BlogHer - Is it a good time to go back to school? - Comments

I am still confused as to when is the right time

henrya — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:13:03 -0600

I am right now in the hospitality industry and wish to switch into the education field and become a lecturer and an institution. At present i have a masters degree in Hospitality Management and I wish to get my masters degree in Business Administration. I am still thinking of whethere or not i should do it seeing that the 2009 financial crisis is getting worse and in order for me to complete this degree i would have to take a student loan. Should I take a loan and just complete my degree which could assist me in becoming a lecturer at a college? or should i just stay there in the Hospitality Industry which is already falling?

At present i am confused. Advise me please

Think Carefully about Grad school

Mom on the Run — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:03:37 -0600

Mom on the Run

I am was an editor for a health care publisher before and after having kids. For the last 5 years I've been a SAHM. With my son starting kindergarten this past September, I have been wondering what to do with myself. Two options: get a job that fits my family's schedule or go to grad school. I chose grad school. Unfortunately I chose the wrong program at the wrong university -- University of Baltimore is a poor choice for moms returning to workforce...no support. Graphic design is not for me. Critique by professors too crushing. Deadlines too many.

I did find that I liked the writing aspect of the program, so that is what I am doing...blogging at: www.writingmylifeoneblogatatime.blogspot.com I also write for www.addsyou,.com as Mom on the Run and www.typeamom.net as Jill Berry

Thrilled to Find You

aboutdeb — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:42:09 -0600

Hi Leslie,

I'm thrilled to have found your blog this morning. I'm the Guide to Continuing Education at About.com, a New York Times Company, and I blogged about your blog on my landing page today: http://adulted.about.com/

I'll be back to explore more of your writings. You've got a lot to offer non-trad students.

Nice to meet you!

Deb

Deb Peterson
Guide to Continuing Education
About.com
http://adulted.about.com/

I am considering studying part-time.

kazari — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:35:59 -0600

The course I'm looking in is a Diploma in Professional Writing. I've never really had a slash career, but I have been known to refer to my industry as littoral (as in, between land and water). I started off as in environmental science, leveraging my IT skills, and now I'm in a specialised IT field with a geographical bent. But I'm sick of the highly technical back room, and I want to get back to people and science.

I think my best skill set is the interface between geeks and scientists, or geeks and policy makers and managers, or greenies and engineers. I can do this because I can speak all their languages, and I often have enough backround to know how they approach things.

So I'm taking on this study to see if I can slide towards business analysis and technical writing. I could have done a specific technical writing qualification, but honestly? I'm trying to think a little broader. I am perenially curious about all things scientific, and I think there could be space for me in those places where science needs to be explained to non-scientists.

So that's my guilty secret. I'm secretly planning on further study in a field that could never be as lucrative as my current (boring) position.

Is it a good time to go back to school?

Leslie Madsen Brooks — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:31:30 -0600

In an economy marked by rampant layoffs and the slow death of entire industries, many adults are wondering if now is the time to go back to school for further technical training, to finish a bachelor's degree, or to pursue a graduate or professional degree. The answer? It depends.

It depends on your reason for going back to school.

To update your skills?

If you're looking to update your skills, you need to ask yourself whether the skills you're learning are worth the investment of time and money. For example, my husband is a graphic artist in the (dying) newspaper industry, and he can build web pages in HTML.

It's not worth it to him to go back to school to learn how to do more with HTML, since today anyone can download oodles of free or inexpensive HTML, WordPress, Drupal, or other platforms' templates. And the newspaper industry is going under, so there isn't much call for graphic artists with his particular skill set. He could go back to school to learn computer languages that would allow him to build interactive web pages, but he's not invested in such a career. After beginning his career 25 years ago as a paste-up artist and advancing to where he is now, my husband just isn't as interested in his line of work as he used to be. He's happy where he is for now, and is making tentative emergency plans in case the newspapers he works for fold, but school isn't part of those plans.

In other fields, however, returning to school to update computer or other technical skills may be worth your while. Maybe you want to take another look at the career you imagined you'd have way back when you were 18 or 22. Say you imagined yourself leading a nonprofit organization, but with your English major you ended up in grant writing instead. In this case, getting a certificate in nonprofit management or organizational development might be a good idea.

To learn a new trade or tweak your career?

My own career is what Marci Alboher has termed a "slash" career, in that I'm a teaching consultant/writer/adjunct professor/museum scholar. Increasingly, I want to consolidate those slashes in the direction of museums, so it might be worth my while to add an M.B.A. in museum studies (as far as I know, the only MBA in museum studies is now available at John F. Kennedy University) to my Ph.D. in cultural studies. Alas, I already teach in that program, so it might be awkward to enroll alongside my students, and the cost is prohibitive while I'm still paying down my student loans. That said, I could enroll in classes offered through organizations other than universities, such as the National Preservation Institute's seminars in historic preservation or the Northern States Conservation Center.

Be creative. A degree looks nice on your résumé, and it's de rigueur in many fields, but that doesn't mean going back to school for an entirely new (and probably expensive) degree is your only option. Check out conferences, certificate series, seminars, or more offered by your professional or trade associations or by your local university extension.

Remember: Earning a degree can mean an opportunity cost in the short term. If you work full- or part-time while earning your degree, you'll have less time to spend with your family and friends, your income may drop if you need to work less than full-time, and you'll be paying for tuition, books, and fees, as well as likely taking out student loans. Over at Inside Higher Ed, Wick Sloane wonders if the Bachelor's degree is obsolete. (Be sure to download the PDF pamphlet Sloane offers near the end of his article--it's an interesting read.)

To pursue a graduate degree in your field?

Proceed with caution if you're going back to graduate school. Some degrees, like those related to computer science or most engineering fields, repay their recipients handsomely in the long term. Others, like a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary humanities (hi!) may actually have higher opportunity costs in terms of future income than you anticipated.

I'm not alone in urging caution about graduate school, and people are apparently beginning to listen to the chorus of academics lamenting the numbers of underemployed Master's and Ph.D. students who graduate from our universities each year. The number of people taking the Graduate Record Exam, the entrance exam for graduate school in a number of fields, has fallen this year. Dean Dad explains why this is fabulous news, and Tenured Radical considers whether academics should encourage others to invest in what some have called an " academic Ponzi scheme."

To pursue a professional degree?

I've noted a trend wherein even those with Ph.D.s return to school for an MBA or JD or a K-12 teaching credential. As in many industries, the academic job market is terrible right now, and opportunities for tenure-track jobs are decreasing. Accordingly, many people who either don't get tenure or who tire of the academic grind are starting new careers. New Kid on the Hallway, for example, started law school this past fall, and is documenting her journey on her blog.

Anyone, however, with a Bachelor's degree can apply to professional degree programs. These tend to come with a high price tag, however, so again, proceed with caution--and don't stay in a program if you're discovering the career track isn't the right one for you. It's not worth it to pay off $100,000 or more in professional school loans if you decide not to pursue, say, law or dentistry.

What about you and yours? Are you going back to school? Why or why not?

Leslie Madsen-Brooks develops learning experiences for K-12, university, and museum clients. She blogs at The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox.