[1] From: Maris Roze <maris@devry.com> (26)
Subject: Jobs in Academe
Howdy Humanists.
The comments about the status of young scholars reminded me of the
atmosphere at the MLA conference in Chicago Dec. 27-30. In his address, the
MLA president spoke of the gulf between those who have tenured
positions in the academy and those who are struggling to get into that
club, often subsisting on marginal jobs on the periphery. The speaker
suggested that MLA's tenured, established members may be harboring an
un-empathetic, "I've got mine" attitude towards those knocking on the
door, and urged consideration of measures to help, or simply to awaken
consciences.
He's right, of course, but I wish he'd urged more concrete steps.
It is not conscionable for universities and their graduate schools to
enroll students in numbers sufficient to provide work for their tenured,
established professors -- when there are insufficient numbers of
tenure-track positions for these students to fill upon graduation. It is
not acceptable for the professors and deans to say, we don't educate for
jobs but for the intrinsic value of the learning itself -- not acceptable
because the students are clearly pursuing their degrees with the
expectation that these credentials will enable them to find jobs like
those of their professors and deans.
Am I missing the point, or is this a clearcut ethical issue on which
our most distinguished institutions and their most accomplished scholars
and educators are temporizing, waffling, and looking the other way?
Maris Roze
Curriculum Manager
General Education and Core
DeVRY Institutes