Increase in popularity of Masters degrees

The recession has led to a number of things, one of them being an increase in applications for postgraduate degrees. In 2009 for instance, Manchester University saw a rise in applications of 14% from British students and 34% for international students in an effort to ward off the harsher economic climate. This trend seems to be present both in England and in Scotland as Glasgow University saw 46% rise in postgraduate applications in the same year. Increasingly the majority of the postgraduate degrees taken are taught not research, and therefore do not often add to the academic field as most of these do not choose to pursue a career in academia afterwards.

Indeed, whilst it is admirable that everyone wished to get themselves better qualified, with everyone rushing to get a Masters degree it is possible that these will start to lose their meaning. As a postgraduate myself I chronically worry about my chances of employment after my PhD, and what has always spurred me on in case I do not finish is that not everyone has got a Masters. I'm not utterly convinced that the market will not be saturated by Masters students in two three years time, so it is no longer going to look as unique. This Economist article of December 2010 did nothing to calm my fears that I am in fact being used as a cash work and cash cow for the huge university leviathan and perhaps that I will also make myself completely unemployable at the end of things:

http://www.economist.com/node/17723223

This is one of my many neuroses, and doubtless I am pretty capable of making a mountain out of a molehill, but I wonder how long it will take before the universities will start exploiting the fact that postgraduate degrees are increasing in popularity. After all, the career development websites that I have signed up to send new links to Masters course every day, so it seems their availability has increased. Whilst I doubt that PhDs will be pursued by anyone other than those that are utterly devoted to their subject due to the sheer stress and self-doubt that is involved, it is easy to see how perfectly talented potential academics could now be put off by the large amount of applicant numbers to Masters degrees, as what was once a more specialised degree has become more popular. Furthermore, funding such a degree may become increasingly difficult as more are likely to apply for the career development loans making their availability more scarce.

Don't get me wrong, it impresses me deeply that so many are finding the energy to continue to Masters level, particularly given that I remember how stressful mine was. But fundamentally economic problems have kept those who perhaps would not have chosen it for themselves in education, perhaps making the Masters courses less of an asset than the work put in actually represents.

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