<p>Is the OP a joke? Seems like it. Who would push a kid into being a doctor, lawyer or investment banker just for the money? Eww.</p>
<p>Iām only a college student myself, but I have had multiple conversations on this very subject with relatives and family friends, and while some of them have expressed regret over not resisting their parentsā meddling earlier in lifeāmy father often recalls the story of a sensitive, creative classmate who committed suicide because of his profound dissatisfaction with the sensible career his mother had forced him to go intoāI am yet to meet an adult who resents his or her parents for taking the opposite approach.</p>
<p>Are you seriously wondering if your daughter could ever possibly blame you for not coercing her into making a joyless career choice, or are you trying to convince yourself she might? If the latter seems closer to the truth, please recognize your wishful thinking for what it is.</p>
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<p>Itās not a common thing for people who do what they love to blame their parents 20 years down the line for not pushing them into fields they donāt want to be in.</p>
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<p>I donāt think English professors are generally regarded as good at thinking on their feet.</p>
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<p>They probably mean that they possess ability to analyze a situation creatively and from many different points-of-view, not that they can adapt to some crisis at a momentās notice.</p>
<p>Jingleās advice is very sound. Teaching English is a very, very hard job to get into, and just as stressful and fraught with economic worry as any other (law, right now, seems a very bad ideaāsee the NYT article on unemployed lawyers). You donāt actually get to spend much time reading literature, either. But if sheās a sophomore, she has <em>plenty</em> of time to try out new ideas. I took a couple of years to work (in banking, so I knew I didnāt want that) between college and grad school (for English) and thought it made a huge differenceāthose of my peers who had rushed right into grad school tended to be far less focussed. I think this is true of grad school in general, that the students who have a little life experience after college tend to be more successful (I have heard, for example, that med school applicants who have taken some time between college and med school are more successful in applying). So she has plenty of time to do what she loves in college, major in English, which is a great all-purpose major, and decide even after she graduates what she really wants to do.</p>
<p>Hope you will support your dau in whatever profession or college major she chooses. She may well change her mind again, as many do, but it will be her choice. Support the effort, not the outcome.</p>
<p>Mom pushed my sister and me to major in āpracticalā careers w/ long term stability. Sis majored in Elem. Ed. I majored in Nursing. Neither of us really liked it and quit those fields after working a couple of years. Sis really wanted to major in something Art related and I really wanted to major in journalism or something related to writing. We were discouraged to do so because it wasnāt practical. Iāll always regret it.</p>
<p>About the only job that pays for reading literature is publisher agentāI dont think anyone with a rudimentary understanding of career choices would think academics are paid to read. </p>
<p>There is NO career these days with guarantees of wealth and happiness. About my brother the academic, since we are on cc Iāll add that his children receive 100% free tuition at his university!</p>
<p>I see it a little differently. My child attends a fine LAC, is an English major, and is a student representative on an English Dept. advisory council. She tells me there were 350 applicants for one tenure track opening. And that opening ultimately was never filled due to budget constraints. Check out some higher education job sites and see how realistic it is that your child will ever work as a professor. A lecturer at a community college, maybe, no matter how good she is.</p>
<p>The OPās daughter should read the columns in The Chronicle of Higher Education by William Pannapacker about the realities of graduate school and the prospects for employment in higher education, which are extremely dire. She needs to go into academe with her eyes open.</p>
<p>If she decides to go to graduate school in English, she ought to take off a year or two and do something else before going to graduate school directly, but she should get her references before she leaves undergrad (her professors can update them for her applications). The advice to write an undergraduate thesis is good.</p>
<p>She should not enter a program that does not offer her funding, preferably full funding in the form of a fellowship or teaching assistantship. If she gets no funding, that is a signal that she will never be a competitive candidate for good jobs and should not go to graduate school in the humanities. She should do something else. Under no circumstances should she go into debt to get a doctorate in English. The M.A. in English is not a very valuable credential unless she is content to be an adjunct. There are way too many unemployed Ph.D.s out there and M.A.s are at a competitive disadvantage for full-time jobs.</p>
<p>(I am a tenured professor at a large comprehensive university in the Northeast. I see literally hundreds of applications for one-year limited instructorships. You have as much chance of making a solid living as an English professor as you do making a living playing music or painting. Itās tough.)</p>
<p>Iām with mahimahi #30:</p>
<p>My nephew has a Masterās in English, and he had hoped/planned/dreamed to teach it at the college level. After a couple of years of part-time employment at CCs with no benefits, heās doing freelance construction work - - and coming out ahead! Thankfully his wife is employed full-time with health insurance for their growing family. He feels very discouraged right now about the choice he made.</p>
<p>On the other hand -</p>
