Received: from acs1.bu.edu (ACS1.BU.EDU [128.197.152.10]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.8.4/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p-nh) with ESMTP id QAA28418 for ; Fri, 10 Oct 1997 16:14:32 -0600 (MDT) Received: from localhost (conroyt@localhost) by acs1.bu.edu (8.8.5/) with SMTP id SAA18701; Fri, 10 Oct 1997 18:13:56 -0400 Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 18:13:55 -0400 (EDT) From: thomas conroy To: "Jack B. Monpas-Huber" cc: Sociology Graduate Students -- International Subject: Re: Opportunites for MA in Sociology? In-Reply-To: <199710102155.PAA27718@csf.Colorado.EDU> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Dear Jack, I agree with much of what you say here, but I would argue that while blame is difficult to place, it is not necessarily impossible; I place the a good 75 - 90% of the blame for how f----d up things are for us now not (a.) on us (which would be blaming the victim) (b.) on our professors, but rather (c.) on social-structural/institutional forces such as: 1. the political-economy of higher education, 2. the corporatization of various institutions, 3. the privatization of the ownership of "knowledge," 4. the economic shifts of the past 15-20 years, and 5. the attacks on academia by first the New Left, and then, and probably more damaging, by the far Right. There may be a number of other forces which others might identify. So if the source of the problem is structural, then the solution is also structural. I don't have an exact sense of what this soultion should be, but certainly I do think that FT faculty, PT faculty, and grad students should be allied together in search of a common solution. On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Jack B. Monpas-Huber wrote: > > My department NEVER discusses non-academic possibilities. Discussing > > getting an MA is taboo. We are all expected to get our PhD's and > > move on to an academic position at one of the top ten Universities. > > Anything less is considered a failure. I think this attitude is an > > extreme injustice to the graduate students and is completely ignorant > > of the job market. With the recent postings to the grad list about > > the glut of graduate degrees in the market, you would think that grad > > programs would start becoming more open-minded about different > > job possibilities. Good Luck! > > Funny, I've noticed this too! > > To be sure, I've taken time off between my degrees; I've always > wanted to be an academic sociologist; I still have a few years before > worrying about the job market (but do anyway); and I know that a > good, well-connected mentor can make a huge difference. > > But in my experiences at four Research 1 universities, sociologists > have tended to be very oblivious to non-academic career options, with > the harsh realities of the competitive job market, with how very > vulnerable some grad students can often be. In this respect, > professors, who with their recommendations hold valuable keys > to our future, have considerable power, which they can use in both > good and bad ways. In moments of frustration I've found their > academic arrogance completely intolerable. > > Given the hard work we do and the costs we incur by pursuing a > graduate education, I've often wished that faculty would be more > sensitive to our plight and take a more active role in helping us find jobs. > > But then again we make a choice to pursue sociology over more > marketable careers, and in sociology we can choose between more or > less marketable options, so I realize we can only hold faculty so > responsible. Still, the ethics of the situation are very > complicated. Blame is difficult to place, and there are no easy > answers. > > --------------------------------------------------- > JACK B. MONPAS-HUBER > Doctoral Student, Dept. of Sociology > University of Connecticut > Storrs, CT 06269-2068 > (860) 486-4423 or 486-4073 > jam97003@uconnvm.uconn.edu >