Master's in English: Will Mow Lawns

[Liberal_in_LA]

James Mulvey, who has a master's degree in English, abandoned his lifelong dream of getting a Ph.D. and becoming an English professor after taking a hard look at the job market. He now works as a landscaper and a technical writer in British Columbia.


Master's in English: Will Mow Lawns
Most programs don't say where graduates get jobs, and future Ph.D.'s don't demand the data

By Robin Wilson

When a group of prospective graduate students visited the physics department at the University of Washington during a recruiting weekend last spring, they asked lots of questions about their lives as doctoral students. But none of them seemed very interested, the department's chairman says, in how recent Ph.D.'s fared after graduate school—on the job market.

"I don't think I ever encountered a question about that," says Blayne Heckel, the chairman. "These students want to know things like, Will they have an office in the building? They are more interested in things that will affect their day-to-day lives than in what kinds of jobs our graduates get."

http://chronicle.com/article/Job-Placement-The-Quality/125544/

[MineralMan]

1. Well, he may be making more money than he would have

otherwise. I have the same degree. I've done lots of things to earn money. None of them have anything to do with literature, although much of my career has been as a writer of some sort or another.

[WinkyDink]

2. This? Is why I bit that intellectual bullet and went for the M. Ed. instead.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. I once knew this guy who

Spoke Five languages. Had several doctorates. He is a Janitor, only because there was nothing available beyond pushing a broom. This is so sad.

[ecstatic]

6. I find that hard to believe nt

[Swamp Rat]

11. It is common in former Soviet bloc countries

I know two with PhDs in nuclear physicists, one who cleans toilets for a living and the other washes windows.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. I knew many people with Master's degrees, including me, who could not get a job

during the deep recession of the 1980's.
My chimney sweep had TWO degrees.
I had a Master's, no job available.
People working at the food coop had degrees.
People were cleaning houses and doing tree and yard work, they had Master's degrees.
I knew them, for 8 years.

The ONLY reason I ended up getting a job in my field was because in mid 80's I moved across the country where there were very limited candidates in the field.
And then I started at AA salary level.

So, yeah, NOW, in what every avoids calling a Depression, I have no trouble believing we have very highly educated people mowing lawns.

btw....down here in the South, the neighbor pays a guy 80.00 to ride a mower around her 1/2 acre yard. about every 5 weeks, from spring to fall. Takes him a couple hours,with the weed trimming around the shrubs included, then he is off to the next house.

Cash. All cash.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. This guy would have had a hard time even before the economy went bad

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. yes, the old stand-by ("I'll work as a teacher") is harder to come by.

[lpbk2713]

5. Landscaper in BC in November?

What's wrong with this picture?


Is this something like selling snowmobiles in Florida in August? :shrug:

[reggie the dog]

7. maybe it is the grass he is growing and trimming????

i know i would love to help the grass grow in bc

[haele]

13. If he's in Vancouver BC, the snow doesn't start really coming down 'til January -

Like Seattle, it's in a somewhat protected, temperate rainshadow, and winters aren't too rough. Besides, one needs to "winterize" their landscaping to protect it from freezing temperatures so it can come back in the spring.
The article was probably written and photographed in early November, before the recent unseasonably early winter weather front.

Haele

[progressoid]

8. Two masters degrees and working customer service

That would be my wife.

[RoccoR5955]

10. PhD in Physics, will mop floors

Not me, but I know a couple.

[sarcasmo]

12. Friends daughter has a Masters and works in customer service at Target.

[Ron Green]

14. Education is a business, too.

They'll sell you as many semesters as they can, not as many as you need.

[NashVegas]

31. +100

And if you point out the racket, some people start getting very, very angry.

[Uben]

15. I don't have a college degree.....now retired multi-millionaire

It works both ways! Degrees don't make you smart, they just symbolize your time in college. I wasted two years in college before dropping out and starting a business. Retired 10 yrs ago at age 45.

If you are not intelligent by the time you reach college age, don't expect a degree to make you rich.

A college degree sure helps you land a job, but it does not mean you will be successful. I think that is instilled at a much younger age. My best friend dropped out of school in the eighth grade and he has a hell of a lot more than I do! MAde his money in the printing business (no, not counterfitting). He learned the trade, bought a press, and the rest is history. His work ethic and ability to sell made him his money.

