I second Dettwyler's note about college professors as overeducated (or at
least WELL educated at PhD level) who are seriously underpaid.

Not so long ago when I served as a Sociology professor, my pay was LESS (by
more than $1000) than the pay offered rookie policemen in the same city.
To make matters even worse, they received full health care coverage.  We
did not.  We sought to unionize. This created all manner of difficulties
with administration who took the view that most PhDs were a dime a dozen
and if this group (several hundred) didn't like it, they would let them go
(tenure is a thing of the past) and hire others.

There are many many examples of well-(highly) educated individuals who
spend years in preparation (in Sociology the average time to PhD is about
10 years past the BA/BS level) and who have no guarantee of a job much less
one that pays a living wage....

Next time you take a cab, ask the individual if they had a previous career
in mind. YOu may just find yourself talking to a PhD or near PhD!

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Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask]
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