The Degree IS the Job

[antecedent]

This came my way through the twitter-tubes, and I thought some people here might find it interesting. It reflects a lot of the conversations we've had about our motivations to attend grad school and the plans afterwards.

http://www.hookandeye.ca/2011/11/degree-is-job-modest-proposal-for-phd.html

[Stately Plump]

I enjoyed this. Thanks for posting. Some of the comments are great as well. I particularly like the one about treating your PhD like your job in other ways, such as working 9-5 and taking weekends off (with the exception to do some overtime, like you would do with any other job).

[antecedent]

Totally! I found it refreshing after the "don't go to grad school OR YOU'LL DIE. Or worse, be poor" articles that get more attention. It's by no means good news, but it's practical, which is really what we need if we're already sold on this whole grad school thing.

I know a couple PhDs who work the 9-5 schedule pretty well. I think it gets easier once you're out of coursework and on to the dissertation, though.

[TakeruK]

This is how I feel about my degree too. Well, at least I think it's like an "apprenticeship". The monetary pay is horrible (working out how much I take home after tuition deduction and dividing it by the number of hours I work....I make less than minimum wage!) but I am receiving valuable training (and courses, which are somewhat useful).

From what I've seen and heard on this forum and visiting schools, it seems that it's easier to do this in Canada than the US. Canadian grad students are treated like employees -- most of us have TAships and/or RAships that are unionized. Most schools allow students to take 1 year off for maternity/paternal leave (unpaid of course, but without any negative impact in continued funding or academic status), get paid overtime for working holidays, etc. All of these are basic employee rights (in Canada).

I treat homework as "not employed work" though, so I don't count time spent on homework as part of my 9-5 -- but I do count time spent in class, seminars, colloquia, etc. as part of my 9-5 though! I try to spend ~40 hours a week working on research, attending seminars, and TAing and try not to spend more than 10 hours a week at home doing homework.

Thanks for sharing this