BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS) -- The profession of teaching looks very unattractive amid the fee hikes, layoffs and program cutbacks in the U.C. system, say some doctoral students.
U.C. Berkeley Ethnic Studies doctoral student Juan Herrera wondered if he has a future as a professor in the U.C. system as he stood in Sproul Plaza on Wednesday watching a rally protesting impending 32 percent fee hikes.
“It’s not only about the lack of academic jobs, but just the lack of respect for academics and students that’s being fostered with these economic cuts,”he told KCBS reporter Dave Padilla.
He’s not the only one having second thoughts about whether a life in the academy after the Ph.D. is a viable path in the present climate.
Fellow doctoral student Yomaira Figueroa said she already sees the effects of fee hikes and cutbacks in the classes she now teaches. “Instead of having 30 students, we have 40 and 45 students in classes.”
Student teachers depend on teaching loads as part of their financial aid packages. Figueroa noted that besides fuller classrooms for undergraduates, reducing course offerings also means fewer opportunities for graduate students to work while pursing their degrees.
“There’s a lot of departments where graduate students didn’t get a job and who are really struggling to make ends meet,” she said.
KCBS' Dave Padilla reports
(jro)
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