Smelly Swiss Dilettante

[loutfard]

One more person here to hope you got the job you wanted!

[7Wannabe5]

I think with academic families it's not just a matter of favors traded. There's also a great deal of nurture, and likely some nature (IQ is known to be at least somewhat heritable, although also sporty), and don't forget inter-marriage. There's also overlap with arts community and civil service community. IOW, the entire Gentry Ladder or as David Brooks described, Snobby Elite (as opposed to Sleazy Elite.) The Tech community seems to be positioned midway between the Snobby and Sleazy Elite. Although, if I think about the families I know of that have been on the Gentry Ladder in the U.S since before 1900, location will also influence outcome to a fairly significant degree. For example, San Francisco vs. Lawrence vs. Detroit vs. Austin.

Approximately 2% of the U.S. population has a PhD, JD, or MD. , so even in a multi-generational slacker-with-high-test-scores family like mine, you will likely see a concentration at one degree of separation. Although, I think there may be a growing tendency for those in younger generations to float around on experience, skills, connections, or maybe even "vibes" more than credentials.

[zbigi]

From what I'm seeing, in STEM fields, a lot of US professors are immigrants, mostly from Asia. Looks like a lof of them got the job on merit. It may be different in non-STEM though, where no hard truth is to be found and thus cultural capital is much more important.

[delay]

From what I'm seeing, in STEM fields, a lot of US professors are immigrants, mostly from Asia. Looks like a lof of them got the job on merit. It may be different in non-STEM though, where no hard truth is to be found and thus cultural capital is much more important.

Can't disagree there! Jacob was listing factors "ceteris paribus" (all else being equal.) Asian professors come with a flow of lucrative foreign students which is another form of "merit".

I think with academic families it's not just a matter of favors traded. There's also a great deal of nurture, and likely some nature (IQ is known to be at least somewhat heritable, although also sporty), and don't forget inter-marriage. There's also overlap with arts community and civil service community.

That sounds like a better description than mine! The higher level academics were proportionally much more into arts than the lower level academics.

Then you had this Russian postgrad who said the candidate with the most beautiful wife would be the next professor. He was often right