Re: MA in Tech Writing?

[Peter W Praetorius <ppraeto -at- HUBCAP -dot- CLEMSON -dot- EDU>]

I am presently in a master's program at Clemson University, in SC.  It
seems to have a good mix of practical and theoretical courses.  I am
presently taking a year off in Milwaukee for family reasons, but I am
using the opportunity to gain work experience.  I think whether one should
or should not go for a MA in tech writing (or anything else) depends on
his or her view toward education in general.  I've heard that it used to
be that students gained a lot of theoretical and general knowledge while
in school, and then gained practical experience while on the job.  Now it
seems that many students view college only as a means of getting a "good
job," and complain when the coursework is not practical enough.  This
could be fueled by the fact that universities are increasingly turning to
industry for financial and "expert" help, which in turn is shaping
everyone's expectations of what students should know when they graduate.

If you are only interested in going for a MA to learn what future
employers will want you to know, then a MA may not be the best economical
decision, because you will learn a lot that may not pay for itself in
terms of dollars and cents.

For those of you in management positions, I feel you can do your future
employees, and the technical writing field in general, a great service by
offering PAID internship and coop positions to students.  I realize that
many of you did not study technical writing while in school (some mention
coming in through the back door), I have a BA in biology myself, but with
the proliferation of programs in technical writing, many technical writers
of the future are likely to have some formal tech writing education.

Pete

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Pete Praetorius                      ,--O
ppraeto -at- hubcap -dot- clemson -dot- edu          _ \<,_
ppraeto -at- clemson -dot- clemson -dot- edu        (_)/ (_)