  9. Meshi,

    學生仍然是學生時當然免問,學生畢業後就會走了,想問已經太遲。

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  10. 很有同感。

    A lot of my friends have this 2-body issue. Some started off working in two different places. One of my friends almost got divorce because of that and had to give up her job and move in with her husband... but she never found another comparable job...

    Even if the couples can live together, there is still a lot of problem with academics... who would like to 'live' with someone who has no life outside work?
    http://boundaryinterfaces.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/d-trap-the-divorce-trap/

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  11. About dating students...

    I think so long there is no conflict of interest it should be ok? I mean like if it is a PhD student from another department?

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  12. RandomCoil,

    "Even if the couples can live together, there is still a lot of problem with academics... who would like to 'live' with someone who has no life outside work?"

    - Not true of me though.

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  13. RandomCoil,

    "I think so long there is no conflict of interest it should be ok? I mean like if it is a PhD student from another department?"

    - True. But many small colleges do not have graduate programs.

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  14. You are good, Wong. The key is to strike a balance between work and family/marriage...

    Now I wonder if it is a self-selective process... how come people around me are all workaholic or maybe we are just inefficient :P ?

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  15. RandomCoil,

    Natural sciences and the humanities are different, I suppose.

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  16. I'm a college teacher myself. I live in a small city in the US, and it's a difficult for young single faculty. Not only that it's hard for them to find a potential partner/spouse, it's difficult for them to establish their social circles. People marry young here - most 20- or 30- somethings are already married with children. Social life here revolves around families with children - birthday parties, sports, etc.

    I'm married without kids - my husband lives in another city about 5-hour drive away and I see him over the weekends. When I first started the job, I found that many of the people I was hanging out with were colleagues with grown kids. Now things are finally getting better.

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  17. "About dating students...

    I think so long there is no conflict of interest it should be ok? I mean like if it is a PhD student from another department?"

    The chance that the Ph.D, student can get a job and stay at the same university is slim - so once the student graduates, he/she needs to move and they will need to deal with the two-body problem eventually.

    And in a small college town, dating a graduate student even from another department could generate nasty gossips...

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  18. These are all good points. Thanks for sharing.

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