This is for anyone who would like to pursue a Ph.D. so they can go into full-time teaching. I don’t want to rain on your parade. (Actually, I don’t really like parades. So I wouldn’t mind raining on one–especially if I could do it when there weren’t any clouds in the sky and people weren’t expecting it. That would be cool.) But here’s an outstanding infographic that helps explain why it’s so difficult to get a teaching job in higher education these days. In short, the job market for PhDs isn’t good.
If you don’t have time to read through the whole thing, here are some compelling statements:
- New doctoral degrees = 100,000; new professorships = 16,000
- The number of faculty approaching retirement age in the next 10 years is reaching the lowest level in 30 years.
- Full-time tenture track employees are down 15% while graduate student employees are up 45%.
I’m sure these numbers are at least somewhat different at seminaries and Bible colleges (for example, I think the number of faculty approaching retirement at seminaries is higher than this suggests), but that doesn’t mean the situation in theological education is any better (for example, I think the ratio of new degrees to new professorships might be even worse than this).
I don’t want to tell someone that they shouldn’t pursue a career in higher education if they’re convinced that’s what they should do. After all, I obviously did. But I do want to make sure that everyone knows what they’re up against. In this job market, instead of focusing on a full-time tenure track teaching position at the end of your academic golden road, you may want to visualize (at best) a dual-career option where your full-time time job supports your (adjunct) teaching passion. If you think you could be happy with that, then maybe higher education would work for you. If that doesn’t sound at all attractive, then you need to get realistic about what lies ahead.
HT Edudemic
Grinch!!
Actually, this is very helpful. I’ve found myself discouraging people recently (and then feeling kinda guilty, later) from Ph.D. work, especially in NT, for these very reasons. It’s just reality! What’s worse is that such a pursuit usually involves the sacrifice of family members who aren’t gladly signing on, and the accumulation of lots of debt.
The debt is the real kicker for most people. That means the cost of the Ph.D. continues to hit long after you’ve finished your program. That stings even when you find a job. It has to be much worse when you don’t. (And I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for family members to struggle under the burden of that debt for years after.)
Is the situation any better in other countries? Can one realistically hope to get a Ph.D. in the United States and later a permanent job in another part of the world?
My understanding is that it depends on what kind of teaching position you’re talking about. If you’re looking for a full-time and fully-funded position (i.e. they pay you a decent salary), the situation isn’t much better. The more commonly available positions are the ones that involve you raising your own support over here so that you can teach over there. If you’re interested in that kind of arrangement and willing/able to work cross-culturally, I hear there are more opportunities.
Interesting. I don’t much care about salary as long as I can survive, but I’d like a job with some level of permanence. Does your experience apply only to theology? My field is mathematics.
Yes, my personal experience is limited to the fields of Bible, theology, and ministry training. So I can’t say anything about teaching opportunities oversees in other areas.
I’m two years in. The light at the end of the tunnel has been effectively snuffed. Thanks, Marc. 😉
That’s what I’m here for!
This has happened before. In the 1970’s there were hordes of overqualified graduates. It follows the population demographics. We have just had another sizable generation maturing and pursuing the new American dream of a professional career.
I agree with Mr. Peter Schiff, A WSJ commentator, Republican senatorial candidate from Connecticutt and Wall Street currency trader– We have a “bloated service sector” and consequently our trade balance tends to run in the red.
http://www.safehaven.com/article/10009/the-collapse-of-americas-service-economy
Of course, if our political leaders don’t agree on an export strategy and where any subsidies ahould be placed, look for more of this. Although we can earn a certain amount of export revenue out of the service sector we also need manufactured items and even commodity exports. General Motors used to be the leader in exporting US goods. Aircraft companies have done well in recent decades and of course IT companies like Microsoft have created a new niche. Foreign students, in another sense, bring foreign revenue into the US, too.
Get the export strategy worked out, then service sector jobs will follow. But there are lots of other ways to earn a living outside of academia.
Thanks for this, Marc. As someone who teaches undergraduates, it occurs to me that there is another factor that feeds into the swelling of the graduate student pool. Namely: one of the ways undergraduate institutions attempt to distinguish themselves is by advertising the number of students we send to highly competitive graduate programs. (So on more than one occasion I have heard prospective undergraduate students told: “In the last five years we have sent x number of students to Prestigious Graduate School A, and another x students to Prestigious Graduate School B!”)
