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i feel like it’s less about ethics, and more about personal considerations?

i personally don’t think it’s unethical to go to grad school — ultimately it’s exploiting the student in many ways: financially, via TA labor, and in getting to boast student achievements. this is a US perspective but as someone who went to school in one of the states banning a bunch of topics and defunding DEI programs etc i will say the laws banning academic topics are a huge issue right now and incredibly disruptive to experience, mentally and especially academically because profs can’t teach certain topics or start to just leave the state bc of it. i’m considering grad school as well but as my academic work is centered around gender, queerness, social movements, a huge part of it for me would be working out in what states could i have a realistic chance of actually being able to do that work, given the increasing censorship of those subjects in many places? and this is not even to mention student loans nor all of the repression of students’ right to protest even in states without academic censorship laws! tl;dr? i feel for us prospective grad students, it’s more of an issue of what are we willing to put up with for an advanced degree rather than is it unethical to partake in higher ed again.

@marxinista

May 17, 2024

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figure out if you actually need the formal education

Wondering if you think you'll use the masters in a field that requires a masters or if this is mostly for personal growth and discovery? If the latter, are there ways to grow in your knowledge and skills without actually going back to school?

@mattshawsome

Oct 22, 2024

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For me, yes. But i think it depends

I did a two year masters program to receive my masters in social work. It was definitely worth it for me, because I needed that in order to become a licensed clinical social worker. I will say that there were pros and cons. I felt that I learned a lot more in my internships than in my classes, which makes a lot of sense to me knowing how I learn. My second year internship is where I discovered my loved and gift for working with children, and I can’t be more grateful that I found this work. I also got to go to Guatemala for two weeks as part of a class, which was amazing. I never got a chance to study abroad in my undergrad for various reasons so that was the closest I could get. Overall, it was a really positive experience for me. I would say do some research on if people that are working in your desired field have found it useful. I do think that the connections and internships you can get from grad school alone can really make it worth it.

@mossyelfie

Oct 17, 2024

Top Recs from @taterhole

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Starting over

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” — Anaïs Nin This is uncharacteristically raw and personal, even for me, and pretty heavy! I know many of you have seen me posting through it and I feel safe to talk about it openly now that I’ve safely landed at the start of my new life. It’s honestly even a little bit embarrassing but I think it’s important to share. I’ve never publicly mentioned it on here, but I have a husband; as of Friday, we’d have been together for 11 years, and we’ve been married for 3 years as of 2/22. I realize now that I wanted to explore what I looked like outside of my relationship with him because I had lost that. This is why PI.FYI has been so meaningful to me as a space to express myself and connect with people—to rediscover my voice. I had been living a lie this entire time, to others but worst of all to myself. He’s been verbally and emotionally abusive, physically but without touching me, to the point that every day I spent with him I was in danger. I’ve been shrinking myself and walking on eggshells to avoid making him insecure and provoking his casual put-downs and fits of rage, while hanging on for dear life to the threads of good I could see. I’ve wanted so badly to leave, more than anything, but I felt like there was no way out and that this was just something I would need to endure indefinitely—but someone who is so very dear to me helped me see that I have wings to fly, not by acting as my savior but by reminding me of my own power. The emotional safety they built and the gentle care they showed me made me feel like I could open up to them. With their encouragement I was brave enough to tell the truth to my friends, my family, my boss, and they have received me with warm, loving and open arms and rallied to support and protect me. The financial and  logistical aspects were the most intimidating to me and it’s going to be tough for a while but I’m going to be better than okay! Now I’m opening up to you. This isn’t the only abuse I’ve suffered in my life, and my old therapist told me she believed it was my mission to share my strength and light with others to inspire them and show them that change is possible. I hope that by sharing this, I can reach even just one person who is going through something similar and show that they are not alone, and they are not weak. People with certain backgrounds may be more vulnerable to abuse, but it can happen to anyone. It thrives in darkness, shame, and isolation—and breaking that silence is the first step toward freedom. Leaving is the scariest thing I have ever done but I have so many angels around me, and I am endlessly grateful. Thank you for being here with me 💌

@taterhole

Mar 16, 2025

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Never changing

My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌

@taterhole

Feb 23, 2025

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Finally Quitting the job that you hate

Schedule sent my resignation email for the morning, effective immediately ✅💅

@taterhole

Feb 27, 2025