Academic Elitism
N. Intro
When did I start to be familiar with the term “Elitism”? Ah, that must be because of the post about Wee Shu Min scandal, even though I somehow have a characteristic as a natural-born elitist to certain extent. Too bad for me. I wish I could get rid of it. My wishful thinking says that all good people, whatever his/her job, are equal and in some way contribute to development of civilization.
OK, let’s start.
I. Professors in Top Research-intensive Universities
When I was a kid, I have always thought that a job in academia or scientific fields is really cool. I mean, imagine this situation: people from many countries in the world, with various educational backgrounds, united in the name of science to invent new things. However, now that I am making my path there, or maybe I can say that I have already been there (because it is the research students that do the researches anyway), I see something weird.
Some of you may be aware of world university rank systems. ARWU, THE-QS, HEEACT, and then national ranks such as in USA, UK, Australia, etc etc. Some of them also have field-specific ranks, for example, for the field of Engineering and Computer Science, ARWU, HEEACT, US News, Times for UK, etc. Then, let’s talk about big universities, which are highly-ranked in the aforementioned rank systems, and which have leading research groups. Then take a look at the professors vitae or resumes in, for example, two leading Computer Graphics labs, Stanford’s and UC Berkeley’s. Why Computer Graphics? D’oh, it’s ma feild, d00d. I have little or no competence to write about other fields. In Stanford’s Computer Graphics laboratory, the five professors got their PhDs in UCLA, Stanford, Tel Aviv, UNC, and Wisconsin-Madison, while professors in UC Berkeley’s Computer Graphics Lab are PhDs graduate of Stanford, McGill, MIT, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, and Basel. Most of them took their PhD in universities that enjoy high positions in recent university rank systems.
II. Survival of The Elites?
This is the weird thing. Where are smaller universities graduates? Why nobody is there? I took a look in other labs, but it was the same thing. Of no surprise, I found out that this also occurs in the field of Economics. Top 20 universities tend to occupy professors from top 20 universities as well. For further info, please refer to this paper: [link]. When I showed this paper to my friend, a scholarship hunter who wants to be economic researcher, he said, “Still thinking about that? Welcome to the club of academic vicious circle!” . I would rather name this as pyramid of academia. Due to gravity, people from higher position can go down easily, but it is not easy for people from lower position to go up.
Now, imagine 2 PhDs, one from Ivy League university and one from a lesser known university, both possess about the same qualifications in term of number and quality of publications, applying to be an assistant professor in a university. What I don’t want to happen is if just because of the background of the first applicant (i.e. the university this applicant got PhD), s/he will be given more preference/mark/whatever than the latter. If this what really happens in top universities, isn’t this a kind of elitism, in the sense that only PhD graduates from big universities can assume academic positions in big universities too?
To think positively, I suggest that this maybe because of the quality of research groups in the university. The more popular a research group is, the better the quality of publications. But how is it possible? I mean, for research-intensive universities which have no financial problem, their outputs must not differ very much! And I always consider Computer Science as a relatively inexpensive field. In Computer Graphics, for example, you just need to buy a decent computer with a good commercially-available graphics hardware, install Visual Studio Express 2008 and the update, download GLUT, OpenGL or any other libraries, design and implement a new ray tracing variance, submit it to conference. It was an oversimplification though. The design and implementation are the hardest and the most important parts. The point is: what else do you need?
Of course there are several exceptions, like Paul Erdős, who got his PhD from University of Pázmány Péter, Hungary but got employed in Princeton. I am quite sure that is because he came from outer space. Not to mention that Central-European universities have a long bright history in Mathematics.
Then the most evil elitist question was born. If only top universities can produce noteworthy publications, why should one apply to smaller university if s/he wants to have a career as an academic staff? Small universities should either produce more good publications ASAP, or not exist!
III. Why This Came into My Mind: A Personal Note
Scholarship informations are scarce in Indonesia. Most people compete for Chevening, ADS, Fulbright, Erasmus Mundus, Stuned, and Monbukagakusho. It affected me too. Although my knowledge about scholarship hunting was above average, I still did’t know many. I had not noticed that basically all PhD students get financial support, including in USA and Canada, countries whose graduate schools I thought were very hard to enter due to lack of financial support for Indonesians, which is wrong, before I read phdcomics. That time I only knew NTU and NUS that give scholarship to Master by Research students. Applying to NUS was not possible since the deadline was very early and I had not taken English test. I took IELTS in December, got the result and then applied to NTU which turned to be successful (and other universities, whose scholarships I failed to win).
When I had already been in NTU, after knowing that fact, I started to think about moving to another university of higher rank and reputation for my PhD study. However, later I realised that if I considered moving too much, my performance here will not be good, so this can be a bad choice too. Moreover, who can guarantee if my admission in new universities will be successful? Going back to NTU will take time, as I will need to reapply. Waste of time, waste of age. In the other side, I am satisfied with NTU performance.
