Why I still want to go to grad school

[bdon19]

http://www.thenation.com/article/160410/faulty-towers?page=0,0

This article is a must-read. I want to go to grad school because, as he says, my happiness depends on that. But I also want to play a role in reforming the system. The more I know about academia the more strongly I feel about it, and I want to go to grad school with my eyes wide open, knowing what problems will need to be addressed by the time I'm on the job market but also already trying to come up with possible solutions.

I also get to meet this guy in the spring. So. Freaking. Excited.

[Timshel]

How do you get to meet him?

[dimanche0829]

As long as people still ask: "Oh, that movie was a book first?" I know that I'll be needed. Maybe not right away, but someday, somewhere, in some way, shape, or form.

Until that day arrives, I will take absolute pleasure in filling my head with the most delicately intricate strings of words, written by those from the past, present and future. *heart flutter*

[dimanche0829]

As long as people still ask: "Oh, that movie was a book first?" I know that I'll be needed. Maybe not right away, but someday, somewhere, in some way, shape, or form.

Until that day arrives, I will take absolute pleasure in filling my head with the most delicately intricate strings of words, written by those from the past, present and future. *heart flutter*

[dimanche0829]

As long as people still ask: "Oh, that movie was a book first?" I know that I'll be needed. Maybe not right away, but someday, somewhere, in some way, shape, or form.

Until that day arrives, I will take absolute pleasure in filling my head with the most delicately intricate strings of words, written by those from the past, present and future. *heart flutter*

[dimanche0829]

As long as people still ask: "Oh, that movie was a book first?" I know that I'll be needed. Maybe not right away, but someday, somewhere, in some way, shape, or form.

Until that day arrives, I will take absolute pleasure in filling my head with the most delicately intricate strings of words, written by those from the past, present and future. *heart flutter*

[dimanche0829]

Woah, how did my response turn into four? I wanted to express my love for literature and all, but this is just excessive. Is there a way to delete?

[ziploc_ranger]

I want to go to grad school because I have no sanity left in my body and I need to seek out like minded individuals My only other option is to move to a tropical island and become a hermit poet. I'd also grow a beard if I could, but genetics has made that somewhat difficult, alas.

[lolopixie]

"Tenured professors enjoy the strongest speech protections in society. It's time they started using them" - awesome closing. I try to take the optimistic/delusional/complete denial approach to academia...it will all be okay, I won't have put in all this work and never see a career from it. I don't indulge in negative articles or information about academia much because it can become very overwhelming when your passion can be your bankruptcy and failure in the future. I also think there are certain things that statistics cannot account for when crunching the numbers of how many people are placed upon graduation. Yes, I am aware that we are looking at somewhere from 50-60% shot at getting a job when we graduate, give or take, but what percentage of those who did not get jobs were not willing to move to another state? Considering that most people will be in their late twenties to mid thirties when graduating from a PhD program, how many people have dug roots in and don't want to move outside of a certain radius, if any? How many people don't even apply to jobs because they got fulbrights and are going to travel? How many decided they don't want to teach, but utilize their PhD for something else? (I'm fully aware this does not account for the vast majority).

I saw a youtube video one time of a woman that "did everything right". Graduated from Columbia, published left and right, taught, presented...everything you are supposed to do, but she was complaining because she could not find a job. I understand the reality of it, but at the same time this woman stated that she could not move because her husband was a tenure-track professor and he wasn't willing to leave his position. She had a job pool of 7 schools, most top-tier in the ny/nyc/nj area. She had a valid point that she did everything right and still could not get a job, but she was not willing/did not have a husband willing to move somewhere they could both teach. We all know that the chances of walking out of a PhD program and becoming a professor at NYU or Columbia is an even slimmer shot than attending those programs for a PhD. Why would you limit yourself? Because you have roots in the area, I know.

There are many personal sacrifices that come along with the pursuit of a career in academia. I have resinged to the fact that I will not have secure roots in an area until I'm about 33. The reality is you have to go where the jobs are in this field. You cannot expect the jobs to come to you. So yes, I do believe that the statistics of graduates obtaining positions are slightly skewed due to life factors. No, I do not think that it means that really 95% of graduates could get a job, if willing to move, not have babies, not take travel grants, what have you. This field is scary, yes, but in my eyes it is worth it. I cannot forsee myself being wheeled out of an office cubicle when I keel over - I can see myself being wheeled away from the podium. If that means that I have to be an optimistic in this one area of my overly pessimistic life, then so be it.