Blue Collar Ph.D. -- or, Class Still Matters

[QC]

Here's a great article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, a reminder that class still matters a lot in America, even though we don't talk about it much anymore.

It's by a blue-collar guy who worked his way to a PhD and found that colleagues and hiring committees could still see his collar a bit too well.

Here's a key passage:

While I was in grad school a museum hired me during summers to cut grass. I had to trim tracts where poison ivy was the dominant flora and run the mower up the steep slopes that led to the tomb of an Ohio president. As June turned to July and the grass no longer grew fast enough to occupy me, the director entrusted me with additional duties. With a broom I swept debris from all 110 steps that led to the tomb. I swept the sidewalks and the entire parking lot, a job that took all day and that I repeated every week. Then in 1995 the curator of the museum's science wing took another job. With a bachelor's in chemistry, a Ph.D. in history (with a concentration in the history of science) and publications in hand, I applied for the job. The director never interviewed me. He hired a 22-year-old communications major but promised me work as a landscaper and all-purpose cipher as long as I wanted it.

http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/08/2003081301c.htm

[RandomKoolzip]

1. Finally, somebody's talking about this!

God, how refreshing! I keep telling people that class warfare exists and it is insidious, but they don't wanna hear about it. As a working class guy who went to college but is now working two cook jobs just to scrape by, I can totally relate.

Go see "American Splendor," the Movie based on Harvey Pekar's life. It's about this very subject, being a blue collar intellectual.

Pretty soon, it's gonna be like it is in India, where your class/caste brands you for life and you cannot rise above your station, bootstrapping be damned.

[DuctapeFatwa]

12. I don't think most of the voting classes will have a problem with that

I agree with the basic premise of your prediction, we are transitioning now into a neo-feudal system, phasing out the middle class...

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Yuo know this makes me wonder

While goingfor my masters at a state college I worked as
a volunteer in EMS in a developing country... I wonder if that
marked me, I have had no luck getting a teaching job
at any JC.

[jody]

3. Unfortunate but some fields have way to many PhDs for the available slots.

Fields like history, english, education may produce several hundred applicants for a single position. The salary for asst. profs may be below $50K in some areas and little chance of getting tenure.

Other fields may produce zero really qualified applicants for a vacancy.

The sad thing is either no one tells a grad student about the job market or grad students don't listen.

The most enjoyable combination for a scholar in fields with excess PhDs is to get a degree that allows one to earn a decent salary and then moonlight as an adjunct professor in the field that you enjoy.

[Maple]

4. Or try

the UK, Canada, Australia etc where you'll be appreciated.

We are looking for professors.

[QC]

5. Seriously?

If there's a prof shortage in one of those countries I'll go in a minute.

Are you shitting me? I'll go in a minute. But, of course, I'm not sure how eager any of those places are for a Ph.D. in American lit.

[Maple]

7. Yes seriously

Canada for one has a shortage of PhDs....and American Lit is a perfectly legitimate subject here.

'Foreign' professors always look glamorous on the faculty list, and you'd be very welcome. Most of our universities are liberal arts ones.

You needn't stay forever if you don't want to....but a few years in a foreign country....and actually getting to teach and publish....would look glamorous, not to mention substantial, on your resume/CV when you returned to the US as well.

Many of our teachers and profs are either retiring or close to retiring...baby boomers still for the most part, and they leave in their 50's.

We are developing a huge shortage...and it's only going to get worse.

Universities are fighting for the few professors there are available.

Canada accepts more legal immigrants relative to its population than any country on Earth.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

[QC]

8. Thanks--I'll definitely look into this.

Do you know where Canadian academic jobs are listed? The Chronicle has a few, but not many.

[Maple]

9. Try these

http://www.jobsonsight.com/CDNACA.HTM

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Canada+openings+for+professors

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Canada+openings+for+professors+of+American+literature

http://www.uottawa.ca/inetres/cdnlist.html

And if you get a position first...immigration...even temporary immigration...won't be a problem.

We also have dual citizenship if you need it.

[QC]

11. Thanks!

I'll definitely check those out and start sending out CVs. The job market here is awful, what with this and what with that and what with all the states being bankrupt, as Bea Lillie might say.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Ask your professors where the jobs for your field are listed

For example, there's The Bulletin of the Association for Asian Studies for teachers of Asian languages and other Asia-related subjects. It lists jobs throughout the U.S. and Canada.

There's also the MLA job list for English, comparative literature, foreign languages, and linguistics.

If you're in some other field, I can't help you.

But every field has an annual convention that also serves as an opporotunity for schools to interview applicants who pass the initial screening, so if you're at the job hunting stage, beg, borrow, or steal to attend your field's hiring convention. (It's also a lot of fun!)

Again, your professors know the specific hiring practices of your field better than I do, so ask them.

[QC]

21. I check the Chronicle weekly,

and will soon be digging into the MLA and ADE listings. Convention this year is in San Diego, which is a fun town. We'll see if I can come up with the money to go--not sure yet.

