Terrifying made-up word of the week (last week, actually): Cosmetologist.
As some of you are aware, I'm currently banging heads together in an attempt to prevent already cash-strapped UK universities losing even more wonga through the sort of accounting practice that would give an innumerate chimpanzee with a broken abacus a bad name. Cuts are one thing, but ineptly oversubscribing student numbers to the point where the government slaps an institution with a hefty fine is quite another. This, of course, happened rather a lot last year under the previous administration (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=411581 - excellent, if bizarre, comments on that one, but also: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2010/07/22/worcester-university-fined-for-recruiting-too-many-students-65233-26911730/ and: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/8288866.Too_many_students_cost_university___600k_fine/), although if you're outside the profession you're forgiven for knowing sod all about it. Since we're fast approaching the January 15th UCAS deadline for some course admissions, there's more than a sense of urgency in play, which is why I've been a bit quiet lately. *Rolls eyes.*
Anyway, back to that Subject line, and the somewhat familiar theme of academic overproduction. As ever, it's a global phenomenon, but whilst the UK has an ever-increasing glut of graduates which has worried business leaders for years (honestly, it's nothing new - here's a good example from 2004: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/britain-has-too-many-graduates-warn-employers-573804.html), in the U.S. attention has shifted to holders of postgraduate degrees. Obviously, it's a numbers game, so Richard Vedder doesn't explicitly suggest that students are "swinging the lead" (he's not English, so he probably wouldn't use that phrase anyway), nor spinning their wheels in academia in the hope of an economic recalibration at a later date (heaven forbid). Instead, he points out what appears to be a glaring case of the inappropriately-qualified running amok in the nether regions of productive society:
'Looking at BLS data for 2008, over 10,500 persons with Ph.D. or professional degrees were employed as “cashiers” (excluding gaming); over 27,400 were retail salespersons; and well over 4,700 were hairdressers, hairstylists, or cosmetologists.' - http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/too-many-ph-d-%E2%80%99s-and-professionals/28236
*Sigh.* Never have those snowflakes felt less special.
______________________
Bonus link:
http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2011/finalendofyearfigure2010
If you tear it down, they definitely won't come.
Anyway, back to that Subject line, and the somewhat familiar theme of academic overproduction. As ever, it's a global phenomenon, but whilst the UK has an ever-increasing glut of graduates which has worried business leaders for years (honestly, it's nothing new - here's a good example from 2004: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/britain-has-too-many-graduates-warn-employers-573804.html), in the U.S. attention has shifted to holders of postgraduate degrees. Obviously, it's a numbers game, so Richard Vedder doesn't explicitly suggest that students are "swinging the lead" (he's not English, so he probably wouldn't use that phrase anyway), nor spinning their wheels in academia in the hope of an economic recalibration at a later date (heaven forbid). Instead, he points out what appears to be a glaring case of the inappropriately-qualified running amok in the nether regions of productive society:
'Looking at BLS data for 2008, over 10,500 persons with Ph.D. or professional degrees were employed as “cashiers” (excluding gaming); over 27,400 were retail salespersons; and well over 4,700 were hairdressers, hairstylists, or cosmetologists.' - http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/too-many-ph-d-%E2%80%99s-and-professionals/28236
*Sigh.* Never have those snowflakes felt less special.
______________________
Bonus link:
http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2011/finalendofyearfigure2010
If you tear it down, they definitely won't come.