|
I can only speak about the situation in the UK but I think they're broadly comparable.
We're now saturated with an over-educated potential work-force, especially those with arts-based degrees, who are now lucky to land a job at Waterstones (the UK's equivalent to Barnes and Noble). So lots of them just choose more education, either Masters or PhDs, not because they realistically think it'll improve their job prospects but because it provides temporary insulation from the reality of their situation. The gaining of qualifications is now similar to the logic of some addictions. It's escapism, for those able to afford it.
This does however mean that there's always a need for teachers. Needless to say though, as more look to take that route, the more competitive it becomes, and usually the successful candidates are increasingly those who've achieved something outside of pure academia (I'm talking about teaching at university level here). Having a blog with a major readership is probably more beneficial to becoming an academic than writing a PhD that's sitting unread in an archive. And even better if you have some industry experience in whatever area you want to teach. Especially as the drive now is for degrees to become ever-more vocational (with all the irony that that represents).
This is an absolute social disaster, creating aspirations that the market simply cannot satisfy. Knowing what I now know, if I could start again I'd have started a small business, bought some property and gone from there. I'd have left higher education well-alone. And I'm one of the ones who hasn't done too badly. But when I look at the situation for new graduates I feel really sorry for them.
|