I am in some Art History grad seminar for my normal, second graduate degree (MLIS) with a bunch of undergrads and I hate to be a bitch lol but it’s such a reality check to be in “coursework” with people who have not experienced the ways in which the academy is crumbling quite yet. But also amazing. I’m like guys we should all learn to code
and if you say this someone is like. you’re not fostering the youth or alternative learning methods. and it’s like guys you’re only here to get a job in the first place
A lot of this resonates with me and your advice is excellent. I started a STEM PhD pre-pandemic and finished last year. The “structurally annoying” descriptor is perfect, and it feels impossible to describe the quirks and shortcomings of academia to people that have never been through it. Similar to you, I’d probably never outright tell someone not to do a PhD, because I am a better thinker and scientist having gone through it, but it also feels like I’m telling someone to join a Ponzi scheme that I know is on the edge of collapsing…
totally!! i'm glad (or not glad...) to hear it's similar in the stem world. like most things, i just wish people wouldn't insist on making it difficult for no reason - it wouldn't need to be!
Really enjoyed this. I did my PhD in the UK where you can do it in three years. Most people take 5 but my advice for anyone in the US is to come to the UK. A PhD shouldn’t take 6 years imo unless you don’t already have a Masters.
Whenever one of you guys writes about getting a humanities PhD it seems like so much work! (Had this reaction to an Isaac Kolding post too). Getting an MFA is nothing like this--the workload is so low. I'm always like...what's the point of grad school if you have to work harder than you do at an actual job!
i know lol. some of my advisors claimed that 30 years ago it was much easier to do a phd while having a real job, but i think that’s also because real jobs were a lot less busy work too
Read this via Haley Nahman’s newsletter and just wanted to chime in that I quit my social sciences PhD after my first year and originally was wracked with shame over it!! But 7 years later seeing the carnage my peers have faced/are facing (with the caveat that of course one friend was able to land the unicorn tenure track prof job) I am content in my mellow policy job. still, despite the havoc that one year wreaked on my mental health, it was transformative for my ability to write and read
I am in some Art History grad seminar for my normal, second graduate degree (MLIS) with a bunch of undergrads and I hate to be a bitch lol but it’s such a reality check to be in “coursework” with people who have not experienced the ways in which the academy is crumbling quite yet. But also amazing. I’m like guys we should all learn to code
and if you say this someone is like. you’re not fostering the youth or alternative learning methods. and it’s like guys you’re only here to get a job in the first place
No like yes, this Princeton-authored article from the 1970s is anglocentric but can we also work on our CVs, as well
A lot of this resonates with me and your advice is excellent. I started a STEM PhD pre-pandemic and finished last year. The “structurally annoying” descriptor is perfect, and it feels impossible to describe the quirks and shortcomings of academia to people that have never been through it. Similar to you, I’d probably never outright tell someone not to do a PhD, because I am a better thinker and scientist having gone through it, but it also feels like I’m telling someone to join a Ponzi scheme that I know is on the edge of collapsing…
totally!! i'm glad (or not glad...) to hear it's similar in the stem world. like most things, i just wish people wouldn't insist on making it difficult for no reason - it wouldn't need to be!
Ocky Doctorate great turn of phrase going to say that for the next two weeks
great!!!
Really enjoyed this. I did my PhD in the UK where you can do it in three years. Most people take 5 but my advice for anyone in the US is to come to the UK. A PhD shouldn’t take 6 years imo unless you don’t already have a Masters.
real
Whenever one of you guys writes about getting a humanities PhD it seems like so much work! (Had this reaction to an Isaac Kolding post too). Getting an MFA is nothing like this--the workload is so low. I'm always like...what's the point of grad school if you have to work harder than you do at an actual job!
i know lol. some of my advisors claimed that 30 years ago it was much easier to do a phd while having a real job, but i think that’s also because real jobs were a lot less busy work too
Read this via Haley Nahman’s newsletter and just wanted to chime in that I quit my social sciences PhD after my first year and originally was wracked with shame over it!! But 7 years later seeing the carnage my peers have faced/are facing (with the caveat that of course one friend was able to land the unicorn tenure track prof job) I am content in my mellow policy job. still, despite the havoc that one year wreaked on my mental health, it was transformative for my ability to write and read