Comments on: Rethinking Grad School http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/ A higher education blog about news, humor, advice, and opinion on education, college degrees, university life and careers. Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:03:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: alexa http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/comment-page-1/#comment-124681 alexa Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:41:06 +0000 http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/#comment-124681 I'm a huge believer in education in all its forms and levels, graduate or otherwise. The reason I wrote the post was because I was so surprised that I was mostly in agreement with Penelope's thoughts on the subject. I've seen a number of people (friends and friends of friends) work for years and spend inordinate amounts of money to earn one or more graduate degrees, only to find that (a) their Master's or their PhD wasn't necessary for the job they ultimately settle into, or (b) they end up pursuing a career in a direction entirely other than that for which they were so highly educated. I'm absolutely not saying that we've somehow reached the end of days as far as graduate degrees go; I'm just pointing out that it's a lot of time and money to spend on something that might not be the direction one continues to move in, nor is it a guarantee of a career or a job once you've graduated. I think (read: fervently hope) that graduate degrees will always be necessary for many fields, but I do agree with Ms. Trunk that the days of immersing oneself in years of not-entirely-necessary higher education may soon be outdated. I’m a huge believer in education in all its forms and levels, graduate or otherwise. The reason I wrote the post was because I was so surprised that I was mostly in agreement with Penelope’s thoughts on the subject. I’ve seen a number of people (friends and friends of friends) work for years and spend inordinate amounts of money to earn one or more graduate degrees, only to find that (a) their Master’s or their PhD wasn’t necessary for the job they ultimately settle into, or (b) they end up pursuing a career in a direction entirely other than that for which they were so highly educated.

I’m absolutely not saying that we’ve somehow reached the end of days as far as graduate degrees go; I’m just pointing out that it’s a lot of time and money to spend on something that might not be the direction one continues to move in, nor is it a guarantee of a career or a job once you’ve graduated. I think (read: fervently hope) that graduate degrees will always be necessary for many fields, but I do agree with Ms. Trunk that the days of immersing oneself in years of not-entirely-necessary higher education may soon be outdated.

]]> By: Online College Educator http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/comment-page-1/#comment-124680 Online College Educator Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:14:06 +0000 http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/#comment-124680 I agree that "yes" is not the answer for everyone considering a graduate degree, but earning a graduate degree is still worth the time, expense, and effort required for many people. However, I do want to take issue with your statement that because folks are now more likely to change careers than were those who came before them a graduate degree might lose its value to them. In fact, unless we're talking about a professional school degree, I would contend that those likely to change careers might be better served by graduate study than those who stay put. Similarly, continuing education, because the world is changing faster than ever before, has become more and more important to working professionals in virtually all fields. I agree that “yes” is not the answer for everyone considering a graduate degree, but earning a graduate degree is still worth the time, expense, and effort required for many people. However, I do want to take issue with your statement that because folks are now more likely to change careers than were those who came before them a graduate degree might lose its value to them.

In fact, unless we’re talking about a professional school degree, I would contend that those likely to change careers might be better served by graduate study than those who stay put. Similarly, continuing education, because the world is changing faster than ever before, has become more and more important to working professionals in virtually all fields.

]]> By: Simple Country Physicist http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/comment-page-1/#comment-124678 Simple Country Physicist Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:25:12 +0000 http://www.educatednation.com/2008/06/23/rethinking-grad-school/#comment-124678 In some disciplines graduate shul is a necessity unless you want to be a minion. A bachelor's degree in chemistry or physics qualifies you to be a technician. A master's degree gets you a reasonable future job in industry. But to be a practicing chemist or physicist, a PhD is the entry degree with a PostDoc increasing a requirement for academia. In some disciplines graduate shul is a necessity unless you want to be a minion. A bachelor’s degree in chemistry or physics qualifies you to be a technician. A master’s degree gets you a reasonable future job in industry. But to be a practicing chemist or physicist, a PhD is the entry degree with a PostDoc increasing a requirement for academia.

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