[Ron Green]

22. Too bad you feel your time in college was wasted.

Every experience, in my opinion, is worthwhile if you pay attention. Making money is one thing that people do; learning about the intricacies and richness of life is another, and so on.

[Uben]

28. Oh I agree.....

...but learning about the intricasies and richness of life can be done many ways and in many places other than college. I found college boring. I made very good grades the two years I went, but marriage and life called a little sooner for me. I got married at 20 and wanted the world. I regret not really getting to enjoy the college experience, but work and family came first.

I did want my kids to get a degree. The oldest has a BA in psychology and an MBA. The youngest is in her senior year in high school.

[Ginto]

33. So the question is always: What type of business did you start?

Leaving out key details here.

[Mass]

16. The point being what? Is there something wrong with working as a landscaper?

If he is good at it, he can make more money than as an English professor.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. Point of story is that many students go thru the VERY EXPENSIVE proces of getting PHD

without knowing the employment stats. Guy is pic, realized the stats and didn't get a PHD. Nothing wrong with working as landscaper

[elocs]

18. How about a Ph.D. in archeology to get that Indiana Jones dream job?

I have a friend who got a degree in commercial art because she loved it and then when she discovered that she could not get a job in the field she decided to go back to school in order to support herself and her 2 young children and got a degree in histology and now runs her own lab in Chicago. People really could use a reality check concerning what they choose as their educational path and their actual ability to get a job in that field upon graduating.

In a perfect world everyone would get their dream job in what they went to school, but, alas, this is not a perfect world. Regardless of the level of education, a landscaper or a technical writer are honorable professions as is being a janitor. My guess is that many good Democrats and perhaps some DUers work at these jobs even though they may have college degrees or advanced degrees.

People should not confuse what they do to make money with who they are as a person. A job should not define or limit a person, but fulfillment can be found in any work. Unfortunately, in this country too often men define themselves by their profession and their self worth is also defined by their work and the type of work they do. We do what we need to do to get by. I have a college degree but I mow lawns or do whatever I need to do in order to survive and I don't feel like less of a person because of it.

[Mimosa]

20. ^ "People really could use a reality check concerning what they choose as their educational path " ^

That's good advice x 1,000.

[elocs]

32. It's nice to go to school for something you love, even nicer to be able to get a job in the field

after graduation so that you can actually support yourself.

[raccoon]

24. "People should not confuse what they do to make money with who they are as a person. "

It's hard not to do that in this society, where success = $$$$.

But I agree we need to get away from defining who we are by our jobs.

[Atypical Liberal]

30. You can define yourself however you like.

You can define yourself however you like. But if you want to make money, you need to be able to market yourself where the jobs are.

I think landscaping is a fine trade. It is one of those trades that can't be outsourced. If you have a lawn, you can't hire someone from China to work on it for you.

[Zebedeo]

29. +1

I have an advanced degree and currently work herding goats. It is very fulfilling. No, this is not sarcasm.

[hughee99]

21. "Glistens the dew upon the morning grass" n/t

[stray cat]

23. It may pay better

[Blue_Tires]

25. Master's in journalism here, and I've done similar stuff and worse...

and that was back in '06-'07 BEFORE the bottom really fell out...I knew plenty of friends/relatives with advanced degrees doing the blue-collar thing as well...

[FLPanhandle]

26. Nothing new here.

I knew many friends from my university days that earned advanced degrees in liberal arts programs and ended up either teaching or doing something they could have done right out of H.S.

Most knew that going in too. You don't get a Masters in Philosophy and can't muster up the thinking ability to realize there is a limited market for your skills.

They do it for the knowledge, not the money.

If they only wanted money, they'd be engineers or lawyers.

[a la izquierda]

27. This OP is depressing the shit out of me...

seriously :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
I'm going to finish my PhD in history in a few months. I have one interview. I'm a nervous wreck.

[ck4829]

34. K&R

[4_TN_TITANS]

35. Just a B.A. in English here....

But I've done well enough using my linguistic skills doing customer service for manufacturers. No way in hell would I waste the money on graduate or PhD studies....