Could someone in the 18-25 range explain this trend to me? Im mystified and curious. Im 30. When I was in school, it was common practice to say, Im studying economics or Im studying anthropology. Alternatively people would say Im majoring in economicsor Im majoring in anthropology if youre an undergrad. Once someone graduated with an undergraduate degree, if s/he didnt intend to go on to grad school, the accepted practice was to say I have a degree in x or alternatively, I studied x or I went to school for x. If a person did intend to go on to grad school, or was in grad school, they would generally stick with Im studying x or alternatively specify Im going to grad school for x or Im going to go to grad school for x. I have noticed over the last few years, maybe 3-5, that there is a big upswing in people referring to themselves as professional titles once they have an undergraduate degree, regardless of their job status. For example, if someone has graduated with an undergraduate degree in anthropology, I have noticed more and more people saying Im an anthropologist despite being unemployed or working in a completely unrelated field. I can understand a PhD student saying this, or even a masters student if they are actively doing research, probably including field work. But if you just have an undergraduate degree, this seems extremely misleading. To me, saying Im an anthropologist means you have almost certainly have a terminal degree (in anthropology that would be a PhD) and are employed doing anthropology. It can also mean that you have retired from a career teaching or doing anthropology, or that you have a PhD but dont yet have a teaching or research position (if youre still looking). If you switch career paths even after you have a terminal degree, the accepted practice as I understand it is to discontinue referring to yourself as an anthropologist and just say that you have a PhD in anthropology. For example, Im a professional musician now, but I have a PhD in anthropology—you wouldnt say Im an anthropologist if thats not how you do or intend to make your living. The exception would be for lawyers and doctors. Youre a lawyer if youve passed the bar regardless of whether you are practicing law or not and regardless of whether you continue on to get a LLM or LLD, and you are a doctor once you graduate from medical school, even though its standard practice to do an internship, residency, fellowship, etc depending on your subspecialty. Some docs continue going to school for as long as 11 years after they graduate from med school—yikes! Anyway. Even MORE strange, I have lately heard multiple undergraduate *students* refer to themselves by professional titles, as in Im an anthropologist at the University of x. This seems to me to be straight-out lying. If you are a masters student and TA, I would see it as borderline. I would see it as kinda-OK if youre a masters or PhD student AND teaching your own class. But if youre an undergrad, with no degree at all, and you say Im an anthropologist at the University of x, you are communicating that you are an employed, career professor or researcher when you are in fact working on a first- or second-tier degree (an associates or bachelors respectively). I would consider that a dishonest thing to say. Has anyone else noticed this? Could someone explain to me how this became acceptable? Thanks.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 00:07:37 +0000
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