once one has bought into the academic status framework, it’s hard to escape it. Graduate school is basically an extended period of socialization into the conviction that academia is more exalted than just about anything else.
That is Will Wilkinson sagely explaining the oversupply of academics. Continuing,
many people who have been so socialized have a preference for working in academia so strong that they are willing to forgo lots in salary, benefits, and security in order to secure employment, however tenuous, in academia.
2 Responses
And then there are those that have worked in other sectors and made their minds up that – even with far lower salaries – it’s the least worst option!
I like hearing this perspective, and most graduate students probably don’t hear it enough.