<p>I think you are mislead regarding research in the social science fields. A lot of it depends on funding and enrollment demand. If the funding for a department is not there, they lose out on research. Its not that the science fields do more research, its dependent upon the money they get to do that research. Lots of research goes on in Psychology, Sociology, etc. On the flip side, some departments will accept more graduate students and give them woefully inadequate funding. And those student probably won’t find jobs after graduating.</p>
<p>And if a department is decreased in size, they will lose funding and prestige. So it may seem like certain fields are in demand by enrollment capacity when in reality, its just the politics of the academic department-they are trying to keep up with appearances.</p>
<p>I don’t see why there’s a problem with Harvest888’s logic. Why would a person want to spend years earning a PhD in engineering when it is virtually a waste of time when you can work in the industry and make much more with a just a master’s degree? Most Engineering, Nursing, Accounting graduates go on to work in the industry, not in academia. You can make much more of a substantial income in the industry in those fields. In addition, it depends on your geographical location and where you pursue your graduate studies. </p>
<p>You must also consider that in this economy, a lot of schools refuse to hire professors on tenure and a lot of professors, even with Ph.D.s, can only get adjunct, associate or lecturer positions. There’s a lot of politics in academia. More and more universities are using grad students and adjuncts to teach.</p>
<p>I am a graduate student right now and from talking with my professors, interdisciplinary studies are becoming more and more popular-i.e. cognitive sciences. It is a current academic trend for disciplines to cooperate in solving problems, building models and extrapolating theories as opposed to being at odds with each other. The emphasis on technology has also mediated this movement towards interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary projects.</p>