TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:using one's academic titles From:"R.D.WARD" <SCOMRDW -at- PEGASUS -dot- HUD -dot- AC -dot- UK> Date:Mon, 30 Dec 1996 11:15:47 +0000
>>SCENARIO: My partner and I both have Ph.D's and do freelance
>>technical and
>>business writing. Our degrees are in biology, which may or may not relate
>>to the content/topic of the jobs we take. How often should we "flash"
>>our titles??
Another angle here is that it is important to have control over when
your academic titles are flashed. In my last job in industry it was
very irritating that senior marketing people flashed my PhD to
justify dubious claims with which I did not agree, e.g. "RW who
designs our interfaces has a PhD in HCI and therefore our software
incorporates the latest artificial intelligence interface
techniques", to sell software that didn't incorporate genuine AI.
There's not a lot you can do about this when the claims are made by
the people who own the company that employs you. Now glad to be back
in academia away from all this.
Robert Ward
Senior Lecturer in Information Systems
School of Computing and Mathematics
University of Huddersfield
