Why Graduate School? (Part 2)
Gate at the University of Aberdeen
So what exactly IS graduate school?
Graduate school refers to programs of study leading to the conferral of degrees beyond the Bachelor’s (B.A. or B.S.) level. Students can earn Master’s Degrees (M.A. or M.S.) and then, perhaps, move on to the Doctorate (Ph.D.). Whereas high-school and undergraduate studies tend to be broad and comprehensive, graduate studies are highly specialized.
Why do people go to graduate school?
Students choose to attend graduate schools for a number of personal and/or professional reasons. Certain professions, such as elementary and high-school teaching, require a commitment to continuing education. Some graduate students think that an M.A. will make them more attractive to prospective employers or more qualified for promotion in their existing work. Many students are looking for the continued personal and intellectual development that comes with advanced study in a specific discipline. And many are trying to find out if they want to pursue the Ph.D. and become professors.
The Benefits of the M.A.
Granted: the news about the lack of tenure-track professor positions in our last post is grim indeed. Before you completely write off graduate school, however, here’s another point to consider.
While a Ph.D. essentially trains you for a job as a scholar/researcher/teacher (that is — to be a professor), the M.A. often translates very well to work in editing, writing, coorporate content managing, advertising, public relations, publishing, and a host of other “real world” employment.
A possible strategy for someone who really wants to become a professor might be to go ahead and earn the M.A. After all, in almost all cases, you’d have to earn the M.A. before moving on the Ph.D. anyway. Working in the M.A. program, however, lets you test if you’d really like being a professor. The scholarly expectations are ramped up drastically in graduate school: you’ll discover if you stand out among your M.A. peers or not. And, likely, you’ll be a “graduate teaching assistant,” grading piles of freshman composition essays, so you’ll discover whether you actually like teaching in a writing-heavy discipline or not.
In short, the M.A. lets you test the waters of academia. If you’re a superstar new teacher and LOVE the intense life of the mind in your graduate courses and in your master’s thesis, then you’ll probably want to go on for the Ph.D., anyway, and nobody will be able to dissuade you! But if you discover the life’s not for you, you can graduate with your M.A., your sanity, and some marketable skills.
To learn more about why English Majors go on to graduate school, read this very long and thoughtful blog by Eastern Michigan University professor Steven Krause.
I am thinking about going to graduate school. Probably towards law, besides the fact that most people are aiming towards teaching, I think many just want to expand their knowledge and make a difference in the world.
At this point, I have no desire for grad school. In truth, I am getting worn out of school period. Mostly because I waited so long and decided to ‘grow up’ and be an adult first and get a job that now I am in school part time. It goes so much slower part time, but at least I am going right? I think, though, if I found something I really loved I would probably (hopefully) have that extra motivation for grad school.
I am actually looking at continuing my education after getting my BA at Metro. I think this will make me more marketable in my current job, and my company is willing to offset the costs of getting an education. I find that so far, my continuing into getting my BA, is already paying off big in my current job. It shows that I can commit to something big and work through it.
Julie, look for a future post about Metro’s own Master of Liberal Studies Program. It’s a gem.