ABSTRACT
Although in most occupations men are judged by how well they perform their normal duties, the academic man is judged almost exclusively by his performance in a kind of part-time voluntary job which he creates for himself. There are three situations in which the academic man is typically beset by insecurity. They correspond in a general way to the early, middle, and late parts of his career. The more subtle forms of discrimination are difficult to describe. Recommendations can be ameliorated by any university which adopts a rational and restless attitude toward its own personnel policies A few disciplines practice the listing of junior positions, but even in these it is not customary to list the "good" openings-those which carry more than minimum prestige or offer favorable opportunities for advancement. The identification of teaching with local prestige, and of research with disciplinary prestige, has been pointed out several times.
