Food stamps: An Oldie, but a Goodie

[polly_mer]

For those who missed it the first time (in 2012): academics on food stamps is a thing and has been for more than a decade:  https://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/

Grad students: plan now for some other type of job, even if you are fully funded, have well received publications and presentations, and seem like you're on the fast track to a TT position.

Even people on the TT can end up on food stamps at certain institutions.  That's one red flag that the institution is not doing well and those institutions are very likely to close in the next decade.

[mahagonny]

For those who missed it the first time (in 2012): academics on food stamps is a thing and has been for more than a decade:  https://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/

Grad students: plan now for some other type of job, even if you are fully funded, have well received publications and presentations, and seem like you're on the fast track to a TT position.

Even people on the TT can end up on food stamps at certain institutions.  That's one red flag that the institution is not doing well and those institutions are very likely to close in the next decade.

I think grad students should do what they want. They'll figure it out. What they should know is most college teaching positions are sacrificial. They exist for cost savings to enable the maintaining of the real jobs, held by the people who are considered qualified. The regular faculty and administration consider it bad when
1. loss of funding results in loss of part time teaching positions, and
2. restored funding would result in added part time teaching positions
Thus, there is nothing that happens with regard to part time teaching positions that is viewed positively by the permanent members of the workforce. They are sacrificial.

Higher ed became the enemy of its workforce, and thus, its own enemy.

This was all evident long before 2012, BTW.

[Parasaurolophus]

It's worth noting that graduate students often qualify for SNAP. And if you do qualify, not only is there nothing wrong with taking and using SNAP, but you should do it. It will make a difference to your life. You don't need to be embarrassed about it, and the EBT card is actually pretty discreet.

The downside is that you'll have to go through constant means-testing. Not just to qualify, but every time your financial situation changes, you get a gift or something else that qualifies as in-kind support, etc.

[marshwiggle]

For those who missed it the first time (in 2012): academics on food stamps is a thing and has been for more than a decade:  https://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/

Grad students: plan now for some other type of job, even if you are fully funded, have well received publications and presentations, and seem like you're on the fast track to a TT position.

Even people on the TT can end up on food stamps at certain institutions. That's one red flag that the institution is not doing well and those institutions are very likely to close in the next decade.

Some perspective from the article:

Of the 22 million Americans with master's degrees or higher in 2010, about 360,000 were receiving some kind of public assistance, according to the latest Current Population Survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau in March 2011.

That's less than 2% of people with advanced degress getting assistance. So people like the ones in the article are definitely outliers.

[mahagonny]

For those who missed it the first time (in 2012): academics on food stamps is a thing and has been for more than a decade:  https://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/

Grad students: plan now for some other type of job, even if you are fully funded, have well received publications and presentations, and seem like you're on the fast track to a TT position.

Even people on the TT can end up on food stamps at certain institutions. That's one red flag that the institution is not doing well and those institutions are very likely to close in the next decade.

Some perspective from the article:

Of the 22 million Americans with master's degrees or higher in 2010, about 360,000 were receiving some kind of public assistance, according to the latest Current Population Survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau in March 2011.

That's less than 2% of people with advanced degress getting assistance. So people like the ones in the article are definitely outliers.

Eight year old data, and the numbers skyrocketed between 2007 and 2010. Unusual way to start a thread.

[lightning]

I remember this gloom-and-doom article. It ranks up there with Pannapacker's "Just Don't Go" article.

I'm curious, Polly_mer. Why bring this up, again? Do you feel that grad students are still not sufficiently warned?

[kaysixteen]

Pennepacker was right.

[Wahoo Redux]

What we should be talking about is how to fix the industry.

Any ideas?

[mahagonny]

What we should be talking about is how to fix the industry.

Any ideas?

Yes. Avoid trolls.

[lightning]

What we should be talking about is how to fix the industry.

Any ideas?

Low-hanging fruit would be to phase out PhD programs where there are abysmal placement outcomes. My university did just that, recently.

The most relevant and largest problem, the dis-investment in higher education and education in general, is a problem that "we" can only help to reverse. "We" can't do it alone, but each of us can certainly answer the call when we are asked to engage the larger population. This can come in many forms, but the important part is that "we" all participate in the engagement.

A realistically attainable goal would be, through faculty governance of some sort (and if you don't have it, then it's time to work to get it back), to reverse admin bloat and mission creep  that contributes to admin bloat, and restore the faculty positions replaced by administrative positions. Yeah, the remaining tenured faculty members have to get in people's faces.

[Anselm]

What we should be talking about is how to fix the industry.

Any ideas?

The labor unions have someone known as a business agent, the B.A.  They go out and try to find work for the union members by stopping by construction sites and other places like that.   Academics need something equivalent.  They need someone who can sell their skills outside of academia.  Companies like Google like to brag about how many PhD's they have.  It should become expected and fashionable to have smart people on your staff.  FDR had his brain trust.  Do our congressmen today have advisers with graduate degrees?   I am just brainstorming here so maybe this won't fly but I think it is worth a try. 

[pigou]

Do our congressmen today have advisers with graduate degrees?

Members of congress and party leadership, as well as Congress itself, employ about 20,000 support staff that help with research, policy evaluations, and general staffing/public relations. In the research group, many indeed have Masters and Doctoral degrees -- including at the Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office. But "a graduate degree" itself isn't very useful for an applicant: it actually has to be in something that's related to the services provided. English literature is cool, but it's not likely to be useful when projecting the cost of legislative tweaks to the ACA. And economists don't tend to have very high unemployment in the first place.

[Aster]

Many of our adjunct professors use food stamps to supplement their living.

[mahagonny]

The most relevant and largest problem, the dis-investment in higher education and education in general, is a problem that "we" can only help to reverse. "We" can't do it alone, but each of us can certainly answer the call when we are asked to engage the larger population. This can come in many forms, but the important part is that "we" all participate in the engagement.

Simple probability tells me that investment in higher education is as likely to go down in the future as it is to go up. Academics tend to talk about this as though it is obvious some wrong has been committed. The rest of the world does not think so.

A realistically attainable goal would be, through faculty governance of some sort (and if you don't have it, then it's time to work to get it back), to reverse admin bloat and mission creep  that contributes to admin bloat, and restore the faculty positions replaced by administrative positions. Yeah, the remaining tenured faculty members have to get in people's faces.

So why haven't they?
Is this what you really want? The way it is now, faculty blame administration for using low paid adjuncts. That's still a pretty good deal for someone with a good stable job, pension, promotions, etc. Who gets blamed when you are the ones who govern?

[Wahoo Redux]

These all seem like good ideas to me.

Personally I'd like to see our various national associations (ALA, APA, MLA, AAUP, etc.) work more like lobbying groups. 

The MLA, at least, has been very complacent for a number of years---it used to be, in the era before Internet job lists, the prominence of the phone interview, and Skype, etc.---that if one wanted an initial interview one needed access to the MLA job list and the annual conference.  Now, of course, things have changed and MLA membership has seen a steady decline as its grip on the employment process has seen a steady decline.  Issues such as adjunctification and loss of undergraduate majors were simply not on the Association's radar.  Now MLA is trying to act more like a player, which is good, but too little too late. 

If the MLA is going to stay relevant it needs to reinvent and reinvigorate itself.  No one entity can resolve the issues facing the humanities, but certainly these national groups can play a role.