Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - PhD and diminishing job opportunities

Why resist?

 'I have had to withstand pressure to teach hundreds of students in two other countries from my home office.'

Toyin Falola  

This is a long anticipated development, well before the current medical crisis:

'students...are being taught online, with professors drawn from different parts of the world. While the impact of technology has been realized, it is now clear that professors can stay in one country and produce students in another.'

Toyin Falola  

That is as it should be.

All teaching cant be physical. 

Such developments also facilitate flexibility  in terms of where to live, instead of the prevalent notion that one must live where one works. 

Real time online dialogue across different locations also complements the current monological-one person alone  talking-  approach of platforms like YouTube, valuable as those are.

toyin

On Fri, 6 Mar 2020 at 05:36, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

The projection for jobs in the humanities is not looking good. This year has been particularly bad, even for those who finished from private universities.

Before you encourage anyone, try to understand the trend. Universities are doing drastic cutbacks in admissions as the opportunities continue to diminish. Jobs are drying up everywhere. If a global economic meltdown occurs this year, those planning to retire will need to work for at least 5 years to recoup major losses from their 401K.

 

Coronavirus is also producing an unexpected outcome: students in cities that are shut down are being taught online, with professors drawn from different parts of the world. While the impact of technology has been realized, it is now clear that professors can stay in one country and produce students in another. I have had to withstand pressure to teach hundreds of students in two other countries from my home office.

 

The person you encourage today may become your enemy tomorrow! You can device your ways, but you cannot control your steps:

 

 

TF

 

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA

http://toyinfalolanetwork.org/

 

 

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