The Chronicle: Colloquy: Responses

The Chair of the Department conducting job interviews mentioned to me that he was a particular age, which was exactly the same as mine. He described the Department as one which would be hiring a lot of "young" faculty over the next few years, as he and some colleagues took early retirement. He obviously thought that I would not fit in to the younger department that would eventuate within a few years.

Yet I have no thoughts of retirement, and am facing the opportunity of teaching in a new field with great zest, and excellent health, as well! I am free of responsibilities, and have considerable computer skills, which I use all the time.

The skills of my first profession would be exactly applicable to the turmoil of a changing department with a number of members facing the same challenges.

That is, the idea that I am not to be hired because I am the same age as faculty who are now looking forward to retirement is absurd.

Similarly, your article equates people with recent degrees with long-term faculty, on the basis of age alone. For example, your data that generations differ on computer interests, skills, and degree of stress would not be characteristic of older recent graduates -- selection of adjectives is a problem here. In my department, for example, those who have the computer skills and interests are the older graduate students. The younger graduate students do email, they don't do Web pages.

In other words, you condemn the older recent graduates without actually defining them as a group.

: -- Anonymous Penn graduate student (posted 9/6, 7:55 p.m., E.D.T.)

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