No comment necessary

I am not making this up.

Yesterday, Sarah Kendzior published an article in Al Jazeera about the plight of adjunct professors, who make up two thirds of faculty at American universities today, where they are paid sub-poverty level wages to do the bulk of the teaching at our institutions of higher learning.  It's a thoughtful and disturbing piece which should be read in its entirety, and it even includes a reference to the dire economic circumstances of recent law school graduates. Kendzior, who just completed a PhD in anthropology, wrote that she is unsure whether she will even pursue an academic career, given how exploitative and unfair higher education in America has become.

The piece elicited an unsympathetic response from a law professor, who posted several comments.   First the professor criticized Kendzior for failing to anticipate that her investment in her degree would generate an unacceptable return:

A surfeit of academicians would seem to suggest American academia is doing quite well. I happen to be a professor. This unfortunate woman does not understand how it works. She is Iike most people who choose disciplines that are woefully oversubscribed. We should discourage people more strongly from doing that, but one hardly has to be blind to see it.

(BTW Kendzior reveals in the comments that she was on a full-tuition plus cost of living stipend during her PhD program, and incurred no educational debt).

The law professor then subsequently posted a rambling, somewhat incoherent comment, which deserves to be posted in full:

I have to say that her situation is mostly down to her, unfortunately.  Doesn't make it "OK," but she made a choice of a discipline that was going to be almost impossible to break into (stands to reason; it's pretty interesting!).

Anthropology has been oversubscribed in the U.S. since my mother, now retired from a long career in education, decided not to pursue her masters in anthropology and chose another discipline because she doubted that without a degree from a better school than even Washington University in St. Louis (don't bother if you aren't Ivy League in such a subject) she would ever get a job!  Anthropology looks like a great gig from the outside -- the profs spend a lot of time doing research because students aren't flooding the major.  And they are bummers of classes to teach, frankly, because all of them are big lecture hall required courses for students who probably preferred to be elsewhere.  Bluntly, it's less of the boring work, and what boring work there is is easy.  In fact, schools require students take courses in such areas because it is the only way to keep the professors they are paying, normally incredibly large amounts, working.  This did not "happen" to some disciplines.  It has been this way since before this woman was born.

Just bear in mind that this is what's going on.  It's an easy gig -- and understandably, it's not easy to get one!Now, there IS a horrible story here -- and that is the crime committed by years worth of anthropology professors who taught and mentored her who did not tell her to "get out" of the discipline.  Why?  You retain your relevance at research institutions by how many Ph.D students you have.  She would have been hugely valuable to them for that purpose so they were not going to advise her to get out.  They were not hugely valuable to her, unfortunately.  In other words, these people used her.  That's really bad.She did have options.  I have a colleague who just got hired at my school who is a legal anthropologist who teaches students things they need to know and does insightful and useful research in anthropology -- with a specific focus that allows him to be employed in what are among the highest paid positions in higher education.  Law professors are well into the 1 percent, believe me.  But you have to plan those things and be savvy.  Anthropologists can find work in business if properly dual trained -- but too many young folk aren't willing to compromise a bit, and in fairness, these positions are not out there growing on trees.But she seems to have landed on her feet.  She's the one being paid to write for an international publication.  I'm the one giving my stuff away for free!  The irony is not lost on me.  (emphasis added)

This professor and her legal anthropologist colleague teach at . . . Wait for it . . . the Phoenix School of Law.