Thanks for posting. I wonder what happened to him. Some of the comments make for depressing reading.

I've heard the odd snippet about ex-Masters and PhD people being homeless in the past, normally in the US. Whether this is widespread or for reasons outside work, etc., I've no idea.

It's said just about anyone can find themselves homeless quite easily. You could be fairly well off then a mixture of job loss and marital break-up can have you on the streets within literally a couple of weeks. People will only tolerate you bunking on their sofa for so long too.

Once on the streets, it's very hard to get yourself back on your feet.

Ian

hope he is ok now

Once I talked to an old homeless lady collecting cans and bottles from streets in my hometown (a midsize city in Canada) and she told me that she had BA and MA degrees in some social sciences from McGill university. I could not believe her story but few years later, I saw a book in the local interests of our public library with her picture at the back of the book cover and guess what?, she was the author!

I think it is really important to take on board Ian's comment about the many factors behind homelessness. It (sadly) can happen to all for a very large range of reasons. In my own country, we do (or did-our welfare support systems are going through some 'reforms' with our present government!) have a reasonably supportive welfare system. We do have a significant number of homeless people -as with most countries- but statistics would indicate that mental health issues, substance abuse, domestic violence concerns and similar factors would play an influencing role in these cases at the moment (and that is because we have had a reasonably supportive system).

It certainly is a sobering thought that a degree or doctorate is not a guarantee against life's challenges. Education is certainly a protective factor but only one among many. It must be so much harder for those who live in nations where there is minimal social support or income protection for people who lose their employment. Very thoughtful post KW. Important also to stay positive and focused in times like these (hard though it may be at times).

I'm quite disappointed with the forum at the moment and this post is illustrative of why.

I mean what is the point if posting this. Surely it is clear that all sorts of people can end up homeless, none of us are ever safe. Gaining a higher degree is a guarantee of only one thing: you will have a higher degree. It is most certainly not a route to financial security, at least not in my field. We all start and carry on with our PhDs for different reasons, but surely only the most ill-informed of us do so for purely financial reasons...

Higher Education is a personal choice and we have to take responsibility for that, whatever happens. I started my PhD because I know it's in me to be academic, it is my nature. I knew I would live with heavy regret if I didn't follow my research. Even if I have to take another path after this at least I will have had these years of experiencing the buzz and high of thinking, researching and writing at this level. I will not live with major regret. For me, chasing an academic career is a bit like going for gin rummy, the rewards and thrill of taking part are well worth the risk.

This post just seems like rubbernecking to me...

I'm quite disappointed with the forum at the moment and this post is illustrative of why.

I mean what is the point if posting this. Surely it is clear that all sorts of people can end up homeless, none of us are ever safe. Gaining a higher degree is a guarantee of only one thing: you will have a higher degree. It is most certainly not a route to financial security, at least not in my field. We all start and carry on with our PhDs for different reasons, but surely only the most ill-informed of us do so for purely financial reasons...

Higher Education is a personal choice and we have to take responsibility for that, whatever happens. I started my PhD because I know it's in me to be academic, it is my nature. I knew I would live with heavy regret if I didn't follow my research. Even if I have to take another path after this at least I will have had these years of experiencing the buzz and high of thinking, researching and writing at this level. I will not live with major regret. For me, chasing an academic career is a bit like going for gin rummy, the rewards and thrill of taking part are well worth the risk.

This post just seems like rubbernecking to me...

Eska,
I am sorry that the post is disappointing to you. It is just a post from the other side of the ivory tower we do not hear much when we are in our academic comfort zone. Yes I agree that gaining a degree is nothing more than a personal pursue for learning higher and noone becomes reach by gaining a graduate degree alone but I find it is very "naive" to just saying that I spent over 16 years at the graduate, postgraduate schools and two postdocs for the sake of "learning" and "research" and nothing else. There are many ways to do research and learn and becoming academic is only one of them. Frankly speaking, I personally feel that for most of us, becoming an "academic" is the death to our spirit of learning because once become academic, you will be afraid of freeing your mind and you would only follow safe-grounds and eventually you become a part of "established" hierarchy and publish or perish ideology. At least to me the best part of my "research" day is 1 or 2 hours in bed that I wonder around books on completely unrelated topics as I learn much more during this "unpaid and unacademic" period than the other 8 hours of working the lab on specified procedures, and endless reply to editorial nonsense corrections on my papers. I know nothing unknown or extraordinary will come out of my approved and well-respected postdoc research because most of my research was already established by an uneducated and unacademic researcher almost 150 years ago named Michael Faraday and the rest is just micro (if not pico) improvement on applying his laws which he discovered wondering around his own experiment that no one cared. But unfortunately, the fact is that the money comes for these micro-works because the tax-payers and industry is willing to pay for it not my few hours of self-research. My advise to "me" is that If you want to do fruitful research just drop the academia and free yourself!

Just goes to show, we all have different experiences...

Yes I would like to earn my living by pursuing my research but I certainly don't see it as a right, or as a foregone conclusion. I feel privileged to have been able to carry out my research, to publish from it, to have my voice heard and to have learned to reason and write in a way I never thought was possible.

There are homeless people from all walks of life. Why the big surprise that one of us has the mis-fortune? If you look you'll find lawyers, doctors, bus drivers and so on too. We are not special. We are just lucky enough to pursue a career that is interesting. And some of have a great passion for our subject and for writing. Most people never get a sniff at that.

I agree that there are homeless people in all walks of life, however the video I posted in not just a random case. I have seen and heard many of PhDs struggling financially after year graduation, but the universities do not acknowledge that they take far more PhD students than needed just by using misinformation techniques. I do not know about your institution but but when I look at the admission section of mine (which is a top 100 worldwide university) for graduate studies, it says that people graduated with PhD can work in x,y and z industries, national labs, private sector, government etc... which is not a lie but I wonder what would be the number of PhD who would apply to them if the university clearly says that they would struggle financially for years and may end up underemployed (as this is the case for many of us) if the students take the PhD route... Just a thought.

Yes I agree and that is the case across higher education: bums on seats (no pun intended) are more important than student welfare. But doom and gloom is not the answer and this forum is full of that at present.

Everybody, in all walks of life, must remain adaptable and employable in modern times. None of us can just expect our chosen paths to unfold before us... Maybe part of the problem is that graduates, especially from higher ranking universities, don't think they need other skills or a versatile CV the way other people do.

I meant bums on seats but the spellcheck is insisting on buns...

The spellchecker was obviously authored by a man with his mind most definitely on buns. :-)

Ian



(UK posters will get this.)