This is philosophical choice for me. If I worship ranks and elitism, I will start to give more time to learn GRE etc and consider moving. However, if I become a die-hard supporter of science, staying here will be a realistic but still good choice. It is the science that I want to focus in after all. Which one should I choose? Or is middle path the best, for example by narrowing down the number of new university option? For now I choose to stay, although this might be consulted later with my professor.
FYI, I would like to mention here that while it is my career aspiration to assume a position as a professor in a well-known university with strong research groups, I am not targetting like Ivy League or Oxbridge universities in specific, although that will be extraordinary achievement. But if this is the case, doesn’t this mean that the choices of PhD graduates from smaller universities are kind of limited?
BTW, I am quite sure that NTU want to give more focus on the PhD programme since the abolishing of scholarship support for new Master by Research applicants. I am probably in the last batch of Master by Research students who get university scholarships. It’s fine, and in fact I support their decision.
IV. Outro
While this admission criteria still remains a mystery to me until I am ascended from studentship (unless I cheat), deep inside my brain I still believe that the essence of education and research is the science itself. The individual record, including the number and quality of publications, and individual skills, such as language proficiency, should be what really matters during the admission. Nevertheless I still think that, due to the situation, to be a noteworthy researcher and contribute to science advancement better (I know, cliché), one must (?) be employed in a big university. Simple proof. Take a look at this. Most of the times it is correct.
Lastly, I should learn from Luca Toni.
Ah, I think I’ll take numerous postdoc positions first. Moving to Japan, Ireland, or Sweden may be good options. I can continue my career there afterward. Beautiful countries. 
I love the whole world, love my imagination…
Boom de yada boom de yada…
(Heyyyy!! Finish your Master and PhD first lah before thinking postdoc…)
PS: Muse’ songs are great for writing this kind of post. They will raise your geekiness significantly ;;)
PS2: Somehow I hope there is a tenured professor or admission committee that reads this post and gives some comments.
PS3: As for the elitism, I really really hope I am wrong. I mean it.
PS4: Thanks to Mr Yayan for his suggestion about mechanical device and Mr Eric for the short interview. As for Mr Yayan, sorry for not using your suggestion. I found out that that was OOT.
PS5: I remember there is a former Professor of Computer Graphics in University of Utah, Michael Ashikhmin, who quit this field, arguing that it had a problem with elitism, especially with the existence of ACM SIGGRAPH, the most adhered prestigitious conference in Computer Graphics. So? 
Images are taken from Wikimedia and Despair.
Nice article friend..
In my opinion it’s natural for ones that one want to be famous. The fastest and easiest path is by joining famous team. I mean going to top rank University. Getting degree such as PhD there will be the way for it. So others will easily recognize your name because you in it.
But that’s also a challenge to be one of the student in top rank Univ. That depend on how worth you are to be admitted. You must be the best one. Joining them will make you proud as well.Just as you won your scholarship.
Last but not least, it also depend on what you want into this life, what you want to achieve in your own life. You have your life, you do what you want to do. Even Einstein worked hard to be well known at the end. For nine years after graduation, Einstein remained without a university position (here). He did hard work by doing research and wrote scientific paper. I think that he dedicated his life for science.
So set your life friend.. you decide your destiny.. not me..neither the others nor top univ nor anything..
But I’m not sure that you can avoid elitism during your career. I challenge you..can you???
Regards
-dave-
hey, same like me.
finish your master lahh…
and after that go away from those univ and country. hehe
wong edan…
hahaha
@Dave
)
(Hwahahaha…Dave??? Kekerenan tuh
Thank you for your comment.
I understand
No I am not sure I can, even if this world is deterministic.
But please note that IMO “being elitist” and “being elite” is different. Joining MIT doesn’t make one become elitist automatically; being elite yes. Elitism is about the attitude, and here what I am concerned about is the system, in particular admission system, that resembles intellectual caste, if it has something to do with the condition in the first section.
PS: I editted your comment a little bit to make it neater.
@tito
Don’t fast-read!
But yes, sooner or later I will move from here, unless I secure a job as a professor here or I am in love with Singaporean girl xD
Exactly..you got what I mean..thanks for editing it..sorry for being fast read..
