Re: PHD in Tech writing

["Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

"Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com> wrote> We now have an enormous oversupply
of technical writers, with the schools
> apparently continuing to turn out more.

As a grad of a tech writing program myself, I take issue with the premise
that schools are capable of turning out technical writers. It's something
you learn on the job.



"Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com> wrote in message news:211841 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
>
>  G. Abenhaim wrote:
>
> > I just read a few emails on this topic and would like to know and
> > understand
> > why a person would take a PhD in this field.
>
> One of the simplest reasons that people take advanced degrees in
> professional areas (or even in general areas) is because they are waiting
> for the job market to recover. I can't find a job right now, the logic
goes,
> so I will stay in/go back to school and get another degree. Not a bad idea
> in itself, but taking a PhD in technical Writing certainly wouldn't be a
> course I would recommend.
>
> Education always seems to lag the job market. I was a victim of the
teacher
> training boom of the late 70's. There were lots of teaching jobs going
> unfilled because too few teachers had been trained. Teacher training
> departments expanded and recruited madly. Of course, they rapidly created
an
> oversupply of teachers. When I graduated in 82, 3 people, out of a
> graduating class of 60 or so, found jobs. Eventually enrolment dropped and
> the education programs were scaled back, but not before creating a glut of
> unemployed teachers.
>
> We now have an enormous oversupply of technical writers, with the schools
> apparently continuing to turn out more. Many people, no doubt hoping for a
> turn around, will doubtless decide to take advanced degrees, and the
> universities will do everything they can to encourage them.
>
> The turn around is unlikely to happen, of course, for all the reasons that
> have been discussed here over the past few months. My position on tech
> writing programs has always been that while they may have some value,
taking
> a traditional academic degree is always a better use of your time. That is
> more true now than it ever was. Educated people are far better equipped to
> adapt and prosper in a changing world.
>
> ---
> Mark Baker
> Stilo Corporation
> 1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
> Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
> Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
> Web: http://www.stilo.com
>
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