Via Leiter, here's a typical sober (read: utterly pessimistic) guide to determining whether or not to go to grad school in philosophy.
Despite the fact that I've read many of these pessimistic assessments, the answers to questions 8 and 9 -- "Can I advance in the profession through talent and hard work?" and "Will I influence the field through my insightful articles?" -- surprised me (the answers: not on your life).
Although it's comforting to know -- if this assessment is right -- that far more people listen to this podcast and read this blog than will ever read the average published paper.
Then again, Leiter's readers seem to be skeptical.
The Leiter article seems aimed mostly at people who believe that they’d be doing research and advancing the field. What about those who actually are interested in teaching, rather than researching?
As I approach graduation, I’m having a tough time deciding what to do afterward. Originally, I was all for continuing on. However, I started running across stuff like this. The problem is that they all seem targeted at people who think they’ll do something outrageously successful or be at the top institutions. So I’m currently a bit undecided over what to do.
Some of this was pointed out in the reader responses but I’d like to know why research positions are so coveted. Another blog counts 100 reasons no to go to grad school: http://100rsns.blogspot.com/ (still a work in progress)
Kyle — I think you’re right. I wouldn’t be discouraged, especially if you want to teach. If you have a passion for philosophy and teaching, I think it’s worth getting the PhD. There’s always time to do something else. (You could add a law degree, and there are some joint law/philosophy graduate programs — as you may know Leiter himself is a law professor). Thanks for the link!
Research positions are so coveted because they pay much better than other academic jobs and have much more prestige. They also allow you to read, think, and write about pretty much whatever you feel like working on. And you get to teach students at different levels about the subjects you most care about.
Teaching jobs typically require you to teach a lot (possibly more than you would like, even if you like teaching), at a lower level, and in areas that the college wants to be taught, not necessarily areas that you want to teach.
Many teaching jobs require you to do research as well, so you won’t be hired for one of these (probably) if all you do or want to do is teach. This is a shame, and not everyone supports it, but it seems to be the trend (at least in the USA, which is where I’m talking about).
The job market is dominated by research and research-wannabe jobs. Partly this is because that’s where the money is, partly it’s because that’s what the big-name people know and care about, and partly it’s because research is easier to measure than teaching skills. If no one can prove they’re a good teacher then there won’t be much of a market, as such, for good teachers. Places that want to hire teachers (and not researchers) will tend to hire whoever they know who wants the job rather than do a big search to find the best teacher out there. Some will also try to avoid hiring researcher-wannabes. So the qualifications you need to get one kind of job will actually disqualify you from getting the other kind of job, even though there aren’t really two distinct kinds of jobs. Both involve teaching and keeping up with the subject, and at any moment a traditionally teaching school can decide that it wants to improve its reputation and suddenly expect faculty members to start publishing. There are teaching jobs to be had, but I think it takes a lot of luck to get one. Good luck!
Thanks Duncan. The availability of jobs is actually one of my concerns. The professor I’m closest to says that she doesn’t even think she could compete with our three newest professors if she was on the job market again, yet the best they could do is visiting positions at a relatively small-name university. And before those three, one of the newer professors is the only one of his fellow doctorates that has gotten a job so far. He’s been with the university for three years now, I believe.
Still, she seems to really be urging me to go, even though I’ve told her all this. She’s even willing to put a good word in for me at where she went and even thinks they might be interested, given my research skills and insight into the legal field.
Thanks Duncan — that clarifies things.
Great post, Wes.
Kyle, if I were you I would consider extending my stay in undergrad to pick up a second (or third) major in something that is both of interest and also marketable (for me that would have been computer science, for you that may be a teaching certificate). That way you’ll have something to fall back on if your plans philosophy grad school fall through. A lot of people don’t know this but the financial aid situation makes it harder to change your mind and go back after you finish your undergrad. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck.
I actually already have a second major: legal studies. This major isn’t really for preparing for law school (though many students here take it with the intention of going that way). It’s more akin to training to be a paralegal, a sort of lawyer’s grunt. We actually became ABA approved over the summer so that’ll be worth a couple of brownie points if I end up going this way instead.
Thanks for the well wishing. I’m relatively easy-going and I think I’ll be able to tolerate most jobs that I come across, as long as it provides me enough free time to pursue my other interests (e.g. philosophy).
A grim picture, but doesn’t seem that far off the mark — if you’re thinking in probabilities. If you want to BE a “professional philosopher,” as they say on the podcast, it seems a hard row to hoe. There are other options if you’re simply interested in philosophy, but don’t need to BE a philosopher. I’m in an doctoral program in Educational Leadership in Maine (go ahead, scoff!) and my research is focused heavily on epistemology, the area of philosophy I’m most interested in. So, every day (every bloody day) I have to … I mean … I get to do philosophy. Seriously, sarcasm aside, I’m very happy with my program and prospects.