Oct
29
re: the florida tuition stuff
- if you’re not gonna smash the university then at least make it free for everyone but also.
- as someone who’s been on the science and non-science sides of undergrad education, and watched people trying to organise re: opposing tuition hikes in both faculties, i gotta say it’s disappointing to see some tumblr commentary that buys into the same assumptions as the report’s authors, namely that STEM grads are basically guaranteed well-paying jobs down the line.
- science is underfunded, and to be competitive for the small number of career paths that are actually lucrative you are generally signing up for a decade (or more depending on postdocs) of zero savings.
- obviously i’m not saying STEM fields get anywhere near as raw a deal as the humanities.
- i just think it’s important to counter the idea that our support for undergrad education is a zero-sum game split between STEM and non-STEM.
- especially given that in so many jurisdictions (at least in canada idk about the states) science and engineering degrees are way more expensive than arts degrees, a legacy of neoliberal reforms dating to the late 80s/early 90s, and that the Lucrative Guaranteed Career Path Productive Members Of Society bullshit really does result in STEM students being more complacent in the face of continual hikes. i see a real need for counternarratives.
