"Bloggers Need Not Apply"

 Posted by on 9 July 2005 at 6:18 am  Uncategorized
Jul 092005
 

When university faculty search committees are considering a job applicant, the mere fact that they run a weblog may be held against them, “even if the blogger/applicant has never mentioned any details about his or her workplace or fellow employees, employer or students online”. According to this professor (writing under a pseudonym),

The content of the blog may be less worrisome than the fact of the blog itself. Several committee members expressed concern that a blogger who joined our staff might air departmental dirty laundry (real or imagined) on the cyber clothesline for the world to see. Past good behavior is no guarantee against future lapses of professional decorum.

For the record, I think the argument cited is incredibly unsound. But the very fact that there are people on academic search committees that believe this argument and make hiring decisions accordingly is troublesome.

Obviously, for Diana it’s too late to adopt a pseudonym. But if you are a graduate student or an untenured faculty member, this article provides food for thought.

   
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