Academic Gamesmanship: How to Make a Ph.D. Pay

Academic Gamesmanship by Pierre L. van den Berghe

The owner of a newly earned Ph.D. accepts a university faculty position hoping to advance based on merit. Soon enough, however, the new Ph.D. learns that academic success depends more on strategic maneuvering than pure ability. Today, gamesmanship is the Ph.D.'s surest means of getting to the top. Academic Gamesmanship is to the Ph.D. what The Peter Principle is to the business executive: a brilliant-and often hilarious-guide to the strategies for success. Its exposé of academic pretentiousness and pomposity is unsurpassed. Yet behind the wit lies the insight of a noted sociologist. Dr. van den Berghe weighs the in-fighting, credit-stealing, and buck-passing used in jockeying for academic power. Most significantly, he unmasks the negligibility of so much scholarly striving and aspiration.