If anyone knows anyone who fits the following demographic, please email me [change (a) to @, _ to .]: English-speaking European ethnic origin (i.e. British, Irish, Scottish), ages 18-35 OR 60+, grew up in Toronto, parents either grew up in the GTA or immigrated to the GTA before the age of 5. If only one parent comes from the English background, but the other grew up here and only speaks English, that works too. I'm looking to interview them about diversity/Toronto culture/etc. for a research project I've been hired on.

I've been doing some reading up about grad school, and there are a lot of bitter and frank people out there. I'm starting to look around for alternatives... I still really want to do a Master's, but then I wonder if I'll use it. On the other hand, I'll be finished my BA by this time next year and if I don't go into grad school, I have no idea what I'll do. I like the idea of being a professor, at least of teaching, but I'm not sure if I'm up for the other 75% of being a university professor. I have found some advice from Linguistic Enterprises about using a Linguistics degree in the private sector, but a lot of that requires becoming established in the field already. Of course, if I used grad school to gear up for a private sector job, a lot of the warnings in the following articles would become moot.

So You Wanna Go To Grad School?: "The Modern Language Association's own data -- very conservative and upbeat in my opinion -- indicate that only about one in five newly-admitted graduate students in English will eventually become tenure-track professors. Are you the one in five? Really? Well, that's what the other four think too. Take my advice (I secretly care about you as a person): Don't go."

If You Must Go To Grad School: "I have a mournful affection for students who remain confident of their ability to beat the odds. The young feel invincible and full of unlimited potential. And many universities view their naiveté and energy as an exploitable resource. The majority of graduate students exist to provide cheap labor for undesirable undergraduate courses and students for high-prestige graduate programs taught by tenured professors. It seems like the undergraduates are the only ones who don't know this, and they get angry when you tell them. But any student who is discouraged by these warnings probably lacks the determination and psychological resilience to make it through the process. The best that one can do with the students who are informed and determined is to give them the advice I wish I had when I made my decision."

The 5 'Virtues' of Successful Graduate Students: "Flexibility: Consider every plausible job opening in your field; do not turn your Ivy League nose up at a military academy in the Ozarks. It might be your only chance. The majority of academic job seekers cannot afford to be selective about their first tenure-track position. You must be willing to live anywhere and teach anything remotely related to your field. You should be willing to teach at any kind of college or university, including junior colleges and small, liberal-arts colleges with a teaching load of four or five courses each semester. Once you have a job, your other "virtues" should eventually make it possible for you to move to a more congenial location and institution. Do not put down deep roots if you wish to advance in your career by moving around. Avoid buying property or becoming emotionally entangled with other academics. It helps if you are single and childless, or have a partner who is willing to subordinate his or her career to yours. Dual-career academics face almost insurmountable problems unless they are already academic stars." (emphasis mine)

His point about flexibility really hits home. Ultimately, I would like to stay here. I like Toronto for a lot of reasons -- it's in Canada, it's multi-cultural, it's interesting, the politics are fairly good, it's not too far from my family, I have friends here, etc. I don't want to move to the United States, their politics/health care/etc. make for a situation which I don't think I would be comfortable with. I think I could be happy in Montreal or Vancouver, but ... I really like it here and would rather not move. I've talked to professors about this and they've said that I can basically kiss my chances of becoming a prof goodbye if I want to stay here. So, time for a new game plan.