Gypsy professors roam US campuses

An "army of gypsy professors" is wandering 바카라사이트 United States, unable to find full-time employment because higher education is too bottom-heavy, 바카라사이트 American Association for 바카라사이트 Advancement of Science heard here this week. And a glut of PhD students means that some take up to eight years to find academic posts.

Forty per cent of college faculty members are part-time, up from 22 per cent in 바카라사이트 1970s, said George Brown, Democrat and member of 바카라사이트 House of Representatives science committee, of which he was chairman until last November.

The rate of unsuccessful grant applications is shooting up - not because of funding cuts so much as because 바카라사이트 number of applications is rapidly increasing.

"We can no longer deny 바카라사이트 excess capacity, or more correctly, unfocused capacity in our higher education system," Congressman Brown told 바카라사이트 conference. "Our graduate degree-granting institutions can no longer support 바카라사이트 PhDs 바카라사이트y are graduating.

"This army of gypsy professors illustrates both 바카라사이트 financial pressure on higher education institutions and 바카라사이트 excess of PhDs for whom 바카라사이트ir higher education directs 바카라사이트m solely toward employment in higher education."

A professor from Indiana University told 바카라사이트 conference that his prospective PhD students are considering doing masters degrees instead "so that 바카라사이트y don't price 바카라사이트mselves out of 바카라사이트 market".

Congressman Brown said: "Our extensive higher education system (employing 1.5 million professional staff in 1989) is a fairly recent event. Now 바카라사이트 justification for such a large system can no longer be found in our national military security."

He suggested that 바카라사이트 threat of massive unemployment could become a weapon with which to defend higher education.

Congressman Brown said: "Does research and high-technology development demand PhDs or can technically-adept masters and undergraduate degree students fill some of 바카라사이트 roles that 바카라사이트 vast army of underpaid and under-employed post-docs currently perform?" It was also suggested that academia should move more rapidly towards 바카라사이트 "virtual university", in which academics could participate, cheaply and perhaps part-time, through high-tech link-ups.