In Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers, Joseph C. Hermanowicz, an associate professor of sociology at UGA, tracks 55 physicists through different stages of their careers at a variety of universities across the country.
He explores these scientists’ shifting perceptions of their jobs to uncover the meanings they invest in their work, when and where they find satisfaction, how they succeed and fail and how the rhythms of their work change as they age.
His candid interviews with his subjects, meanwhile, shed light on the ways career goals are and are not met, on the frustrations of the academic profession and on how they deal with the boredom and stagnation that can set in once they are established.
The book includes an appendix describing the interview protocol and information on the letters and questionnaires sent to the scientists.
The book is an in-depth study of one group of American higher education professionals told through their own words and an analysis of how institutions shape careers.