Well I suppose everyone has a need to vent about the jobs that they didn't get, and certainly some Federal hiring practices are arcane (of course no less than those in industry or NGO's, gee whiz, no favoritism there), but to say that spousal hiring is unethical is absurd, especially given that you are making the assumption that the spouse is less qualified than the hire themselves. After many years in academia it is clear to me that there is no pattern in the qualifications of spousal hires -- just as frequently the spousal hire is better qualified than the primary hire, there just wasn't an open position in their discipline. Might a University be better off if there was an open search (my guess is that at most universities the spousal hire isn't an open search) -- probably from the disciplinary point of view but then from a personnel management and teaching point of view they get much greater stability and dedication from "couple hires". As someone who was hired in the pre-spousal hire era I've watched many marriages and families dissolve under the pressure of jobs in separate cities, etc. I've also seen faculty who spent a substantial amount of time interviewing at other institutions, rather than focusing on teaching and research, because no provision was made for their well qualified spouse.
And to all you folks that are grousing about not getting jobs. Of course there are many factors that go into not getting interviewed or not getting a job when you are interviewed. You should realize that these negative, venting, posts that you've made are available to any search committee that knows how to use google. Is this how you want to present yourself to a search committee or hiring office? Do you think that these posts will help demonstrate your positive attitude, ability to deal with adversity, etc.? I hope that some day we have a society that values ecologists as much as it values medical doctors and that everyone has a job! Gary D. Grossman, PhD Professor of Animal Ecology Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens, GA, USA 30602 Research & teaching web site - http://grossman.myweb.uga.edu/<http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Egrossman> Board of Editors - Animal Biodiversity and Conservation Editorial Board - Freshwater Biology Editorial Board - Ecology Freshwater Fish Sculpture by Gary D. Grossman www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=2002317&id=1348406658<http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#%21/album.php?aid=2002317&id=1348406658> Hutson Gallery Provincetown, MA - www.hutsongallery.net/artists.html
