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I realize it's a bit cynical of me to say this, but this is the free market at work. There can only be oh so many philosophy professors. Assuming a professor c
by Shaddox 8y ago
I realize it's a bit cynical of me to say this, but this is the free market at work.
There can only be oh so many philosophy professors. Assuming a professor career lasts 40 years and each of these programs produces 10 graduates a year, how can they fit in academia? Maybe before you enroll you need to be made to sign a disclaimer that the opportunities are very scarce in the field.
- SiempreViernes 8y agoWhy does everything have to be labelled a "market"? Is it really helpful to talk about an exchange of "goods" to explain the poor treatment of PhD students in academia?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- VHRanger 8y agoIt's not goods, it's a labor market. And when supply is out of whack with demand, your bargaining power goes through the floor -- which leads to situations like this.
- 131012 8y agoWhat is really nasty is the fact that there is a huge demand for phd students as they drive research forward. So they deduce there will be demand once they graduate, which is not the case.
- haihaibye 8y agoElastic demand for labor - people want more when it's cheap, as much as they can get when it's free (or the government pays you for each student)
- mnky9800n 8y agoIn STEM there is certainly a shortage of academic jobs for qualified PhD holders. Not everyone who gets a PhD is equal, but academic stem wouldn't lose anything by being able to recruit more of the people they train.
- haihaibye 8y agoIt's more a glut of people than a shortage of jobs. The rest of society has no obligation to fund everyone academia pumps out.
- jcadam 8y agoWhy does one even need a PhD to teach philosophy? A certain rather famous philosopher spent his days milling about the city center, accosting random passers-by and instructing them in philosophy whether they were interested or not.
- thechao 8y agoAfter spending decades doing that, I assume he died of old age, surrounded by his admiring fans?
- haihaibye 8y agoRather than an over supply of philosophy PhDs, perhaps we have a shortage of hemlock?
- lgessler 8y agoIf you're referring to Socrates, then yes, but it helped that he was a bit like Erdős in his utter lack of interest in physical comfort and financial security.