SECOND DEGREE: Burst Bubbles

Graduate students in the humanities are finding many ofGraduate students in the humanities are finding many ofdoors in the academic job market are closed at every turn Several years ago, when School of Arts and Sciences graduate students began their studies at the University, they expected a slew of faculty positions to open up when they received their doctoral degrees. Today, those students are searching for jobs in universities, but some are finding that positions are not as abundant as they once thought. Due to budgetary constraints, colleges and universities across the country are not creating new positions and in many cases, are not replacing retiring faculty. Vice Provost for Graduate Studies Janice Madden said University students in the humanities and social sciences are not immune to this growing trend. "The job market has gotten more difficult in the last few years," she said. "There clearly are fewer academic appointments being made at the moment." According to Walter Licht, former graduate chair of the History Department, the general feeling today is that the job market for history doctoral graduates is not a very good one. "I'm afraid right now," he said. "There's a lot of pessimism about the job market." Licht said the number of applications for doctoral candidates at the University began to increase in 1987 from about 150 to 400. This occurred, he added, as the result of predictions that faculty positions would be opening up in the near future. Unfortunately for students, however, the anticipated jobs have not become available. And cost has played a major role in this "Positions are not being filled," Licht said. "You've seen deans being very cost-conscious." Nevertheless, the outlook for the University's History doctoral students is not hopeless. Susan Schulten, a fifth-year History graduate student, said she would like to finish her dissertation and get a job in academe simultaneously. She said the situation this year is better than in recent years, though. "This year, I'm more encouraged than I have been in past years," Schulten said, adding that being at an institution with a good reputation helps. Licht echoed her sentiments, saying, "Even in bad times, Penn students do well." Marc Stein, a sixth-year History graduate student who hopes to receive his doctorate in December, was less sanguine about the overall situation. "I think the job market has been terrible for years," said Stein, who said he has some confidence in his future because he has already published an article and signed a book contract. "I don't see any signs that it's improving." Students in other fields are also concerned about a future they thought would almost surely include a university faculty position. George Justice, an English graduate student, hopes to receive his doctoral degree in December after six–and-a-half years at the University. Justice said universities tend to blame the economy for the problems students face when trying to find faculty positions. But, the problems are more a result of the structure of universities, he said. "Because of the hierarchical system, top-name professors are paid too much to teach too little, and most teaching therefore devolves upon very lowly-paid graduate students," Justice said. He added that the structure "needs revolutionary change, with an emphasis on undergraduate education." Nancy Bentley, associate professor of English, pointed out that the number of faculty within English departments across the country is not growing. "The departments are not expanding their faculty," she said. "If anything, they're shrinking them in English departments." Vicky Mahaffey, graduate chairperson of the English department, seemed to agree. "The market this year is a little better than it was last year, but significantly worse than it was two or three years ago," Mahaffey said. Similarly in political science, the market is not a particularly open one. James Hentz, a Political Science graduate student who will defend his dissertation in June and would like to find a tenure–track position at a university, said many University Political Science graduates tend to look for work in academe. This, he said, is due to the fact that the department tends to concentrate on theory. Hentz characterized the market for doctoral students in political science as "extremely tight at this point." "It's a very specific market," he said. "They look for very particular expertise in fields and subfields, so you're looking for a niche that you can fill at a university you would like to go to." Hentz pointed out that the pressure now facing graduate students is similar to that faced by professors seeking tenure. "You have to publish, you have to be out there disseminating your ideas," he said. "If you don't, you won't get a job." Mary Heiberger, who works with SAS graduates students as associate director of Career Planning and Placement Services, mentioned this as well. "Now," she said, "graduate students going on the market have publications," whereas in the past this was less common. "It's almost routine." She said students are now getting the same results as in the past, but with greater effort. One discipline, art history, has not fallen victim to the trend, however. According to Art History graduate advisor David Brownlee, his department "didn't go through the steep decline most humanities departments faced about 20 years ago." He said this decline was the result of the drying-up of what he called "space race funding" -- money given to schools during the period of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in exploring space. "We didn't have as much of a boom before, or as much of a loss afterward," Brownlee said. Madden pointed out the financial constraints faced by many state schools are a reason jobs are not being created as quickly as in the past. But, private universities, traditionally immune from such difficulties, are feeling the crunch too. One state system, in particular -- the University of California -- has had a disproportionate impact on the hiring situation, Mahaffey said. "California is too significant a part of the market to be taken out without a huge effect" on the entire system, Mahaffey said. Schulten, a native Californian, said UC not only froze all hiring, but forced many to retire early because of California's struggling economy. The History student pointed out, though, that each of the UC campuses has an opening this year for a history professor, which might be a sign that more positions will open up in the future. CPPS's Heiberger said a recent legal change is a contributing factor to the lack of positions. "Until recently, faculty members were exempted from the federal law against age discrimination, and universities could require their tenured faculty members to retire," Heiberger said. This, she said, is one cause of the lack of positions. "Short-run," she said, "many professors are staying in their jobs, so a source of vacancy is not occurring as quickly." Some graduate students fear that they might become "floaters" -- doctoral graduates who get hired by colleges and universities for one-year adjunct positions -- but cannot get secure positions. Such people "float" from school to school in search of secure faculty spots and the benefits that come with them. According to Justice, who hopes to finish his dissertation in December, "The floater situation is something we're all scared of." And Schulten said it is "the biggest fear of everyone -- that they'll keep getting one-year jobs." Greg Buchanan, a seventh-year psychology graduate student, said he knows a few floaters. "I know a couple of people who are now on their third academic program in three, four years," he said. Stein said he believes the floater phenomenon is a result of universities' trying to reduce costs, and feels this is in the interests of neither undergraduate nor graduate students. "Universities are saving money and undermining undergraduate education by turning to part-time faculty," he said. The situation, however, may not be as bad as some people think. Heiberger offered this caveat: "Horror stories tend to circulate and the reality is often better than that. "While the market is getting tighter and more difficult, people are still getting academic jobs," she said, noting that within specific disciplines, job prospects vary. Steve Benfell, a fourth-year Political Science graduate student, said this phenomenon happens in this discipline. "At least in part, it depends on what field you're in, what subfield you're in," he said. For instance, Benfell is studying Japanese politics, which he calls "up-and-coming." Heiberger said there may just be a "time lag" right now, and perhaps retirements are just being delayed. Or maybe other unforeseeable future developments, such as an increase in the government's emphasis on education, will alter the situation. Overall, she said, "it's very hard for people to predict" what will happen. Madden was hopeful about the future, although she said she realized that would not mean much to students currently searching for jobs. "I think 10 years from now there will be jobs, but that's not much consolation if you can't find one now," she said.