naptown

As I posted on the article itself days ago when I first encountered it, I think the real issue is that far too many people apply to graduate school without any "real world" experience. (although I take issue with the term "real world"; how is academia not the real world? don't you still have bills to pay and life to lead? better is the idea that one should have something to which they can compare graduate school.) The issue is not that there is some vast academia conspiracy leading poor grad students astray. It's that potential applicants do not have one or more of these: critical reasoning to accurately judge the suitability of graduate school; the self-awareness to determine their suitability for academia; any exposure or experiences with other career paths to accurately judge the benefits/drawbacks of academia.

Those are micro, not meta, issues. They are easily rectified with personal initiative. However, I concede that diversifying the undergraduate education experience to increase the development of those skills and abilities could drastically reduce the number of over-educated, under-employed PhDs. So, too, could implementing a work experience requirement for PhD programs (although not Masters degrees).

But, honestly, I read all these sad stories of earnest PhDs with no jobs, no prospects and founts of hope and debt and I feel little pity. Maybe I'm broken but I think that if you are that educated in a culture like ours and you cannot adapt any better then you aren't much good for any career path. I come from a culture that views all jobs as transient and all institutions judiciously if not suspiciously. A healthy dose of that should be administered to some of these folks. After 20+ years of formal schooling you should have some marketable skills. Discipline training does not have to happen in a vacuum. Pick up a language, a consulting job, a teaching certificate, something that provides you a path forward if the golden egg -- a TT -- does not materialize.

We should all view ourselves as independent contractors. We are intelligent people. We can think critically and research and, presumably, concieve of what does not presently exist. We make connections and draw conclusions for a living! Apply those same skills to your life. Develop yourself as such and even if you cannot nab a TT you still have every tool necessary to build a career in another field.

No, it's not surprising, but it's definitely not normal or acceptable.

No, it's not surprising, but it's definitely not normal or acceptable.

...to be honest, why should schools give a crap that people cheat? People cheat in life. That's just how it works.

Maybe that file also included all your GradCafe forum posts and blogs

Oh come on now, the world ends in 2012 anyway, so we dont have to worry. Itll end at the hands of zombies, naturally.

Honestly this MA thesis is small potatoes. I'm in the same boat. Luckily my profs enjoy my idea, but disagree with my methods. If it was a Phd I'd say go for it, it's your work that will get published. But in an MA you need to work on a thesis that faculty will get on board with, or you can kiss LORs goodbye. It's better to play politics here than to go it alone. Especially if you want a PhD.

Yeah its funny, no one sees to be applying to smaller or less prestigious grad schools on this forum. Interesting...

I guess the "helpful exercise" struck a nerve with me because it reminded me of when my b/f was having problems in his education program. He isn't a mindless drone and dared to question the "professors," and they retaliated against him in many different ways. He was told he had a 50/50 chance of graduating. All because he had a different opinion than someone. Now he's teaching and he's doing great with the kids (well, except for some of the bad apples, but he isn't the only one who has problems with them). So I guess it just reminded me of what it felt like when it looked like he was going to have to drop out, the whole reconsidering ways to make your dream happen and so on.. It didn't seem fair to have to find another way just because some jerk who doesn't know him from a hole in the wall told him he couldn't do it. It really wasn't a good feeling and I guess that's why I flipped out.

at this point I swear I don't even have any research plans. i feel like I don't know enough to even have questions, let alone have a way of going about answering them. But I am into political theory and philosophy. I would like to study Kant or Nietzsche or Heidegger. I am interested in the way people talk about politics. But like I said, i feel so ignorant that all I can do is read and learn, not come up with stuff. Hopefully I can remedy this soon.