Professors likewise, sometimes feel that one measure of their success is the number of students they send on to such programs (to follow in their own illustrious footsteps!). And so undergraduate students are often actively encouraged to pursue further education at the sort of “first tier” institutions that are primarily geared toward preparing people for careers in the academy. (Or at least, students may not be sufficiently encouraged to reconsider these ambitions in light of the realities of the academic market.)
So – from the perspective of undergraduate educators, a large number of students moving on to high powered graduate programs is a good thing – a feather in our caps. But as your post indicates, from the perspective of the students themselves, it is not at all clear that undertaking this sort of study is good thing!
I wonder if another related issue on the “supply-side” of this problem may be the grade inflation at the college and even high school level. I am surprised by just how many of my students – definitely more than 1 or 2 percent – are fairly certain that they are among the top 1 or 2 percent! Like the youth of Lake Wobegon, they are all above average.
And perhaps one further contributing factor — it would seem that if government funding is decreasing, the pressure on graduate institutions to add tuition revenue (in other words, to add more students) increases. So graduate schools more aggressively recruit students, even as the market for those students shrinks.
-Steve
Steve, great comments. I usually look at this from the perspective of the graduate school trying to recruit more students to generate more tuition. So it’s fascinating to hear how dynamics at undergrad schools play into it as well.
And you’re absolutely right that the average student tends to think that they’re above average. From studies that I’ve seen, though, I think this transcends education. (For example, I read a study not long ago that indicated something like 80% of pastors think they are above average preachers.) And I’m sure it’s exasperated by the fact that students interested in doctoral programs probably are above average in their classes. They’re just necessarily above average when compared with other students interested in doctoral programs. (Big fish, small pond.)
Hey Mark,
Thanks for this. I’m guilty as sin for telling people not to get PhD’s, and especially not in divinity (theology, etc.). However, I do sometimes encourage people who want to study OT and are evangelicals. Reason being: simply because there is such a missional need for evangelical scholars who can really do deep and cross-canon exegesis.
My other thought is that you are right that job op’s are not much better OS. Saying that, I think the downturn is not the only thing that is “hurting” education. I think online availability is truly driving a steak into the heart of the whole brick and mortar model, but then for white males who want to teach full time they also need to consider the impact that affirmative action has within higher education. So, it’s not just the downturn but online and affirmative action that both really diminish the opportunities for the typical, white male seminary graduate.
I think there was a major new vision in the United States with the passage of the GI Bill, following World War 2. Suddenly, there was a promise that, by pursuing higher education, nearly ANY American could move into a well-paying, safe and (perhaps)even enjoyable career—-somewhere in the professional world. This would be true if there were an endless supply of money coming from somewhere to pay these bigger salaries! Previously, in our industrial economy, most people worked at a trade and we exported our industrial products to a world that didn’t have them—and the managerial roles were left to a smaller percentage.
We did get some benefit, though, out of devising an outsize educational system. We were able to also educate intelligent, upwardly mobile people from a lot of other cultures. So, we earned revenue by training our future competition. But…that is why we now have far stronger economic competition from foreign economies.
I think a lot of those persons anticipating a significant reward for their intellectual labors will have to downsize their expectations. Or, be very adaptable and able to adjust to a lot of career changes. There’s always a demand for smart people—it just may not be in what you pursued your education in.
My son is graduating with a Ph.D. in microelectronic/nano-mechanical engineering from U of C Berkeley (top school with MIT in US in the discipline)in 3 months. He has made a major breakthrough etc. but after looking in academia for a position found that only third tier schools had a few positions available and that they demanded the same rigors in landing grants as the big name schools but had lessor names thus smaller chances. Bottom line he accepted a position in industry for now. His ‘father’ professor stated: “Go into academia if you can find a rare position in our current epoch only if you don’t want time for a family and anything else in life.” I realize this may not be theology/philosophy but it sure was sobering. Also, as a Ph.D. in bioethics, I found that the ‘market’ for bioethics might be growing but only for those outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition. My advice-if you must study theology get your degree in philosophy while studying theology and weather the testing of your faith in a non Catholic/non Christian institution. Why non Catholic, because the philosophy/theology positions open are most often in ‘Catholic’ institutions and there is a penchant to hire inside first…All of this of course is just from an anthropocentric musing.