Eleven percent TeaBagger

A study in Perspectives in Psychological Science by Norton and Sommers is getting a lot of attention. It shows that eleven percent of White people in their sample think that there is maximum anti-White bias in US culture in the 2000’s compared with just 2% of Whites who gave a maximum rating to anti-Black bias. The mean rating of White subjects for anti-White bias in the present day is actually higher than their mean rating for anti-Black bias.

I really don’t have much more to say than this to those poor deluded teabagging souls…

Evaluating the "success" of the K99/R00 awards

The topic was launched by a query over at writedit’s blog. Someone wanted to know if any K99/R00 awardees had landed R01 grants.

The answer is yes. Some have.

I suspect the question was motivated by a broader curiosity given that it referred to “success” of the grant program itself.

How would you define “success”?

Do you ask about the proportion that landed R01 support versus folks hired at same time w/o a K99/Roo? Seems to miss the idea that transition to independence was the point of the program. Valid or not, the assumption is that these folks were appointed faculty earlier than otherwise would have been the case. Or, appointed, period.

How about versus postdocs awarded F32 at time of K99s? That seems like a better comparison to me. Or maybe the K01- the K99/R00 population I am familiar with is one that might otherwise have been poised to pursue small level funding in almost-faculty positions typical of K01 recipients of my acquaintance.

On the smaller scale answer about success, I know 4 or 5 current Assistant Profs who were/are K99/R00 recipients. All of them seem to feel this was a positive contribution to their job hunt and negotiations. Although one has R01 support already, I don’t think it is necessarily expected value at this point. We’ll have to give it another year or two to really assess if they are having trouble landing grants or having an easy time of it, given the difficulties everyone faces right now.

Citation

How often do you cite a paper for the overall, Gestalt thrust of the story? For the whole picture?

How frequently do you cite a paper for only a figure or two out of the whole thing? Or for a method?

What does this tell you about the notion that there is such a thing as a meaningful standard of a “complete story”?

Mentoring Thought of the Day

I find myself increasingly trying to hold back and let the trainees have the ideas.

Meaning when I’m discussing one of the projects with a postdoc or two, there are gonna be a lot of ideas that we all could possibly arrive at in the discussion.

I think I used to just ramrod ahead with my ideas and let them state theirs if they could get a word in edgewise. Now I try to hold back more. Let them say the more obvious, and not so obvious, ideas in their own ways.

I am uncertain if I am getting older, better* at mentoring, worse** at mentoring or if it even matters.

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*recognizing the power and “style” differential?

**babying them?