This argument is circular, at least with respect to the Ph.Ds. The primary field of employment for those with Ph.Ds is higher education. The deal is they are paid by universities to teach students and do research. When there is less funding for the university and less students to teach, there is also less funding for research. And less money to hire Professors.
The fact that so many with Ph.Ds are underemployed is symptomatic of a lack of funding for these institutions. Using that data to claim that it reveals that these institutions are over funded reveals a lack of understanding of the field in question.
Furthermore, the rest of the posted argument takes the data out of context. The context is one of the worst economic downturns of the last hundred years. With the highest unemployment and underemployment rates we've seen in a long time.
Of course there are tons of people with college degrees working shit jobs. We knew that already.
Finally, those who the author calls "higher education apologists" want higher education to be a general thing not simply because it leads to more productive citizens, but rather because of the value society as a whole receives when the standard of education is higher. Especially with respect to our citizen's duties toward our Democratic society.
"In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance." --Thomas Jefferson
The fact that so many with Ph.Ds are underemployed is symptomatic of a lack of funding for these institutions. Using that data to claim that it reveals that these institutions are over funded reveals a lack of understanding of the field in question.
Furthermore, the rest of the posted argument takes the data out of context. The context is one of the worst economic downturns of the last hundred years. With the highest unemployment and underemployment rates we've seen in a long time.
Of course there are tons of people with college degrees working shit jobs. We knew that already.
Finally, those who the author calls "higher education apologists" want higher education to be a general thing not simply because it leads to more productive citizens, but rather because of the value society as a whole receives when the standard of education is higher. Especially with respect to our citizen's duties toward our Democratic society.
"In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance." --Thomas Jefferson