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Comment by __rito__ | Hacker News Reader

> while the majority of Social Sciences doctoral students are from a lower SE class

I am speaking solely from anecdotes, but Social Science grad students generally have a Rabbi from early on their career. That is, they are favorite students, close students to at least one powerful/influential figure in their field. A lot of favoritism and a different kind of nepotism play an important part Social Sciences academia.

And to be successful in Social Sciences academia, you need a "mentor"/"Rabbi", and also be a proponent of a certain kind of politics.

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Every PhD applicant needs letters of recommendation. You get those from faculty members who think that you are skilled. If you go look at the incoming class of CS PhDs at the top 20 schools, you'll find that basically every single one has a good relationship with at least one faculty member. Callouts of social sciences and the use of "rabbi" are baffling here.

LoRs are there in every field.

But when you are in the social sciences, your mentor takes responsibility for whole of your career.

They see to it that you are ultimately "placed" in life.

Also, what papers are deemed good or influential depend a lot on who you have good relations with, as there are no clear definitions of good/influential like there are in exact science fields.

I am just saying what I have seen.

If you are familiar with 90s-00s vocabulary, you will know what I mean by "Rabbi". It has nothing to do with Judaism or Jews.

> rabbi

> (noun) By metaphor from the Jewish religious role, an older, more powerful or higher-ranking person in the corporation where one works (but usually not in the chain of command) who can give good advice about office politics, and may be able to pull strings, remove heads, or otherwise provide protection from hostile forces.

You have a precise definition a good and influential paper in CS? Can I see it?

Anyone who has watched The Wire will recognize the use of the term here. (Minor spoilers ahead)

In season 3 (I think) Herc caught the mayor doing something inappropriate in his office and his silence was rewarded with promotions. Later on, someone told him "[The mayor] is your rabbi. If he loses the election, your career will go no further."

This is such a bizarre comment through and through.

Pure chat

Do you mean that to succeed in social sciences academia you have to think Nazis are bad?

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