To Hell With Modesty

~ Clarissa

I decided to abandon modesty (which is obviously my defining characteristic) for a change, and wrote in the yearly merit report: “VASTLY EXCEEDED GOALS IN RESEARCH.” Yes, I wrote it in block letters. If I could make the letters pulsate in red, I’d do that.

And in case anybody suspects that my goals were low and it was no big deal to exceed them, they were to get 2 articles accepted for publication in prestigious peer-reviewed journals.

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Published by Clarissa

4 thoughts on “To Hell With Modesty”

  1. And in case anybody suspects that my goals were low and it was no big deal to exceed them, they were to get 2 articles accepted for publication in prestigious peer-reviewed journals.

    I have no idea what this means, of course. In some fields, one article every few years is extremely good output. In other fields, it make take 12 to fifteen a year to be considered good. It depends on the field and how time consuming the work is.

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    1. “I have no idea what this means, of course. In some fields, one article every few years is extremely good output. In other fields, it make take 12 to fifteen a year to be considered good. It depends on the field and how time consuming the work is.”

      – I’m coming from the tenure workshop, and we are being told that this is precisely why the college doesn’t have any research requirements of its own. All the departments have their own requirements and the college can’t impose anything in this area. The good thing is that my department has very clear, specific guidelines with the exact numbers of what you need and how much and where it should be published.

      In my field, nobody can ask for more than 2 articles in good peer-reviewed journals. Unless you are a tenured Full professor at an Ivy, in which case nobody cares about your articles at all. The only thing you need to put on your yearly report is the book you have published. If there is no book every 3 years, you are in trouble.

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  2. You should get those words tattooed on your upper arm, so when people ask you how your career is going, you can just roll up your sleeve and point.

    I mean, if you’re fucking modesty to hell, you should do it in style.

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    1. I was about to do that but then I realized there are always more articles forthcoming. 🙂 I hope to have a list of publications longer than both my arms, actually. 🙂 🙂

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