Read on Twitter
Since I broke the seal on this, I'm going to tell a little story about the catch-22 of being a precarious academic. I hope FT people, and especially people in charge of post-docs, will hear me. https://twitter.com/Lady_Historian/status/1321145845664960519
I'm 43 years old and have a terminal degree from one of the top schools in my field. I am only able to survive because my parents have a spare room that they let me live in and because I get public health care. Without those things, I'm not sure what would happen to me.
To make myself a viable candidate for a FT/TT academic job, I need to do research. To do research, I need money. That means applying for research funds and post-docs. I apply for them. I got a few small grants this year.
But I can only apply for small grants or long-term post-docs. Why? Because a 6-month position would push my annual income above the threshold to qualify for Medicaid, but would leave me unable to afford private insurance after the award term is over.
Additionally, a 6-month (or 9-month) term would mean giving up my adjunct gigs and they would not be waiting for me after the term is over.
Taking a 6-month fellowship would mean losing my employment and my health insurance. Turning a 2-year job into a 6-month fellowship shuts out people like me. Those gigs are now only viable options to people who already have the privilege of either wealth or FT employment.
I know most institutions don't care about us and only want to invest in people who have already been "proved" "worthy." But at some point we need to either stop shuffling the same 5 people around to all the jobs and opportunities or just admit that the field has no future.
