What do you mean I can’t get a job with my medieval feminist studies degree?

Structural changes at universities may nominally affect
the numbers of grads serving you your morning latte.

Many young men and women headed back to the classroom this week, equipped with texts on cultural relativism and stars in their eyes. They should enjoy it while it lasts. Those stars will turn to dollar signs not long after graduation day, when the realization sets in that that medieval feminist studies degree is not as marketable as they had anticipated.

The problem isn’t unique to those who have chosen to pursue so-called “soft” degrees. For years now, graduates of teachers colleges (especially in Ontario) have found themselves with few job openings, as have journalism grads, some business majors and a growing cohort of law school alumni. In some industries, such as teaching, there is an oversupply of labour and too few job opportunities. For other fields, such as journalism, the stream of grads remains constant even though the industry itself is shrinking. And as for those equity studies and philosophy majors — unless they can flip that paper into a PhD and teach the courses themselves — they’ve long been looking at a career behind the counter.  (more...)

What do you mean I can’t get a job with my medieval feminist studies degree?