Should you get a PhD in history?

[m-ttl]

Entirely false.

 

The stats there are a median income, meaning it's the average income, but a large amount of people make far less than what is listed. 

 

Personal income stats also include things beyond just wages - as explained in the wiki. But comparing low-wage jobs to grad stipends, I think is fair.

 

I'm thrilled to give up 5 years of pay in favor of....five years of guaranteed pay. That's more than most "taco bell" jobs afford you, a promised income laid out (so long as you do your job), probably much lower turnover rates, flexible schedules and sick days ... and personally, I'm getting covered insurance-wise. Some rough math left me realizing I could be a little frugal, pay off a chunk of my student loans, have an okay place to live with a roommate, and still save money and afford groceries and the like. That's fantastic, deal wise. 

 

Look, the...benefits at the end of the road need to be weighed and discussed, and those of us in humanities should consider our job prospects carefully, but at the same time, who is going to turn down 5-8 years of funding, insurance, etc? If I do put some of that funding towards my student loans from UG, I could squeeze my debt down -- graduate with a PhD and very little remaining undergrad debt, and at that point, if I get hired to...be some kind of private school teacher or retail manager, then so be it. I think in today's economy you sometimes have to weigh those things against each other, and I'm fine with it. Some people have to ask if they'd rather be taken advantage of by working for Walmart or working for a University as an underpaid TA. Guess which one I'd rather choose.  

[ExponentialDecay]

The stats there are a median income, meaning it's the average income, but a large amount of people make far less than what is listed. 

 

 

Your friendly statsbot from the lit&comprhet board would like to point out: the median income is the income at the 50th percentile.  so, exactly 50% of the american population in bracket n make less than the median income. 

 

edit: or equal! it can be equal if all incomes in the bottom 50% are the same as the median income! ....i never understood the usefulness of medians in big data reporting (when not used to contextualize the mean).

Edited March 19, 2014 by exponentialdecay

[dr. t]

The stats there are a median income,  meaning it's the average income

 

That is entirely incorrect. This is pretty much stats 101. No, scratch that, this is 7th grade math. I understand not everyone in history is fully aboard the quant train, but really.

 

A decent stipend of $25k would be about $5000 dollars less than I made working 30 hours a week at Trader Joe's, before we start to factor in the additional benefits, etc. That's fine - I honestly don't have a problem with it - but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that it is not a paltry sum.

Edited March 19, 2014 by telkanuru

[Riotbeard]

That is entirely incorrect. This is pretty much stats 101. No, scratch that, this is 7th grade math. I understand not everyone in history is fully aboard the quant train, but really.

 

A decent stipend of $25k would be about $5000 dollars less than I made working 30 hours a week at Trader Joe's, before we start to factor in the additional benefits, etc. That's fine - I honestly don't have a problem with it - but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that it is not a paltry sum.

 

 

Agreed, Mean is a synonym for statistical average not median.  For all the complaining, it is worth noting that people are talking about getting paid to go to school.  It's different if you have heavy service, but to get paid over 20k a year to go to school is pretty sweet deal.  Although a lot of grad progams that pay well below 15k...

[m-ttl]

That is entirely incorrect. This is pretty much stats 101. No, scratch that, this is 7th grade math. I understand not everyone in history is fully aboard the quant train, but really.

 

A decent stipend of $25k would be about $5000 dollars less than I made working 30 hours a week at Trader Joe's, before we start to factor in the additional benefits, etc. That's fine - I honestly don't have a problem with it - but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that it is not a paltry sum.

 

I think the confusion was my usage of average not meaning mathematical average, but average as in usual or ordinary. Siiigh, math strikes again? Probably shouldn't have phrased it as "the average". Bleh. 

 

Your friendly statsbot from the lit&comprhet board would like to point out: the median income is the income at the 50th percentile.  so, exactly 50% of the american population in bracket n make less than the median income. 

 

edit: or equal! it can be equal if all incomes in the bottom 50% are the same as the median income! ....i never understood the usefulness of medians in big data reporting (when not used to contextualize the mean).

 

Yeah that's more what I meant. 

 

Half of America makes at or under the brackets listed on Wiki. 

 

Regardless of whether I'm terribly good at mathematical jargon (I'm not, you caught me), it's not really a bad deal for many of us to consider. 

[dr. t]

it is worth noting that people are talking about getting paid to go to school.

 

Again, I'm not really complaining - there are plenty of other things to do if you like money - but we are expected to teach, right?

 

 

Half of America makes at or under the brackets listed on Wiki...  it's not really a bad deal for many of us to consider. 

 

And how many of those people making under 39k (and let's be clear, that's a $14,000 gap to the most generous stipends you'll find out there) a year don't have a college education? The median for those with a BA is $43,143 and with an MA, $52,390. 

 

Once more, we're obviously in this for the heart and soul, not the wallet, but let's not pretend that stipends aren't just enough for it to be slightly uncomfortable to live.

Edited March 19, 2014 by telkanuru

[m-ttl]

Again, I'm not really complaining - there are plenty of other things to do if you like money - but we are expected to teach, right?

 

And how many of those people making under 39k (and let's be clear, that's a $14,000 gap to the most generous stipends you'll find out there) a year don't have a college education? The median for those with a BA is $43,143 and with an MA, $52,390. 

 

Once more, we're obviously in this for the heart and soul, not the wallet, but let's not pretend that stipends aren't just enough for it to be slightly uncomfortable to live.

 

I have assumed that the stipend is essentially (in the majority of cases), the wages you earn by teaching/being a TA/RA. The free tuition is getting paid to attend classes, the stipend is money earned by doing the teaching. Even if you find it moderately uncomfortable to live off of, getting paid for what is essentially intensive job training is nice. I say that again with perspective -- I don't know about everyone else, but I've done more than my fair share of "you get paid with magic experience dust only!" internships.

 

It's not the best deal I've ever run across, but we can either do what we love, or we can make money. Sometimes you don't get to have both at once.

[hdunlop]

That is entirely incorrect. This is pretty much stats 101. No, scratch that, this is 7th grade math. I understand not everyone in history is fully aboard the quant train, but really.

 

A decent stipend of $25k would be about $5000 dollars less than I made working 30 hours a week at Trader Joe's, before we start to factor in the additional benefits, etc. That's fine - I honestly don't have a problem with it - but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that it is not a paltry sum.

 

TJ's pays 3x minimum wage? Jesus, that ain't bad.

[hdunlop]

By the way when they taught me math it was that mean, median and mode were all methods of finding the average. I'm certainly not "on board the quant train" but that's what they were teaching in high school in the 1990s (and on Wikipedia to this day).

[dr. t]

TJ's pays 3x minimum wage? Jesus, that ain't bad.

 

No, it was pretty decent. $600 dollars a year for top-tier health insurance was even better. Unfortunately, it involves working retail

 

By the way when they taught me math it was that mean, median and mode were all methods of finding the average. I'm certainly not "on board the quant train" but that's what they were teaching in high school in the 1990s (and on Wikipedia to this day).

 

Huh. Apparently my middle school curriculum was better than I thought.

[hdunlop]

well played

[Riotbeard]

Again, I'm not really complaining - there are plenty of other things to do if you like money - but we are expected to teach, right?

 

 

 

Depends on where you go.  That is why I said it depends on whether you have heavy service requirement.  I only had to ta for one semester and teach courses for two out of five years of funding.  I would agree that it's not great if you are a grader for four years to get funded.  That is definitely less pleasant.