8th December 2005, 02:30 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by mercenary
I'm not actually sure that it is in the interests of the universities to portray the profession accurately. A lot of prospective students would be put off, and the arch departments revenue would decline. (Which I think is already happening) Much better to put on rose tinted glasses and tell arch students that they will be running excavations when they graduate.
I remember one of my Profs asking in a class once who wanted to actually go into professional archaeology. When c. 2/3 of the class raised their hands he laughed loudly and wished all of us 'good luck with finding long-term employment'.
I think that you have a point that many departments are playing the popular archaeology card. I guess that their position is probably a double-edged sword. Either tell tales about the profession and grab the dosh or tell the truth and risk closure. I can't tell which is the better.
I am sure that many students do perfeclty well-now that their job prospects in professional archaeology are slim when they start their degree, but nevertheles associate the work with a more pleasent (sunny?) experience.