A Post-Thanksgiving Musing

Hello, beloved minions:


I apologize for not having posted in, what, forever? Between the press of final papers and the Thanksgiving holiday (and some time admittedly spent playing Lego Harry Potter and Assassin's Creed), I have just not had the time (or the willpower, something like that) to publish anything coherent and witty. 


Originally, I had prepared a post regarding karaoke*, but recent posts on the facebook wall have given me pause and shifted my focus slightly. So, at the risk of having people call for my head on a platter, I am going to dive into the graduate degree debate.


Recently, a fellow PAT member posted a link to a blog post about how most history graduate students will never become professors. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the post raised quite a bit of uproar within our little cohort. For those of you who were gravely offended by the original post, I encourage you to also read this post, which canvases the reactions that were posted regarding it.I think you will find that many of these reactions mirror your own.


Part of me agreed with the majority of you, who felt that the post was overly negative. But, at the risk of being publicly flogged, part of me also agreed with the author of the post. I do not think there is anything wrong with being realistic about the current job market, especially within academia, and I did not get the impression that he was saying that students in history graduate programs wouldn't be able to get jobs anywhere, simply that it was unlikely to impossible that they would get jobs as university professors.


What irritated me about the post is that the author seemed to think it was his duty to inform history graduates that they could not, or would not, be college professors. I am all for being honest and realistic, but I am also in favor of not being a pessimistic ass, which the author ultimately came across as. It is his responsibility, as a professor, to make sure that his students have an understanding of what they are getting into when the pursue a PhD or even a Master's degree, but it is certainly not his place to inform them that they can or cannot do anything. 


I knew, coming into the graduate program, that I would not go straight to a PhD program. In my situation, I need to go out into the world and make some money and try to pay off some of my enormous student loan before I even think about going back to school. I am not saying that I will never go back, but it is not in my immediate future. Consequently, I also knew that I was not going to be a university professor. 


Honestly, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I know that the Master's degree has become the new Bacherlor's degree in that you have to have one to find employment, but beyond that I do not really have an exit strategy here. I am hoping that maybe I will be able to find a job, maybe doing government or archival work, that will pay the bills while I write on the side. Who knows. 


And now I am going to open up the floor to you, readers (I am assuming that *somebody* out there reads this): is there a time and a place for pessimism? Do professors have the right/responsibility to inform their students that they cannot enter a specific profession? I mean, I suppose if we were all medical students that would be a different story. Personally, I don't want someone poking at my innards and saying "so, this curvy thing is an intesterine, right?"


Until next week, friends. Good luck with all of your finals/final papers.






*Totally not kidding. Look for my karaoke post next week.