[playahata1]

29. Also try:

http://www.higheredjobs.com

[QC]

30. Thanks!

[Lisa]

18. plus I'm happy to report that there are lots of Canadian schools ...

... where being middle or working-class isn't viewed as a liability -- in fact, there are plenty of universities, especially the new post-1960s ones, where being seen as a snob or even bragging about being from a multi-generation academic family can count against you. My officemate recently got a job at U of Nipissing in northern Ontario ... one of the reasons they were eager to hire him was because he was from a working-class background and more aware of class issues (many of their students are the first ones in their families to attend college). They figured he would help them with community relations, and not throw his weight around.

At our mid-sized BC school, we were looking to hire a new Dean ... one of the candidates was panned by the evaluating committee because he came across as "an upper-crust Harvard snob" ... the profs even made fun of his accent (which they were sure was fake).

[ikojo]

22. I have a friend who worked his way through college as an

adult with wife and child. He got straight A's and wanted to go on to graduate school and get a PhD in history. One of his professors knew that this guy came from a working-class background and advised him against it. He said "listen I have trust fund and can make it in academia." He suggested my friend go to law school which is what he did and he ended up graduating FIRST in his class (and this from a relatively prestigious private midwestern law school). He was an adult going to law school with kids who had gone to the most elite private schools and he graduated first.

Class does matter in this country and the sooner we realize it the better. When I tried to go to college in the early 80s I found that my classmates had experiences I had only read about. Experiences such as visiting a foreign country or going to summer camp or even going to different parts of the US.

Studies show that kids from working-class families, who are the first in their families to attend college, tend to have higher drop out rates than more comfortably situated kids.

[Iris]

23. I can't imagine any other time in history when it would be easier to fake

your way almost anywhere you wanted to go.

[Demobrat]

34. It's worked for me

for a quarter century.

[teryang]

24. Interesting post

It contrasts with my experience. I was picked by the faculty as the leading undergraduate history student in my year group at the university. There were professors who encouraged me and I was confident in my ability. I was accepted in the post graduate program and it was understood that I would be a Ph.D. prospect.

Economics and class interfered and I went into the military. I later made the mistake of going to law school with the VA benefits. I didn't fully understand the vocational implications.

I rushed through law school in two years while trying to work part time to support my family. Out of dozens of instructors I only had three instructors who seemed to know what they were doing. One was regarded as a crank, he was a visiting substitute for a professor who died. Another gave me a D on my con law final because he didn't agree with my answers. I should have found that instructive because I have always followed con law since teen age. I didn't even graduate in the top quarter of my class at a school which was in my opinion inferior to my undergraduate university. I was told informally by some that I got the highest score on the state bar exam in my graduating class. I applied my legal skills in various capacities (unsuccessfully) mostly government employment trying to find a fit.

Going to law school really added little to my skills. Legal skills beyond research and analysis don't interest me. The practice of law in the private sector is inevitably reduced to tedium, money, gamesmanship and manipulation. It is called advocacy. For myself, as a former history student, it is not that interesting either. I tried to abandon my legal career. After dropping out for over eight years I was forced by economics to accept an offer.

Perhaps if I was more motivated by money I could disregard what I view as the shortcomings of a legal career. I now have the impractical view that I would rather teach history at a high school than practice law. Since civil practice is a form of combat with corporations who have vastly superior resources, I may be forced out of it again at some point. Wouldn't that be terrible?

[Nikia]

6. I am still trying to figure it out

I would call my social class background diverse. Ideally, that would make it easy for me to go back and forth amongst the classes. Unfortunately, it does not because I have mannerisms and preferences ranging the spectrum. As a result I come off low class to upper class people and high flautin to lower class people. In job interviews I try to be more conscious of this. Unfortunately, I've presumed the wrong direction and not gotten the job because I seemed to uppity for that type of work or not professional enough. I wish that class was talked about more so people like me could read about it so I knew how to act since I was not brought up with a strict class conscious like many people are.

[Maple]

10. Is there any way

you can take a course in something inbetween?

Like middle class etiquette?

Then you wouldn't be seen as extreme by either end.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. How about MAs I mean

if Bush gets re-elected... I am not staying

[Maple]

16. Yup

People with Master's degrees can be associate professors...I also know one who chose to teach high school...and fast tracked to Principal.

Most of our universities are liberal arts ones....so an MA isn't a problem.

[Nikia]

14. Are there such things?

I haven't heard of anything like that around here. Are most etiquette books sold in book stores about middle class etiquette?

[Rich Hunt]

15. I would assume

....that all etiquette in books is "middle class etiquette". Not that working-class people don't have their own standards and etiquette - I think it's what we call "manners". I haven't seen that one group has more manners than another.

I've found that instead of adopting somebody else's rules - which very often don't make sense (corporate types can be so passive-aggressive, which doesn't make for the most healthy work environment) - cultivating wit and style goes a long way.

