LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND TUITION FEES

"There are a few signs that higher fees have encouraged marginal decision-making, even if they haven’t stopped young people applying altogether. Arts and social-science subjects have attracted fewer applicants than last year. The lack of jobs has concentrated students’ minds on employment prospects" (quote from The Economist).

A survey of British firms shows that a third of employed people in the UK are overqualified for thier jobs. At the same time, those very firms also declare that there is a significant lack of skills in the labour market. The fact that students, as a result of higher fees, are focusing their choices on employment prospects is therefore a good thing for the labour market. But is it good for them?

SCADENZA PER FARE DOMANDA AI CORSI UNDERGRADUATE

Volevo ricordarvi che la scadenza per fare domanda ai corsi undergraduate alle universita' inglesi che inzieranno a settembre 2012 e' stata fissata per il 15 gennaio.

If you need any last minute help do not hesitate to contact me on universitaininghilterra@gmail.com.

I MASTERS VALGONO I SOLDI CHE COSTANO?

Un paio di settimane fa, una neolaureata fresca di un’esperienza lavorativa negli Stati Uniti e di un’offerta condizionale per fare un master alla London School of Economics mi ha scritto:

E' quella che ho voluto fin dall'inizio [la LSE], ma ci sono persone che mi dicono che non vale i soldi che chiede. Io non ne sono molto convinta, ma mi piacerebbe avere un tuo parere.

La maggior parte dei Masters in Inghilterra e negli Stati Uniti ormai costa più di £15,000, e per gli MBA si arriva a cifre ancor più esorbitanti: avere questa perplessità é quindi più che lecito.

Purtroppo, con il mercato del lavoro che diventa sempre più competitivo, spesso i masters (almeno quelli nelle migliori università anglosassoni) valgono i soldi che costano, ma non sempre il loro vero valore viene apprezzato.

Nel valutarlo, infatti, gli studenti spesso commettono l’errore di limitarsi a tenere in considerazione due fattori: la quantità di nozioni che apprenderà nel corso dell’anno (o nei due anni) e la bravura dei professori.
Questi sono, senza dubbio, dei fattori importanti, ma non gli unici da valutare.

Spesso, infatti, si ignorano gli altri tre fattori che apportano valore aggiunto ai corsi post-graduate: 

1. La reputazione dell’università a livello internazionale: questo vale in particolare per gli studenti italiani che vogliono dare al loro curriculum una dimensione internazionale, oltre che a mettere in rilievo un’università ben conosciuta in tutto il mondo;
2. Il careers service dell’università: lo scopo principale dei master è quello di trovare un lavoro stimolante e, perché no, ben pagato, alla fine del corso. Il careers service della London School of Economics mi manda ancora un e-mail al mese con una decina di annunci pubblicizzati solo agli studenti e gli ex-studenti dell’LSE.
3. Il network di contatti che lo studente riuscirà a crearsi al di fuori delle lezioni e dei seminari: durante i masters s’incontrano decine e decine di ragazzi che molto probabilmente entreranno in un settore simile al vostro. Delle cento persone che hanno studiato politica europea con me, almeno una quarantina sono ora a Bruxelles a lavorare con le istituzioni europee in maniera più o meno diretta.

Se avete ancora bisogno di persuasione, lasciate che vi dia un paio di numeri sugli stipendi medi di chi frequenta i migliori MBA del mondo: per gli studenti di Harvard che entrano nel settore finanziario gli stipendi medi a un anno dal completamento del corso sono di $125,000; per i diplomati dall’INSEAD, Francia, €87,000!

That’s food for thought!

DIPLOMA INGLESE E ITALIANO: EQUIPOLLENZA VOTAZIONI

In tanti mi chiedono quale sia l'equivalente di 3-As agli A-Levels inglesi in termini di votazioni alla maturità italiana.

Volevo quindi segnalarvi questo sito che converte le diversi classi di voto del diploma inglese con le votazioni nei vari sistemi scolastici del mondo, tra cui anche l'Italia: A-Level equivalent guide.

Per darvi un'idea: 3 A equivalgono a 95/100; 3B a un 88.

ADVICES ON WRITING A THESIS FROM MAXINE RODBURG AND THE TUTORS OF THE WRITING CENTRE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be." 

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?) 

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay. 

Steps in Constructing a Thesis 

 

First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.) 

Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have. 

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction. A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

 

Anticipate the counter-arguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counter-argument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.) 

Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election because he failed to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention.

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counter- arguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counter-argument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below. 

 

While Dukakis' "soft-on-crime" image hurt his chances in the 1988 election, his failure to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention bore a greater responsibility for his defeat.

 

Some Caveats and Some Examples 

 

A thesis is never a question. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water. 

 

A thesis is never a list. "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

 

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational. An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

 

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."