Work first, master’s later

It’s that time of the year when fresh graduates ask us, their former professors, for recommendation letters. Most employers send us a form that we need to fill out, where we can evaluate their prospective hires based on essential skills and character traits.

One item always makes me laugh: “Would you hire this applicant again? Why or why not?”

Granted it’s a template that includes applicants who might have worked with other companies before, the item is awkward for fresh graduates. I answer the question the same way each time.

“No! This one already graduated! Don’t give them back! Take them away!”

Some students, however, do have some form of separation anxiety right before they leave school. Some of them want to stay longer; others want to take up a master’s degree (an M.A., or Master of Arts) at our department. We always refuse. We also remind them: to qualify for a master’s degree, you need at least two years of work experience in the communication industry.

Fresh graduates from our department need to work in an actual production, where they sometimes have to deal with difficult actors, nitpicky producers, or demanding directors. They need to work in an actual company where they have to collaborate with people from a variety of backgrounds and generations.

They need to work in a newsroom; they might start on the police beat and read blotters at three in the morning, or on social media where they have to contend with trolls without losing their souls. They need to work in the government so that they can see what a true bureaucracy is like, or with a nongovernment organization so that they can work closely with different communities and have all their assumptions about the world questioned and broken.

After they’ve dealt with volatile clients, averted or sailed through a crisis, worked on projects without worrying about how they would be “graded”—and only when they are curious about the world and want to challenge their perceptions, only then can they come back and apply for a master’s.

A master’s degree in the social sciences, in general, needs immersion outside the academe. This immersion allows students to see the real world, where they have no rubrics to guide how they approach problems, no classroom walls to tell them that they are in a safe, predictable space.

An M.A. comes after students realize what the world’s real problems are, not before.

Many students (and their parents) think that an M.A. is an extension of the undergraduate experience. Some secondary schools hire M.A. graduates, perhaps with the assumption that they know more things and might be able to teach better. Some employers require an M.A. for promotion, perhaps with the assumption that their employees will become writers or public speakers, even with no prior training.

The M.A., however, is not about getting more knowledge or learning new skills. For instance: M.A. students, at least in our department, should have excellent writing and public speaking skills to begin with. Writing and public speaking are neither introduced nor taught in graduate school. They are, however, taught in high school, workshops, and certificate courses. M.A. classes are built to hone existing skills.

The M.A. is a first step toward a career in the academe: It prepares students for a life of research, where they have to question society, think conceptually, carry out research, present it, and publish their work. The M.A. is a place for students to discuss their experiences in light of theory, and this can be done only by having spent time in the professional world.

Yes, they can teach at the secondary level, because they now know where different kinds of knowledge fit, and can perhaps guide younger students in organizing their thinking. Yes, they can do better in the workplace because research skills can also help them systematically manage people.

There has been quite a discussion lately on ranking universities based on research output. I believe that this is a separate issue from the value that systematic research has outside of the academe. There is great value in an M.A. that teaches students how to do research well.

So, would we hire the applicant again?

No, dear student. Get out of the classroom. Get out of the school. Let the diploma be your sails to lead you to new places.

An M.A.? Not yet.

Off you go.

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