I stumbled onto a funny and insightful article on the not-so-bright present and future of a career in academia, \u201cAcademia and the people without job<\/a>s,\u201d by \u201canthropologist, writer, debtor\u201d Ryan Anderson.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a taste:<\/p>\n The reality is this: maybe we don\u2019t want to accept reality. Maybe we simply don\u2019t want to admit how bad things are. We don\u2019t want to acknowledge that our prized possession\u2014higher education\u2014has run off the rails. We tell ourselves that the institution of higher ed is still doing fine, thank you very much. But it\u2019s not. Imagine applying for graduate school and getting an acceptance letter that actually told you how it is in grad school:<\/p>\n Dear Esteemed Applicant,<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We, the faculty at the University of the Real World, want to formally congratulate you and inform you that you have been accepted into our doctoral program. You will be provided funding, but unless you have a lot of financial resources, you\u2019re more than likely going to end up with debilitating debt. Your living costs and other expenses may be overwhelming, so you\u2019ll need credit cards and student loans to shore up your finances. We cannot guarantee any sort of employment after you spend 5-10 years of your life working your ass off in our program. In fact, getting a job in academia is beyond a long shot for most people. But hey, you could get lucky. Regardless, we\u2019re still training students as if it\u2019s still the 1960s. But don\u2019t despair\u2014you might be able to land an adjunct gig. Welcome aboard. Please pay your tuition promptly or you will not be able to register for classes. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Best,<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Faculty of URW<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve written about this pressing issue a few times before (e.g., see\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>), and I\u2019m still getting hate\u2013or at least extremely disgruntled but also thankful\u2013emails about those posts.\u00a0But all kidding aside, as Anderson notes here, we can\u2019t keep going as if it\u2019s the 1960s. I wish I had a good answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thebiblefornormalpeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/for-hire.jpg\" "\\"for")
<\/a>Yes, the title is sarcastic.<\/p>\n\n
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