To: PSN-Seminars@csf.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: academic lives and meaning
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 14:55:25 -0500
From: "Lisa M. Covi" <covi@crew.umich.edu>
Hi everyone,

   My name is Lisa Covi and I just met Gary last Tuesday and I'm very
interested in the topic of this conference.  I've studied how
sociologists use electronic resources in their research and am also
interested in learning more about the professional life of
sociologists.  I'm technically a member of the ASA, but my Ph.D. is in
Information and Computer Science.  I study how people use networked
technologies with naturalistic methods from social science.  I'm
currently a Research Fellow (post-doc) at the School of Information at
University of Michigan.

>What are your goals?

I would like to raise people's consciousness about how information
technology embodies assumptions about social behavior and the ways
that certain socialf behaviors are constrained or enabled by
information technology.  More simply, I like to write and this is a
general topic which I feel qualified to study and contribute. 

>Why do you study sociology?

Sociology is the home discipline for many theorists who study
organizations and societies, two levels of analysis that are important
to my work.

>What are the major concerns you have about work life? what are the
>major tensions or unresolved issues that you think most about?

I am concerned about the combining teaching and research activities in
such ways that spur these different experiences.  There is an
interesting article that discusses how to combine competing needs to
be general, accurate and simple that I like: 

Wanous, John P. (1981).  A new look at teaching "versus"
research. EXCHANGE: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal,
vol. vi, no. 4, 9-13.

Another concern I have is about collaboration versus single
authorship.  I find that as a prospective faculty member, prospective
colleagues are very concerned about who contributed what part of
different ideas which I think can be a false distinction when I work
in research teams.  It seems in many organizations people get rewarded
for individual contributions although much work is accomplished with
the cooperation of many people and I'm not sure how to reconcile this
in my authorship patterns.

>So you know the difference between the disipline and the profession?

This is an interesting question.  I think disciplinary labels are used
to simplify what is a complex research profession.  Disciplines are
lenses through which you can view problems with the knowledge
structures they provide.  

>Where do you think you will be in your career five years from now? ten?

I think I am fairly preoccupied with the incentives of tenure and
promotion.  I am interested in pursuing a tenure-track faculty career
because I would like to influence decision-making about the future of
higher education.  However, today it was suggested to me that there
may be revolution with wholesale layoffs of the established faculty in
order to further a new organization of higher education.  I suppose I
am a proponent of change from within, which is why I pursue my goals
the way I do.

>Have you identified types of work, questions or persons that you would
>like to, or do, emulate in your research and life?

I like exploratory naturalistic study.  I like pursuing research
questions that are so new that there are no immediate clear answers
and providing descriptive evidence for further work.  As far as people
go, I admire conceptual researchers who are grounded in realist
perspectives and have enough integrity to thoughtfully consider
alternative explanations. 

>If you were independently wealthy would you still be seeking, or
>continue a career in sociology? what if you knew you had only ten
>years to left to live? five? one?

This is my second career and it chose me rather than me choosing it.
I enjoy what I do but I sometime feel frustrated that there is not
enough time in the week to do more of it.

>What upsets you most about being a graduate student or a begining
>assistant professor? what gives you the most pleasure?

I feel upset by the lack of formal recognition for post-docs within
the university.  I cannot write research grants or earn fellowships
because as a temporary employee, bureaucratically I'm not recognized.
I'm also very frustrated by the amount of time I have to spend in
order to push paperwork through the system.  I derrive the greatest
pleasure from giving voice in my work to recognizable concerns from
professions or a lesser known body of work.  I also enjoy facilitating
other people's (i.e., students) connections between their interests
and current work they may not know about. 

>What three or four (or more?) ideas do you feel it is most important
>to pass on to those just starting in the field? What would you
>recommend that students and colleagues read to help deal with these
>questions?

For students, pick your department and advisor carefully.  I've seen
many people waste valuable career time because they did not extend
their consideration to programs that better fit their interests or
paid too little attention to signals that advisors were giving them
about their progress or achievement in their programs.  Read some
biographies of people in your desired field and dissertation-advice
books.  For women, read Emily Toth's "Ms. Mentor's impeccable advice
for women in academia" to get a flavor of some issues you may face.
If you don't like to read or write, you've chosen the wrong
profession.

>If you are established in your career what do you know now that you
>wish you knew when you were starting out?

I came back to this as a career.  Although it was frustrating
sometimes, I think outside work experience sensitized me to particular
work domains and problems.  However, if I had to do over, I'd try to
be better prepared for the "culture shock" when returning to being a
full-time student.

Lisa