Graduate School, the Recession and the American Dream

Now that you have walked across the stage to "Pomp and Circumstance" the looming question is what's next? The banter surrounding the increased popularity of graduate school is unavoidable-- newspapers, blogs, and talk shows have emphasized that staying in school during a time of high unemployment may be the most prudent decision. According to an article published by PR Newswire "More than 20 percent of students are looking at entering a different profession than they were before the economic collapse, and an additional 20 percent are considering attending graduate school as a result of the economy." Graduate school attendance is not the only figure that has changed seemingly due to the recession. According to the release, 69% of students reported that they felt confident about managing finances, up from 67% last year, and 90% balance their finances on a regular basis.

Check out the rest of the release here.

Graduate school or an alternate career track may be the answer for some, however, there are other views circuiting through the blogosphere that suggest a much different idea. The decision to attend graduate school is viewed by some as a careless decision, if done to avoid getting a job. Penelope Trunk of The Brazen Careerist is one of the more extreme opponents to enrolling in graduate school to avoid the recession. She believes "graduate school requires you to know what will make you happy before you try it" and thus graduate school requires a hefty financial investment and time commitment when people in general are "notoriously bad at knowing what makes us happy." It is true that graduate school does not offer the flexibility and exploration of undergraduate studies, but isn't that the point? Penelope is correct to suggest that if we enroll in graduate school without a clear idea of what interests us and we only do so to avoid a scary job market, we're doing something wrong. Yet it is quite unfair to suggest that we don't have a solid idea of what we enjoy after spending four years figuring it out. Not all recently enrolled graduate students are influenced by the recession, and it may just be that the media is blowing up the impact of the recession on our decisions regarding education. Penelope's criticisms seem to come from a longstanding disdain for graduate studies in general and less about her particular feelings about how it functions in the current economy (take a look at some more of her criticisms here and here).

Despite her extreme views, Penelope does bring up a concept very worth considering: how are we altering our goals and desires in this economy? How is the American dream changing? Are we moving toward a generation of students into their 40s bearing multiple advanced degrees and away from the baby boomer businesspeople?

Whether you're a graduate student or an undergraduate considering another degree, we want to hear about how the recession has affected your decision making, if at all. Do you think Penelope is on to something? Are you one of the 20% choosing graduate school over a finding a job? Leave us a comment or send us an email to sfs@brandeis.edu. We'll post your comments in a few weeks.

- Savvy Student