“I’m working on my second doctorate and doing clinical research...

“I’m working on my second doctorate and doing clinical research in HIV. I’ve always wanted to be a tenure track professor, but I’ve been questioning that lately. I imagined that one day I’d get to a place where I can do the research that I want to do. But I’m seeing now that it’s more about doing the research that will get funded. I’m noticing a lot of disenchantment among my senior mentors. They don’t get to be as innovative as they’d like. Their primary task seems to be sustaining the institution. It’s not about doing the research that they think will make the most impact. It’s about going for the most likely money. It’s publish or perish. Fund or get fired. And education suffers as well. I love to teach, and I’ve always thought that teaching would be a big part of the process. But it’s not emphasized. Because teaching is paid for by tuition. It’s ‘money in, money out.’ But research funding comes from outside the school. It’s new money.”