In the Dark

Last week I was talking to a current undergraduate student who has been working in the Department of Theoretical Physics over the summer. After a while the conversation turned to the possibilities for postgraduate education. I’ve had that sort of discussion many times over the years with many different students, but the curious thing is that I always find it quite difficult because I’m torn between competing motivations.

On the one hand, there is the wish to have the best undergraduates stay on for further study in the Department. That of course helps our research, but it is also good for our finances as postgraduate students bring income. I think we offer good opportunities at both Masters and Doctoral levels, so it’s not too difficult to point these out to students in a way that at least some find persuasive.

On the other hand, there is the fact that I am an academic not a salesman and I feel that it is my responsibility to give honest guidance. The fact is that a good undergraduate degree from the National University of Ireland will open a lot of doors elsewhere, and these should be considered. At Masters level in particular, there are excellent courses available in the EU which have the advantage of not charging fees at the level they are charged in Ireland. Add to that the cost of living and accommodation crises. It’s no surprise that many of our graduates seize opportunities to go to postgraduate study in Germany, Denmark or The Netherlands (to name just a few). I have no problem with explaining the advantages of options outside my own Department and no doubt some students find these points persuasive too.

There’s a wider context for this type of dichotomy, namely the progressive marketisation of higher education. When it comes to recruiting undergraduate students we academics are increasingly required to act as reps for the University, hawking our wares at Open Days, Recruitment Fairs, and a variety of online events. I’m reasonably happy to participate in these when asked to do so, but I always take the approach of describing what we do in our Department rather than trying to do down what happens elsewhere. I’m an academic not a salesman. And I work in a public university, not a private business. I see my job as giving advice in as objective a way as possible. If I feel that our courses would not be the right choice for a student, I’ll explain why. In the end, of course, the decision is up to the student, but I feel obliged to give them enough information to make an informed choice.

A couple of years ago, the (then) new President of Maynooth University walked up to the Theoretical Physics stand at a Maynooth Open Day when I was on duty. The first thing she said was “Sell your course to me”. I described what we had on offer, but I don’t think what I said impressed her at all. We can only hope to succeed in recruiting students who have some interest in science. An Open Day is a bit late to cultivate that: interest has to be nurtured from an early age.

Another problem I find, speaking as a physicist (though this is probably also true for people in many other disciplines), is that we see physicists in other institutions as colleagues rather than business rivals. This is particularly true for those of us working in large consortia that spread over many departments (and indeed many countries). I therefore see myself as a physicist who happens to work at Maynooth University rather than as an employee of Maynooth University who happens to do physics. It’s not that I am disloyal to my employer, it’s just that I have a greater loyalty to a larger community.

I do understand that the reality of the funding system here means that we have to be able to recruit students in order to pay our way, but I feel that the way to achieve that is by establishing a strong reputation in our core academic mission of teaching and research rather than through marketing gimmicks, corporate branding, or other forms of commercial flummery. No amount of propaganda will disguise a higher education institution that neglects those things that higher education is about.