SGA - After having read a fair amount of future-fics I wonder ...

[patk]

...why it's always only John who gets promoted.

"General" Sheppard is a frequent occurrence in SGA future-fics but I have yet to come upon a story in which Rodney has managed to become "Professor" McKay.

I know, whereas a promotion to "General" doesn't need any extra education/training/schooling outside of your job because it's a designated step on the path of a military career which you may be able to reach if you're good enough, one has to work hard in addition to a day job to earn the title of "Professor". You don't become a professor just because you are a Doctor and very, very good in your field. You have to work actively on earning the title of "Professor" - time consuming, I would guess.

But does actually nobody think that Rodney would actually strive to achieve this after the immediate threats in Pegasus have slowed down somewhat?

Or is there a different reason which I'm not seeing?

Anyway, "Professor" McKay doesn't seem to be in Rodney's future (except perhaps for total AUs).

ETA: Thanks to Istia and Clavally I'm now properly informed why it would not make sense for Rodney to want to be a professor. :-)

Who said being in fandom isn't educational? *ggg*

Comments

[clavally]

I agree with the previous comment. "Professor" is a job title you only get from a university, so it wouldn't make any sense for him to have it. Even then, it's been my experience that most professors prefer being addressed as "doctor" anyway.

[patk]

Because "doctor" is the academic degree and "professor" would only mean he's teaching at an university and nothing else, right?

Well, in this case: is there even an higher step on his (academical) career-ladder that he could achieve beyond the two PhDs he already has?

[clavally]

Because "doctor" is the academic degree and "professor" would only mean he's teaching at an university and nothing else, right?

Yes, exactly. Only people with doctorates can be professors, at least in the US, but professors are only employed at universities and it usually means their valuable time for research is being used up on administrative stuff and teaching.


The only thing above getting a doctorate in something is getting a prestigious award like the Nobel.

[patk]

>>The only thing above getting a doctorate in something is getting a prestigious award like the Nobel. <<

Ah, that explains a lot. *g* So, aside from getting prestigious awards, with his doctorates Rodney has already reached the upper end of his professional ladder as an academic.

>>it usually means their valuable time for research is being used up on administrative stuff and teaching. <<

Which would be the last thing Rodney wants, of course. So, I take it, there are no "professors" working exclusively in research since it's only a job title for doctors teaching at an university. You work in research, you are "Doctor" XY (and wouldn't want to be called anything else since that academic degree is the hightest you get anyway).

Thanks for this educational exchange of comments. :-)

[clavally]

And now I'm going to completely confuse you. My brother-in-law has a doctorate in cellular biology and works at a university, but he's not a professor. He does, however, work in the lab of a professor as a researcher. :p

In essence, though, your last sentence was right. In terms of titles, "doctor" is the pinnacle for Rodney.

[patk]

*blinks*

*thinks*

*is properly confused*

*tries to hack through the confusion*

Regarding your brother I'm going out on a limb here and assume that your brother-in-law is not a professor because he's not *teaching* at this university but working as a researcher while his boss, the professor, apparently does both: teaching (that's why he is a professor) and resarch (because he has a lab).

Right? Right?

[clavally]

Yes! This doesn't happen at smaller universities. He works for a large university that has the funding to employ people who's sole purpose is research. He often laments having to work on someone else's research instead of having his own lab.

[patk]

>>Yes!<<

\0/ Looks like I have caught on to it. ;-)

>>He often laments having to work on someone else's research instead of having his own lab. <<

Having his own lab would surely be nice.

Well, at least he doesn't have Doctor McKay as his boss. ;-)

[clavally]

:D

Very true, having Rodney as a boss would surely suck!

[kate]

Because "doctor" is the academic degree and "professor" would only mean he's teaching at an university and nothing else, right?

You know, in 99% of cases, I would say yes, but I have to say that at MIT (where I'm currently working), it's actually a big deal to be called "professor" and the faculty gets very upset if you call them "doctor" and not "professor." That is really strange to me, as there are a lot of faculty at other places that aren't PhDs, so obviously it's "doctor" that is the more prestigious title. But MIT is weird (big surprise there).

ETA: And actually clavally has hit upon this phenomenon up there - basically, at MIT, everyone does research, so everyone's a doctor. Even the people who do grunt work (post-docs) are doctors. But only select people actually get to teach. Thus why the "professor" is the coveted title in this case. But at any rate, one Rodney probably wouldn't want, regardless (except in synecdochic's brilliant Freedom and fics like it).