Coz I commented your article before going to bed.. about 2 am…hahahaha.. :p
Hey, it’s tito that I accused of fast-reading
jadi ceritanya kemaren2 itu wawancara terselubung untuk planning post doc di luar negri trus apply tenure position sebagai professor ya???
kerenn… ya ya ya…
as long as you apply that position abroad… memungkinkan untuk dapet posisi sebagai professor, or at least associate professor dulu kali ya…
but not in Indonesia
sebab setauku, untuk jadi professor lu mesti kumpulin sekian puluh, ratusan atau bahkan ribuan angka kredit dan itu pun juga mesti PNS dengan golongan sekian sekian… ah dunno lah…
aku sendiri kayaknya kalo pengen berkarir sebagai profesor tanpa harus jadi PNS ya… get out dari kampusku kali ya…
aku punya temen, orang korea, cewek, dan bermimpi jadi professor di universitas asalnya, Seoul National Univ, dan dia cerita untuk mencapai targetnya itu dia sampe bela-belain post doc ke beberapa universitas, juga institusi macam nasa, dan sekarang… dia lagi post doc di kyushu.
Yang mana? Yang mesin itu kan tadinya mau bandingin harga, tapi ternyata OOT, jadi ga dimasukin
Makasih… makasih… (_ _)
Sejujurnya, aku juga saat ini ga berencana untuk jadi dosen di Indonesia
Nama? Status? Alamat e-mail? No handphone? Nama orang tua? Account Friendster? Account Facebook? Nanti juga coba nglamar ke SNU ah
)
(Atau ke Ewha Womans sekalian aja ya, yang muridnya cewek semua
Ya, aku memang berencana ambil postdoc setelah PhD. Kalo mau model anti-kemapanan, mungkin bakalan postdoc seumur hidup, merantau dari satu univ ke univ lain. Keren juga ya
Wew…
Long read…
You raise some very good points, mario…
Let me put it this way, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. have a world renown recognition based on their name alone. This recognition didn’t come easy. It was through long years of research and experience which earned them that reputation.
In that sense, we can accept the level of people who are working at those universities to be, as you say, elite.
It’s more of a simplified process, if you want to call it that. Rather than gambling by employing someone who graduated from a not so reputable university, they are at the main point basically risking their reputation as top research universities as that they can’t guarantee the results of that hiring.
In short, status quo.
Whoa…you really left a comment
Sorry, I was not forcing you (_ _)
But I appreciate it
Long writing too. TT_____TT
It took me 2 full days to write. OK, minus times to eat and sleep.
I understand this.
Yes, and I have no problem with one being elite.
…
But if this the case, what do the admission committee do? Merely finding out the universities the applicants got PhDs from, instead of evaluating their personal track records? I believe that a graduate from lesser known university is not always…how should I say…”worse”…than a graduate of top universities.
If this is what really happens, it will mean that I was wrong. I thought only companies are evil. Now universities are contaminated with evil minds too.
Still, I hope this is not true. As loyal servants to sciences, universities should be idealist by analyzing the quality of individual applicants. Take more time, yes, but the admitted professor will be “better”.
BTW, in the case of CG, I think I know the answer. Early CG scientists in 70s did their researches in USA. Utah, Princeton, NYIT (now the lab is defunct), Stanford. Some groups outside USA exist, but very few (probably: Tokyo, Hiroshima, TU Berlin). Even in 90s I think most prominent CG labs are in USA, with probably Tokyo being the main competitor. But now in 2000s, as many CG labs are formed, I think the competition will be more interesting.
well.. this post is really illustrate yourself. i like it. :p
if i predict your future, you could be a free scientist. you will be researchers in some prestigious research center, or be a game designer in some prestigious game developer, or be a professor in some prestigious universities. i can see it in your future. hehehe..
elites.
maybe it’s big thing for some people. and maybe nothing for the others.
for me myself, it’s not really a big deal.
wherever i will go, i will comeback here. what’s the most important thing for me is, what can i get there, to be transferred here.
but for you, it could be important. when you can reach it, why not?
but i hope, you won’t act as elitist (in common). just be the eagle which sometimes go down to the earth.. hopefully. you won’t forget me right? :p
Anata no komento ni arigatou gozaimasu (_ _)
I take this as a compliment. Thank you very much
(_ _)
Whoa…
Thanks again (_ _)
Stop praising me! My head is getting bigger! Oh no….
OK, I’ll consider this.
Thank you
Who are you?
Of course no lah, unless I get Alzheimer 
Try as I might, I still can’t relate to what you’re saying there, dude. The concept of studying abroad alone is still way out of my league for the time being.
And it’s more an option than fate. If I were to compete for a scholarship, I’m not doing it from here, Papua. I have to get out of here first.
Why, you say? Well because I want to win it, not have it handed down to me on a silver platter. Winning an overseas scholarship from Papua is definitely not something one should be proud of.
Why, you say? Well let’s see. Fulbright is one of the leading scholarship providers here in Papua. The catch is, here it has become somewhat more political than academic. Besides providing a lot more access on native Papuans than us immigrants, there’s an untold “commitment” between Fulbright and Papuan students : they MUST graduate.
