Sunday, May 03, 2009

Will I End up Being a 'Really Smart Sucker?'

I've gotten myself into a bit of a funk after doing some research into grad schools. With so many interests and a love of teaching, study and research, I found myself dallying between applying for several different types of programs: MA in Journalism, MFA in Creative Writing, MA in Middle Eastern Studies, or the big time consuming one, a PhD in Anthropology. At the same time I'm trying to figure out the most cost-effective and time-effective way to get my teacher certification in Secondary English.

I was getting exciting looking into grad school and thinking about getting back to studies, and then I started reading about the problem of PhD overproduction.

Wanted: Really Smart Suckers

This opened up a whole can of worms and has consumed the better part of my Sunday. I've been reading about the problem of PhD over-production and about how tenure-track professor positions are decreasing by the year. I feel a bit stuck now, wondering if 8-10 years on a PhD (plus the thousands of dollars in loans and living on a shoe-string, delaying having children) is really all it's cracked up to be if the job competition is so fierce. One blogger, a PhD herself, said she didn't feel it was ethically right to encourage students to pursue PhD's, knowing that it was such a high risk path.

Check out the article and let me know your thoughts.

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