Ph.D.'s reflect on grad school, higher ed

i know grad school is on many of our minds these days, so i thought i'd share some interesting threads i've recently come across in the blogging world.

this is a post from a feminist philosopher about what it's like to have a Ph.D. in terms of how academics (and the institutions that employ them) measure professional success and personal satisfaction. her advice to students will warm your hearts, i promise.


here is a post from over at crookedtimber.org, which is often host to these sorts of "internal conversations" between Ph.D.'s, journalists, and other representatives of the intelligentsia. it begins with a few links meant for people considering grad school, but the comment thread is loaded with useful information from readers who speak to the issue of pursuing post-graduate degrees from the perspectives of their fields/professions.

i always find it interesting to get a glimpse into the minds of people who are doing the kind of work i think i may one day want to be doing. perhaps one of you will find something relevant here.

(i'd also just like to say that coming across stuff like this makes me appreciate/think about the Praxis component of the IDS core. i think much of what i learned in my Praxis class--about the way higher ed. works, how disciplines work, etc.--is validated by seeing what these professionals have to say about their own experiences)