Friday, June 03, 2011

More on working in Africa

This semester I spent a lot of time adjusting to life on a new continent. This is the fourth continent I have lived on in the last ten years. Which I think is part of the coming globalization of academic labor. Had I stayed in the US, I am pretty sure I would have had to stop looking for an academic job eventually. To date I have only had one phone interview for a US position in seven years during which I sent out hundreds of applications. I am not exactly sure why there is so much competition for lousy academic jobs in the US compared to much better academic jobs in places like Ghana. But, I suspect I got lucky in getting here before the competition realized that there are universities outside of the US, Canada and Europe.

2 comments:

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

Hi, Otto. This is the first time I've visited your blog, so I can immediately raise your comments/reader ratio! I enjoy your reflections on teaching in (what is to me) an exotic setting, and I would definitely pick avocados over pizza if that were an available choice.

J. Otto Pohl said...

There is good pizza in Ghana. Just not at Pizza Inn. The avocados, pineapples and mangoes here are the best. But, I mostly eat fried chicken, jollof rice and coleslaw.