<p>My niece was in a fully funded English PhD at a flagship university. After getting a realistic picture of the job prospects, she decided to leave after getting her masterās and look for a job. Even given the tough economy, she got hired into a management position - and it was her MA in English that in large part got her the job, she was told.</p>
<p>I also worked, many years ago, in a consulting firm that assisted clients by developing custom-designed employee training programs. Two of my colleagues were English PhDs and another had an English MA. They were valued for their ability to communicate clearly, interpersonally and in writing.</p>
<p>So, as another poster said upthread, there are options for a bright and ambitious English PhD, even if the academic employment picture is gloomy.</p>
<p>ditto to everything in 116, excellent post</p>
<p>More likely than not she wonāt be a tenured professor. She probably will be able to find short term or part time jobs if she is willing to relocate. English teachers will always be needed somewhere.</p>
<p>[A</a> Terrible Time for New Ph.D.s](<a href=āhttp://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2011/02/a_terrible_time_for_new_phds.html]Aā>http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2011/02/a_terrible_time_for_new_phds.html)</p>
<p>[Faulty</a> Towers: The Crisis in Higher Education | The Nation](<a href=āhttp://www.thenation.com/article/160410/faulty-towers?page=0,3]Faultyā>http://www.thenation.com/article/160410/faulty-towers?page=0,3)</p>
<p>There are all sorts of articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the end of tenure. Students I know read a graduate student message board similar to CC and seem to find it helpful, but I donāt know the address. Maybe someone will post it?</p>
<p>As I see it, the decision is whether to go to graduate school, and I have supported that decision for my own children. A fully funded PhD program is a wonderful opportunity for those who care for such things. But I think they all need a Plan B.</p>
<p>Of course a tenure track position at a college is as rare as henās teeth. It is for my English PHD husband as well as for my physics PHD brother. But, whatās wrong with trying to pursue a job in the industry? Tenure track jobs are rare, so English profs must work like the rest of us: Without guaranteed job, benefits, or salary from year to year. This is the kind of job H has had for 25 years now. Yes, same job in the industry but no tenure track. For him, he loves teaching and itās worth it. Do I wish H wasnāt in academia? Yes, but itās not my call.</p>
<p>No, donāt discourage your daughter. She has a long life ahead with many bumps, twists and turns. Having your heart set on being an English prof is really a huge hurdle, but she
has a long time to overcome that hurdle and she may have to go around it towards another path, but donāt take away her hurdles she has set for herself. Thatās a sure way to take away motivation.</p>
<p>My biggest piece of advice though is if she canāt find funding (not loans) to go to grad school, itās not the path for her. Getting a PHD in English, and being in debt, is a recipe for disaster. But if she can find funding, let her pursue her life.</p>
<p>English is a wonderful āall-purposeā degree (as someone here put it). Undergrad degrees do not have to tie so directly with career choice. The job market is complex and varied and does not fit these neat categores (doctor, lawyer, banker, professor).</p>
<p>She should be doing some internships, volunteering or tutoring along the way, but focusing in what she loves (literature) is a great way to spend her college years.</p>
<p>Reading, writing, researching, communicating, and all the insights and perspective that come from an English major are valuable anywhere.</p>
<p>(I would add that my daughter has two friends who are English majors who are actually going into investment banking after graduation. They could also easily go to med or law school. The best MD we have had was an English major as an undergrad.)</p>
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<p>What isnāt tough? I donāt see whatās tougher about this than, for example, going through the many years of brutal schooling and sleep deprivation to become a doctor and pay six-figure malpractice insurance rates off the top. I donāt see whatās tougher about this than the situation for newly minted lawyers out there. I donāt see whatās tougher about this than entry level investment banking, where the hours and competition are brutal and you make a lot of money but have no time to spend it on anything. Life is tough. Thereās not a single occupation that is an easy ride. Given that, life is also too short not to pursue an interest area in something that you love. Who wants to be treated by a doctor who hates medicine but was pushed there by an overeager parent? Not me.</p>
<p>tough = 400 applicants for 2 PhD spots
tough = 400+ applicants for one job opening requiring PhD</p>
<p>I am a tenured English (ESL) professor at a community college and I am so thankful every day for my job. Not only do I love working with my students, but I am so grateful for my benefits and pension. However, I also know how lucky I am to have this job. We had to let most of our adjunct professors go over the last few years. Even though we have lost four professors in our department through retirement, we havenāt been able to replace them because of the budget crisis in California. I donāt know when we will start hiring again, and when we do, there will be over 200 applicants for one position. In sum, English professor is a great job if you can get a position. There are lots of opportunities overseas, btw.</p>
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<p>I donāt disagree. What I said was that should the OPās daughter go into academe, she should do so with her eyes open about the realities of the profession before she makes that commitment. The Chronicle is full of stories of woe by un- and underemployed Ph.D.s who thought it would be different for them because they were so special. If they are lucky, they get jobs teaching remedial composition at a community college instead of Shakespeare at a nice LAC. Itās good to dissuade young people from having illusions about fields of professional interest. No one, least of all me, can make judgments about an individualās drive, risk tolerance, or financial need for stability. Thatās up to this student.</p>