equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
As for twats everywhere, yes, but academia seems to attract a very specific type of twat...
I think they use the metric twatt rather than the auld imperial twatAs for twats everywhere, yes, but academia seems to attract a very specific type of twat...
Couldn’t agree more with this.I got twatted around a lot early on in education in this sort of vein (the most infamous one being my undergrad degree, which I shan't discuss even vaguely on here else I genuinely will be doxxing myself). It was awful at the time but it meant I built my career foundations on absolute fucking bedrock as I had no alternative, and I'm glad I learnt the lesson early. Lots of people at the time who got the privilege I didn't have are now looking trapped with dwindling career and income prospects, as well as alienated from a lot of the community and friends they lost along the way. But then there's survivorship bias, it's ok for me to say it turned out alright but for a lot of people in a similar position to me, it didn't.
I do want to go back and do a PhD and I'm looking forward to knowing that if it goes tits up I can walk away, which was simply not an option for most working class students while I was a student - you realistically had one shot at a degree and that was that, and usually couldn't even get digs or work lined up to support yourself if you dropped out, and the middle class and their allies knew that.
I've found the floundering over the past couple years at my former uni hysterically funny to watch as they had taken for granted that they were essentially gatekeepers for the industries they cover and with the changes in the economy they're not any more, so simultaneously prospective students are making the judgement that the degrees don't provide any value (as the only value was to pass gatekeeping) and the local industries don't want to be associated with HE because it looks like a racket, with funding bodies external to universities cottoning on that it's mostly a class signifier and if they want to get money to disadvantaged people, a great blunt tool is just figuring out where the people who don't have degrees are at and sending money there. The 'correct' answer to "What level of education do you/your workforce have" in some quite large industries is now contraindicative with the Blairite "everyone should have a degree" attitude.
You're 100% right with this advice. I won't be accepting any less than what I'm worth. If I have to move abroad to get that, or simply never do one, so be it. I think in some cases it's beneficial for someone to do an unpaid one (as discussed upthread, eg where the stress of dealing with funding bodies is going to be the barrier to success) but for me it's not the case.And muscovyduck id think carefully about a PhD. Especially if you are not being paid to do it.
I have a general principle that I don’t work for free. Being offered an “opportunity” to work for free sounds much like an opportunity to be mugged off to meYou're 100% right with this advice. I won't be accepting any less than what I'm worth. If I have to move abroad to get that, or simply never do one, so be it. I think in some cases it's beneficial for someone to do an unpaid one (as discussed upthread, eg where the stress of dealing with funding bodies is going to be the barrier to success) but for me it's not the case.
Masters' degrees have become the big moneyspinners for universities encouraged to act like businesses and make up money lost from govt grants. That means they often have way too many students and the standard of teaching varies hugely, with some at big institutions like LSE just doing big lectures with 200 people (the better masters do a lot of small seminars based around discussion). The foreign students the university recruits for the big money don't always have adequate English and can't always contribute to discussions. It's a clusterfuck and, yes, a scam because now a lot of people are expected to have a masters to distinguish themselves from an ordinary graduate. There are still good masters programs but it's hard to know which they are before you start.
Yeh back in the day lots of people went from ba/bsc to phd without the intermediary step of a masters. But ime much of what you need to know to start a PhD isn't taught at bachelor's level. For example, if you do ba history or English the longest piece of work you're likely to have done by the time you graduate is 6,000 words. By the time you finish a master's you'll have written a 12-15,000 word dissertation, which is basically a chapter of a PhD in length. When I did ba history we never looked at historical theory, I only encountered it when doing a master's: tho I was aware of the likes of marx, weber and so on from a level sociology. We weren't taught research skills at first degree level. I only know of one college, soas, that incorporates information literacy into a history degree - and in the library school at ucl information literacy is but an option,not a core module (which is daft as if anyone promotes information literacy it's going to be librarians). So a master's isn't letters to be bought but ime a true intermediary level, to raise knowledge and skills to prepare you for a PhD.Couldn’t agree more with this.
I’ve been horrified by the SCAM of HE. Recently did a single clinical module of an MSc (cos I wanted a quick spoon feed of the latest research). The MSc students were this heartbreaking bunch of young people who had just finished a neuroscience BSc, assistant psychologists wanting to do DClins, and foreign students wanting to get a toehold in the UK.