I have several Papuan colleagues taking master’s degrees on a Fulbright account. At least two of them flunked enough classes to not qualify for Thesis-writing. They ended up getting the degree anyway, without writing a Thesis.
Everyone kept telling me this was normal, that it was common practice for Master’s degrees to be won without writing theses. I don’t think it makes any sense, especially when this is linguistic and literature degrees I’m referring to. I mean, a master’s degree without a thesis? Without publishing anything?
Only in Papua, folks.
Rrr…did I not write it concise enough but is messy instead? Sorry for this. (_ _)
Actually what I was concerned about is that why highly-reputable univs only hire professors that got their PhD in top univs too. If this is a significant factor, I thought graduates of smaller universities (like mine) only have limited options where they can be academic staffs at.
And this comment is really “you”
Let’s see.
Yeah, I agree. When I was applying for Fulbright (that turned out to be unsuccessful) I notice that there was a scholarship named “Freeport Fulbright Scholarship”. My negative thinking said that it had something to do with Freeport’s political businesses, in particular its existence in Papua.
These…wew
I thought the scholarship is targetting every Papuan resident, regardless of race / origin, but if this is the case…hmmm…
Of course this is not normal. How come many people say otherwise
Oh, BTW
if you (or any other Papuans) were to apply for postgraduate study, in particular aiming a PhD, in a US university, you can just apply for funding from that university and do this from there (Papua).
This is the fact that not many people in Indonesia are aware of.
tadinya gw mau post response gw disini cuman kepanjangan. so i made up an entire entry at my blog. i hope you read it !
http://konnichiwabeaches.blogspot.com/2009/01/intellectual-elite.html
Wow, it’s my honour!
I’ll visit it…later. I’ve got a class now.
Damn, a lot of grammatical errors, but too lazy to correct…
long writing, but good content. Salam kenal yah
Interesting… but somewhat bothering me..
Elitism is somewhat justified by people. In my Uni, ITS, a lot of the lecturer are ITS Alumnies. In other case, it is more difficult for ITS alumnies to be lecturer in, say, ITB or UI.
It’s kinda like University caste in engineering area, UI, ITB, UGM, then ITS.
The justification is if you proven yourself good enough too be part of the elite uni, I can bet success in your life.
The second is network. People who attend big uni have a bigger chances to be better because one fellow alumnies. Let say the research stuck somewhere, the little uni can’t really pull any string to help one, the other biggies can call help from one fellow and could be given in sake of “alumny”
That will raise a question, is it the school that make a good scholar, or a good scholar is a good scholar whatever the school is?
To conclude, dude you have to prove you’re better from biggies if you want to success. The biggies have advantages on this.
*my comment is not in a good logical flow, me think*
@boy
Salam kenal juga
@dnial
Ah yes, in UGM too. I only found one lecturer from outside (ITB).
Both.
1) Based on Control Theory, I consider school as a system with a characteristic function. If it can improve the students’ skills greatly, the function is good, and vice versa.
2) However we cannot guarantee that graduates of big unis are always better than those from smaller unis. There are good students in smaller unis. That’s why in Irene’s post I said that a good selection system should not take a look at which university an applicant of postgrad study or professional job studied at. Personal records, including, as you wrote, network, are what matter, IMO.
Yes, indeed I should do this very well. Thanks for your suggestion.
So is mine, no need to worry
Nice article! and salam kenal.
A very interesting thought you have here. I once dreamed the same thing as you, to be a professor in some top-notch uni, except, I’ll be teaching political sciences..
I think it is somehow a natural thing for the IvyLeague to pick their own alumni to teach at their institution, as this might be influenced by the culture of the university. Every uni will have their own culture which might be different from other uni, even among the Ivy League them self. It is easier for them to accept their alumni as their staff so that they won’t have any trouble to adapt with the culture.
As for the students, well, you can’t really blame those elites for having their own ‘cool-club’ among the academic sphere. I’m not saying that they are academically superior than the lesser-known university. I think it is the networking that makes them so big. With a very good networking (most of their alumns must be very influential person in their own field), opportunities are wide-open.
Salam kenal too, and thanks for your comment
Ah, I see. Indeed for new university like NTU (it was just given a university status in early 1990s) it is a job to do. We may still need to compete with another national university, NUS.
…suddenly I remember Japanese universities, which probably didn’t exist until late 19th century. Some of them are now highly respected, and have born many Nobel Prize winners too. It must be a hard job too that time to compete with well-known unis abroad.
kamu sih fall in love terus, djo, gyahahahaha
I beg your pardon? Kapan? Kayanya ga sesering itu deh
Wait. What’s with Luca Toni again?
Luca Toni started his professional career in a small club, and only gained fame quite late after being contracted by Palermo, not a big club back then. He is talented yet didn’t hesitate to join small clubs.
I think it is a good analogy to my situation.
http://www.yahoostatus.ro