Letters to the Editor
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An intern is not a piece of office furniture
I'm fresh out of college. In the course of my college career, I've had four internships (and am finishing up the fourth one now), mostly in radio and television. Each and every one has made me think to myself, "When I have a job in a workplace that has interns, I am never going to treat them the way I've been treated." That's not to say that I hated all of my internships -- in fact, I largely enjoyed all of them, and have found them invaluable to my professional and personal growth. But it was still rare to be treated as a human being with actual thoughts in her head, not just as a breathing part of the Xerox machine.
Maybe it's a part of the new "trend" that's being bemoaned by the media: young adults with a sense of entitlement in the workforce. I'm frustrated by the people my age who feel entitled to the raise and the corner office fresh out of school, but I don't think it's going too far to feel entitled to eye contact and a "hello" in the morning.
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Grad Students
PI's claiming credit for the research of their grad students isn't "rankism", it's credit where it is due. On the publication, the grad student's name will come first, and both will get credit. Meanwhile, without the resources, direction and facilities of the PI, the research wouldn't exist.
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Academic credit
I've seen at least one case in which an advisor actually _stole_ a graduate student's work, publishing it with his own name first and no credit to the student. That's not "rankist", though, it's unethical, and was dealt with accordingly.
For the other situations, do we really need a new word for "being an asshole when you think you can get away with it"?
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sexist / racist / anti-gay...
just what we need, another whining word that ends with -ist (or -ic) that implies that the receiver is a troglodyte and that the complainer is morally superior.
It is fairly shitty to call someone racist, because it is a conversation stopper. You don't leave any room for queries, or understanding, just the loud "J'accuse" that satisfies the political left.
The same for sexist. Homophobic.
You can even be shouted down for asking why so few blacks work at your company. (You're being racist for not using the proper term, while the people who do the hiring and have offensive hiring practices aren't noticed because they're under the wire.)
Now, you want another way to say "I'm better than you" - by inventing a word that says that you shouldn't claim you are better than someone else.
Who's the bright light thinking up this nonsense?
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If everyone is expected to respect one another equally,regardless of accomplishment, knowledge or ability..
then what's the value of respect?
Politeness/civility shouldn't be confused with respect. Everyone deserves the former; the latter is earned.
As for rankism in corporate culture - well, duh, of course if exists - it is the very spinal column of the corporate body. A company operates on the premise that the people in the highest positions are the most capable among the staff, and people in the lower positions do their bidding as part of their job description.
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Rankist and proud of it
Damn betcha I'm a rankist.
I got to my current position by hard work, risk-taking, and having a slightly broader (ok, "big picture") view than those around me. It isn't an entitlement by any means. More is expected of me, and I expect a good deal more from folks at my current rank.
The receptionist or intern can screw up, no one gets fired. I screw up something even tiny, holy crap! As you creep up the ladder, well, the amount of scrutiny, second guessing, and out of context interpretation increases exponentially.
I hold my fellow bosses to the same standards I feel that I am held to myself. I'm doing stuff here, and so, sometimes the folks futher down the heirarchy have to put up with some shit. Its not like I didn't have to put up with it in my time.
And these days, I work under a microscope that the "little people" can't even begin to imagine. It may look like management hangs together, we sure try and put that image forward, but the truth is that we don't at all, we are just scared of hanging seperately.
Anyway, I don't try and pull rank much, but there are times when I need something now and don't have time to explain, I need people to do this and that, and goddamnit, they wouldn't even have jobs if I didn't keep on pulling the bunnies out of the hat.
(Incidentally, my employees regularly vote me the best manager to work for in the organization, primarily because I don't get all touchy feely, but lay out very clear expectations and don't bother them more than I have to.)
Orval
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There are simpler words...
for "rankist" -- try "rude," "unkind," or "unprofessional."
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There is already a word
There is already a word for a person like that: asshole.
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In pretending we live in a society where we're all equal,
we develop the worst faults of classed societies. I spent a number of years, to some degree still am, living within a strongly Confucian society. One of the prime tenets of such a society is reciprocal responsibility and respect between people of differing levels. In my view, open acknowledgement of class differences accompanied by the expectation of respect works better than our pretence of equality.
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Why do we need a new word for this?
I have a problem with "rankism" as a term, in that it sort of implies that there's no justification for increased privileges as one ascends the ladder. Although we've surely gone way past the limits in the US regarding executive compensation, etc, I don't think it's unreasonable that the CEO gets a nicer office than the intern. I realize that this isn't what the Mr. Fuller is talking about, but I think the term is badly chosen because this is what it implies.
But more importantly, why do we need to coin a new expression for this? Treating subordinates (or anyone else, for that matter) badly is rude, plain and simple. There are tons of other synonyms that might apply: "abusive" comes to mind. So why do we need to apply a new word for a behavior that already has a name? Adding a new "ism" to the lexicon is going to cause the business community to roll its collective eyes and dismiss the problem. I don't think accusing people of "rankism" is going to get them to do what they should do - be polite.
Sean