There are limits, after all, to the idea of limits. Louis Menand More Quotes by Louis Menand More Quotes From Louis Menand The time between Bachelor's degree and a PhD, the median time is over 11 years. So then you're still only on a tenure ladder, you're not tenured. So it generally takes 6 to 8 years after that to get tenure. So that's a very long period of what's essentially apprenticeship, of insecurity. Louis Menand insecurity long years I don't think that you want to see universities in any way trying to have any kind of quota system about political views, or views in general. You want the market to work in the way the market works. Louis Menand political views thinking It's generally sort of sociologically observed that the better educated people are, the more liberal they tend to be, which would suggest that professors are going to be more liberal than the general public. Louis Menand professors educated people I do worry a lot about the time it takes for people to get a PhD, about the difficulty of finding employment, about the difficulty of getting tenure, and generally about the perception that undergraduates have, that this is a very high-risk career to get started. Louis Menand careers worry people Basically what you want in any profession - I would say the same thing if I were a lawyer or a doctor - is you want bright undergraduates to look at your profession as something they would be interested in getting into. Louis Menand doctors would-be looks Universities are set up to get people to work together by having them disagree with each other. Louis Menand university working-together people You want diversity in any intellectual organization. I mean, that's how good ideas arise. Louis Menand organization mean ideas I don't really usually push an agenda, and I don't feel that my main job is to persuade people of something. My main job is to help them think about something. Louis Menand jobs people thinking
