For someone considering becoming a Professor, is there a lot of drama at the workplace?

[karrie_o]

In departments, do professors sleep with each other/is there constant animosity over who gets tenure and who doesn't/or any other types of drama? Just curious if what I "heard" is actually true in terms of what kind of environment it is.
~Karrie

Comments

[alierakieron]

excuse me, i'll be over here laughing hysterically.

[poldyb]

they are not all like that

[alierakieron]

Nah, I just got back to back unlucky.

But in all honesty: Academia is a field filled with highly intelligent, highly strung people with a high need for external validation. Drama comes with the territory.

[poldyb]

Academia is also filled with highly intelligent, friendly, easy-going people. I'm just not one of them, since I live for the drama.

[suitablyemoname]

There's a tendency for drama to find you whether or not you want to be involved, though, isn't there?

Eventually you'll get on someone's toes: you'll be assigned a plum office that someone else felt entitled to, one of your grad students will drag you into their own feuds, you'll publish something that inadvertently contradicts a colleague's research (or you'll scoop them without realising it)...

[poldyb]

all very unlikely if we are actually talking about me

[alierakieron]

Well, I was of course talking about all those *other* people. Not the civilized ones, like us. *clinkies*