Blogs

Pat McCrory of North Carolina is the latest governor to question the value of a liberal arts degree. This is the story of how its provided one kind of value (economic) to me.

A couple years ago, The Onion ran a story headlined “Unemployment High Because People Keep Blowing Their Job Interviews.” I was reminded of that in reading about the governor of North Carolina, Patrick McCrory, and his fusillades against the liberal arts in general and gender studies in particular. He’s the latest in a string of governors to declare that the recession lingers because students keep studying the wrong things, like he did. (McCrory was a double major in education and political science.) If only public colleges and universities would stop teaching the liberal arts and just focus on STEM, he implied, all would be well. Um, no.

This post is intended to open up a dialogue with the leadership at Adobe. I hope that people at Adobe read this post in the context of a larger discussion that is going on about the merits of outsourcing, a discussion that The Economist captures really well in its recent Special Report: Outsourcing and Offshoring. Please do not mistake these concerns about outsourcing e-learning product development and support with any negative arguments partnering with colleagues from India. As I've written in other places, I very much believe that India is positioned for a source of strength in e-learning in the years to come.

This is going to be my last post for Mama PhD. Contributing to the initial book and then to this blog has been an incredibly rich and rewarding experience. It has allowed me a public place to examine and articulate the intersections between my personal and professional lives, to push the boundaries between the private and the public, and to become part of a community. Writing this blog has also coincided with a decision on my part to be more authentic, less afraid of revealing myself, of speaking the truth. But it’s time to bow out and let other voices be heard -- in particular, I think we need to hear from adjunct Mama PhDs!

The New America Foundation released a wonderful and thought-provoking paper proposing a serious overhaul of Federal financial aid. It’s a lot to digest, and I’ve only had the chance to give it a brief run-through. That said, a few thoughts ....

My daughter is showing slight tendencies that would seem to suggest that maybe she would someday want to be a teacher.

This is a personal narrative of how I’m trying to strike a better balance in my life. For some people, finding a balance isn’t hard and taking time off doesn't lead to guilt- I'm not one of those people. For those of you who are perfectionist workaholics like me (i.e. anyone who related to Julie's post on the perils of perfectionism), relaxing can be one of the most difficult things in the world.

This is how I used to work. During the weekly meeting with my team I'd create an agenda (shared by e-mail ahead of time when possible), attaching time estimates to each point, and move the discussion down the agenda. I'd be sure to include everyone in the discussion, listen more than I spoke, start and end the meeting on time.