Disciplined minds : a critical look at salaried professionals and the soul-battering system that shapes their lives / Jeff Schmidt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schmidt, Jeff, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Professions--Social aspects--United States.

Professions.

Professional education--United States.

Professional education.

Professions--Social aspects.

United States.

Quality of work life--United States.

Quality of work life.

Physical Description:

viii, 294 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, [2000]

Summary:

The hidden root of much career dissatisfaction, argues Schmidt, is the professional's lack of control over the political component of his or her creative work. Many professionals set out to make a contribution to society and add meaning to their lives. Yet our system of professional education and employment abusively inclucates an acceptance of politically subordinate roles in which professionals typically do not make a significant difference, undermining the creative potential of individuals, organizations and even democracy.

Schmidt details the battle one must fight to be an independent thinker, showing how an honest reassessment of what it means to be a professional in today's corporate society can be remarkably liberating. After reading this book, no one who works for a living will ever think the same way about his or her job.

Contents:

Part 1 Professionals

1 Timid Professionals 9

Trusted Cadre

Hidden Curriculum

2 Ideological Discipline 30

The Politics of Not Getting Political

The Expert's Opinion

When Does a job Demand a Professional?

Working Between the Lines

3 Insiders, Guests and Crashers 46

Jourors: Professionals for a Week

Inadvertent Satirists

"Real World" Credentials

4 Assignable Curiosity 56

Directing the Professor's Curiosity

A Government Agency Is a Government Agency

5 The Social Significance Concealment Game 71

Condensed Matter Physics

Plasma Physics

It Takes a Professional

6 The Division of Labor 86

Weakening the Individual

Part 2 Selection

7 Opportunity 97

Dreams of Escape

Opportunity to Escape

A Life-and-Death Matter

Ugly Scene at the Narrow Gate

A Strategy for Understanding

Selection as a Political Process

The Instrument of Selection

8 Narrowing the Political Spectrum 119

Before the Narrowing

Metamorphosis and Unnatural Selection

Admission

Courses

Qualification

Research

Employment

9 The Primacy of Attitude 148

The Convergence of Prejudgment and Score

10 Examining the Examination 161

Imposing a Social Framework

Turning Tricks

Time Pressure and Problem Fragments

Boredom and Endurance

Technical Details, Naked Formulas and "Usefulness"

The Elitist's Advantage

11 Gratuitous Bias 180

Bias

Necessary and Unnecessary, Hidden and Superficial

Freudian Slips

12 "Neutral" Voices 193

13 Subordination 203

Professionalism

Conflicts with Employers

Preprofessionals

Part 3 Resistance

14 Resisting Indoctrination 217

Brainwashing and Resistance

15 How to Survive Professional Training with Your Values Intact 239

Prisoner of War Resistance

Confrontation or Obliteration

My Own Case

Individual Violence

16 Now or Never 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0847693643

OCLC:

42690155