I found it upsetting as my impression was that these YP were essentially paying 9k to “get to the next stage” (whether that was grad medicine, clin psychology, research etc). But actually the systems fucked. It’s an arms race where only the Universities profit and the kids pay.
Fuck that shit. A kids either bright enough to step into it or they’re not. Paying 9k for some letters should have fuck all to do with it.
At the turn of the century I stepped from doing my A levels at night school (!! cos I didn’t have anywhere to live), to a first degree, then straight into a PhD in genetics that was not only fully funded I was PAID to do it like a job. My interview at UCL was just me talking shit, hand shake, got it. And that’s how it should be- your either capable or your not.
I’ve advised both my lads to avoid the SCAM. The eldest is working an apprenticeship and will get ahead in industry. The youngest will either go to Uni on a government bursary he’s won or do an apprenticeship with Deloitte.
You should see how commercial flight training works. £60,000 to £80,000 to get a 'frozen' licence. Basically all the bits of paper so you can get your first job.Couldn’t agree more with this.
I’ve been horrified by the SCAM of HE. Recently did a single clinical module of an MSc (cos I wanted a quick spoon feed of the latest research). The MSc students were this heartbreaking bunch of young people who had just finished a neuroscience BSc, assistant psychologists wanting to do DClins, and foreign students wanting to get a toehold in the UK.
I found it upsetting as my impression was that these YP were essentially paying 9k to “get to the next stage” (whether that was grad medicine, clin psychology, research etc). But actually the systems fucked. It’s an arms race where only the Universities profit and the kids pay.
Fuck that shit. A kids either bright enough to step into it or they’re not. Paying 9k for some letters should have fuck all to do with it.
At the turn of the century I stepped from doing my A levels at night school (!! cos I didn’t have anywhere to live), to a first degree, then straight into a PhD in genetics that was not only fully funded I was PAID to do it like a job. My interview at UCL was just me talking shit, hand shake, got it. And that’s how it should be- your either capable or your not.
I’ve advised both my lads to avoid the SCAM. The eldest is working an apprenticeship and will get ahead in industry. The youngest will either go to Uni on a government bursary he’s won or do an apprenticeship with Deloitte.
I would say MBAs are up there as moneyspinners - fees can be whatever the uni feels like charging and these days even the requirements to have X years of experience in the workplace isn't always insisted upon. The quality of MBA courses varies significantly from institution to institution and country to country, class sizes can be immense and workloads high.Masters' degrees have become the big moneyspinners for universities encouraged to act like businesses and make up money lost from govt grants. That means they often have way too many students and the standard of teaching varies hugely, with some at big institutions like LSE just doing big lectures with 200 people (the better masters do a lot of small seminars based around discussion). The foreign students the university recruits for the big money don't always have adequate English and can't always contribute to discussions. It's a clusterfuck and, yes, a scam because now a lot of people are expected to have a masters to distinguish themselves from an ordinary graduate. There are still good masters programs but it's hard to know which they are before you start.
Just like on Inspector Morse.At another campus in western Europe I once asked the university a hypothetical question - if a tenured academic was convicted of murder would they lose their tenure? He had a bit of a think and said 'it's by no means certain that they would '.
Likewise. Neither of my parents went to university. My mum left school at 14 and worked in the Miller-Rayner factory in Liverpool (she had ambitions to become a dancer). When I left school, I went through a series of dead-end jobs in local factories. I went to Newcastle Poly as a mature student. I started my MA in 2004 and completed it within a year and achieved a Distinction. Three years later, I started a PhD.I was the first in my family to go to university on either side, my parents both left school at 16/17, mother did a variety of clerical Jobs after working in a bank for a bit and dad did all sorts of things before ending up in a manufacturing plant alongside my grandfather.
I've found it really depends on the institution/person, I haven't had the issue for 16+ years due to aforementioned PhD so I would hope that practice has died a long overdue death. There's possibly some sexism thrown in for good measure.I've dealt with hundreds of academics and I've never had one not speak to me because I don't have a PhD! I'd be pretty shocked if that happened to be honest, I'd consider escalating it as inappropriate behaviour.