1st June 2012, 07:53 PM
Quote:I'd like to ask Bonesgirl and Kel whether they felt there was enough information available about the pitfalls of a career in archaeology, before they began their studying and whether that was widely recognized amongst their academic peers?As I started my degree aged 44, I'm afraid I'm not qualified to comment on how well school leavers might have been warned about their potential career choices. My last encounter with schools career advice was in 1981. It was cross-eyed nonsense and I ignored it.
As for expectations, I'd say that the vast majority of my peers at undergraduate level had absolutely no intention of becoming archaeologists, any more than those on a History degree intended to be historians, or those on Maths degrees intended to be mathematicians. A degree of any type is a pretty much entry-level requirement for most white collar jobs these days and archaeology is just seen as a slightly more interesting way of getting a degree. I think some also assumed it might be less academically demanding than traditional subjects, but we tended to lose those at various points in the first year as we encountered rank correlation coefficients.
From what I've seen, very few people entering university these days see their degree as an automatic entry point into a profession - unless it carries a professional qualification such as Law or Accounting. Like other professions, it is acknowledged that commercial archaeology has a degree as its default entry requirement. First get your degree. Then try and figure out whether/how you can work in archaeology.
I don't remember meeting anyone at either undergraduate or postgraduate levels, who assumed that if they got an archaeology degree they'd automatically get a job in archaeology. I certainly didn't.