Unpopular view: a big service that PhD advisors should provide is help their students understand where best they can fit on the job market. People are welcome to APPLY. But I look at some apps and think "I hope your advisor has helped you understand you don't have a shot here". »

This is hard to do. And people are confrontation-averse. And they may know their student is better than their record, etc. But if advisors don't sit down and talk about this to their students, students are left in a very vulnerable position. »

Some students perhaps shouldn't go to academia. Some shouldn't go to R1's. Some shouldn't go to CC's, either. None of these is a slur on people or on institutions: all do valuable work to their constituencies. »

Of course, an advisor should never deny students letters. The students have a right to apply; advisors can be wrong. But mis-/un-informed students end up frustrated, lost, and angry, and think "the system" is broken. It's not their fault; it's their advisors'. »

I've had students who really wanted to go R1 and I talked them out of it. It was painful, and they took it hard initially, but were later grateful. But that pain would have been inflicted on them by hiring or tenure or other things anyway. »

Maybe it's easier for me because I don't think research > teaching, so a student who could be R1 TT (eg @joepolitz) but went teaching instead makes me proud, not disappointed. But I think advisors secretly hope their student can sneak into R1 TT, further causing silence. »

So advisors: as we go into faculty hiring season, please do the right thing by your students. Have that chat. In the end it's their choice. But at least leave your conscience clear. You'll know when you haven't. Shame on you if you don't. »

I just feel really badly for the applicants. We look at disciplines w/ hardly any faculty jobs and feel great about what we have. Collectively, we may be doing great. But we are still hurting individual students. Nobody else will talk to our students. We need to. •