I learned a lot about art, music, poetry - that shuts them up. They can't act superior when I know more about a subject than they do :evilgrin:

Besides, when it comes to higher education, some of these UMC types aren't known for their gracious manners, and some of the poorest people can be extraordinarily considerate.

[Maple]

17. If a prospective employer

takes you to lunch, and you wipe your mouth with your sleeve, lick the knife, belch, scratch your head with your fork, pick your nose....whatever....you tend not to get the job.

I doubt anyone here is doing such things, but etiquette does matter...and all I meant was that if you think something you're doing is putting people off hiring you...an etiquette book or course would be a good investment.

[JPace]

19. What a beautifully written article,

so much talent being underused. I do hope he and
everyone here eventually finds their dream come
true. You are all very deserving.

Thanks for posting it!

[kodi]

25. exceptionally on target, & i know it well from my own personal experience

in academia and industry, class matters more than education or character.

and it seems to matter here at DU, where snot nosed elites laugh at wal mart customers and workers as lower class yahoos.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Example

Many top corporations and even presitigious media outlets recruit mostly from the Ivy League. I did graduate work at two Ivy League schools, and I was surprised to see people who wrote for the campus newspapers (mediocre campus newspapers compared to the one at, say, the University of Minnesota) turning up with bylines at the New York Times or Newsweek two or three years later.

Then there's the unpaid summer internship. If you go to college placement offices, you will see ads in which government agencies, major foundations, Wall Street brokerages, large law firms, and national magazines offering unpaid internships in expensive cities such as New York and Washington. Now, what kinds of students can afford to work for free and pay the expenses of living in a large city?

Hint: not working class students.

[kodi]

28. it has always been "who you know, not what you know" in america

the most ugly facit of the american dream is while that one may rise to money through hard work, power is not only measured by dollars. it is also measured by personal contacts and class allegiences which can overcome mere dollars by subtle pressure at the fulcrums of the economic, legal, and political systems.

i mean, just what the hell are else fraternities about?

if you really want to see it, go to a party and as people question each other by "hey, wher'd you go to school?" if people say, "this college or that one" have one answer...."i never went to college" that person is met either with silence or "hey it dont matter" then another silence.

that's a subclass of classism, of educational differences.

[bemildred]

26. Nice piece.

This fellow should write ...

[shrike]

31. A few academics have told me

That certain programs, like MFA in creative writing, are cash cows for the university. Very little investment, lots of profit. I also overheard an English professor tell a young Ph. D. hopeful that the market was so over-glutted that a moratorium should be placed on new candidates. She also advised him to go into another field (I doubt he listened to her.)

The info on overseas opportunities was heartening, though; you just may have transformed the lives of a few unemployed Ph.D.'s.

[QC]

32. This has been my experience

as someone in the field you mention.

Yes, creative writing programs tend to bring in money and cheap labor, which is their appeal for the administration. But creative writing job openings are so rare that they make getting a doctorate in medieval lit look practical. You have to have a hellacious publishing record, awards, connections, etc. even to get an interview in a minor program. It's absolutely insane, yet my department just started an MFA program a few years ago and is taking all comers.

Back in the 70's, when my university started its English PhD program, the big selling point among the faculty was, as they put it, "We can let the PhD candidates teach the freshman and sophomore classes."

And every year the MLA gets together and wrings its hands about the wretched job market, but nothing is ever done.

I blame the professoriate for most of this. That's a whole other subject for another thread, but I can't think of another profession that treats its own apprentices so badly or collaborates so eagerly in its own destruction.

[cap]

33. it's all sooo shallow...

in fact, you can remake yourself.

If you're a female, it's a little easier: take a modeling class. Figure out where the upper class trains its young and go there. Get a good haircut. Find out where the uppper class goes and spend $60 on a haircut -- ask for an "Abercrombie and Fitch -- clean look". Find out where they buy clothes and buy likewise. Watch the speech patterns and hobbies of your target demographic and do likewise.

Like everything in this country, class can be bought if you know where to shop. Look at Martha Stewart -- remade Polish factory worker's daughter from Jersey. Went to modeling school, modeled in NYC, got a college degree, married an upper crust guy (looks helped ), became a broker based on his connections, divorced and started Omnimedia. All based on her modeling class -- backed up by her brains and education. But if Martha hadn't cleaned up her appearance, she would have been stuck in Teaneck.

Males can go to Brooks Brothers and spend $500 on a suit. Find out where the ole boys go for their hair cut and get the same.

If you look behind some of these so-called upper crust people, they too came from working class backgrounds. They are just better gamesmen than you are. That's all. They weren't born into this, either.

I went to an Ivy League school and prep school on a scholarship and I know how to spot the fakes. Unfortunately, for the upper class, the Ivies and prep schools got too democratic and let in a fair number of the likes of me for a degree to be a true discriminant of class. So they come up with other things. Image is such a big deal.

The funny thing is that there is a lot of old money that doesn't care about this sort of nonsense. Very sensible, down-to-earth people who happen to have oodles of boodle for generations in their family.