This special session seeks a mix of six panelists who are current or recent English Master’s and Doctoral graduate program directors who can speak from first-hand experience to the market forces and realities students and alums are facing today. These roundtable speaking slots are limited to five minutes in order to make room for discussion.

It’s been 14 years since the ADE’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Master’s Degree released their report: “Rethinking the Master’s Degree in English for a New Century.” Based on their research, they found “a gap between students’ aspirations and employment outcomes on the one hand and MA programs’ stated goals and curricular requirements on the other” (1).

That is, using questionnaire responses they had collected in 2009, they had found that the MA in English, in addition to preparing students for doctoral programs, had largely become a “teaching degree” (1), while also serving to prepare students for other professions in “business, government, and not-for-profit organizations” (1). For example, they note how the growing number of NTT faculty roles are being filled by those with a Masters in English.

Things have changed in the last 15 years since they collected their data. For example, in a search of HigherEdJobs, only 15 of 46 jobs listed from April 2023 to February 2024 list a Master’s in English as the only required qualification. Many jobs list the PhD as the preferred qualification, unless specifically looking for someone in Creative Writing. In addition, several of these positions require a PhD, mostly in rhetoric and composition.

This session will explore what’s changed in terms of what a MA and PhD in English should be given the changes to the academic job market. With more and more open NTT positions preferring and/or requiring a terminal degree, has the PhD/MFA in English become the new “teaching degree”? What then is the MA in English to become?

*Data from HigherJobs that was excluded includes 2-year colleges, “Teaching Professors,” Lecturer or Instructor pool positions. The search focused on English language literature, rhetoric & writing studies, and creative writing jobs. 

Since the MLA CFP submission software limits calls to 35 words (in the 21st centrury?), I thought I'd try UPENN. Feel free to reach out with any questions.