All my life I heard that there is a desperate need for more scientists and engineers - so much so that we had to import scientists from overseas.
And now, it hits. Noble for who? There is nobody who'll give me an opportunity to use my advanced education - an M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering, and a B.S. in physics. And there is no paycheck that'll help me pay my bills - nevermind my massive college loans.
But there are those who DID benefit, in very tangible ways:
1. Financial institutions - students like myself will be paying education loans for a very, very, very long time. Loaning institutions effectively own a big portion of my paycheck for the next two decades.
2. Industry - the oversupply of science-trained individuals is so incredible, it's a matter of how little someone is willing to work for. With so little opportunity out there for us, my guess is: very little money.
3. Academia - university research departments depend on the dirt-cheap work of graduate students. With such an oversupply of science-trained individuals who can't find work, there will be an equal over-supply of graduate schol applicants - some of whom are even willing to do graduate research for free, like myself. The result: cheap or free graduate labor, which turns the academic research engine on which universities depend, while keeping the severely overworked, stressed-out student barely able to make ends meet.
So it seems to me that the problem was never "we have jobs and not enough workers", but instead "we have jobs, but we want them for dirt cheap, so let's create a ridiculous oversupply of science workers and make them compete for a limited number of jobs, driving their salaries and benefits down, providing us with ridiculously cheap, highly specialized labor"
I just want to take this opportunity to give the department of education and the National Science Foundation (NSF) a big, hearty congratulations.
You've just taught an entire generation that the reward for sacrificing yourself for so many years over a science education is the recognition that you're worth nothing, and that you have such massive debt that the loaning institutions effectively own your paycheck for the next two decades.
So fvck you, and here's to hoping that you don't make the same mistake with the next generation - who deserve a heck of a lot better than this.
And now, it hits. Noble for who? There is nobody who'll give me an opportunity to use my advanced education - an M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering, and a B.S. in physics. And there is no paycheck that'll help me pay my bills - nevermind my massive college loans.
But there are those who DID benefit, in very tangible ways:
1. Financial institutions - students like myself will be paying education loans for a very, very, very long time. Loaning institutions effectively own a big portion of my paycheck for the next two decades.
2. Industry - the oversupply of science-trained individuals is so incredible, it's a matter of how little someone is willing to work for. With so little opportunity out there for us, my guess is: very little money.
3. Academia - university research departments depend on the dirt-cheap work of graduate students. With such an oversupply of science-trained individuals who can't find work, there will be an equal over-supply of graduate schol applicants - some of whom are even willing to do graduate research for free, like myself. The result: cheap or free graduate labor, which turns the academic research engine on which universities depend, while keeping the severely overworked, stressed-out student barely able to make ends meet.
So it seems to me that the problem was never "we have jobs and not enough workers", but instead "we have jobs, but we want them for dirt cheap, so let's create a ridiculous oversupply of science workers and make them compete for a limited number of jobs, driving their salaries and benefits down, providing us with ridiculously cheap, highly specialized labor"
I just want to take this opportunity to give the department of education and the National Science Foundation (NSF) a big, hearty congratulations.
You've just taught an entire generation that the reward for sacrificing yourself for so many years over a science education is the recognition that you're worth nothing, and that you have such massive debt that the loaning institutions effectively own your paycheck for the next two decades.
So fvck you, and here's to hoping that you don't make the same mistake with the next generation - who deserve a heck of a lot better than this.