But Pardun, who has worked in academia for nearly two decades, notices a difference in the profile of newly minted doctorate degree holders in communications.
“Nowadays it’s very common for people with Ph.D.s to have a lot of professional experience” as well as research experience, she says.
Ben Burns, director of the journalism program at Wayne State University in Detroit, has noticed that trend as well.
“At one time there used to be very few folks with academic credentials and lots of professional credentials,” says Burns, a former editor of several newspapers, including the Detroit News.
“There are lots of folks out there now with both. Our most recent hire has a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri and 20, 22 years professional experience.”
But in the end, says Foote, the continued relevance of journalism schools may also lie in the underlying motives of a new generation of students choosing journalism as a major. Many of these students increasingly see journalism as a liberal arts major that teaches them skills for an array of other professions.
“Now we find students who study (journalism) with the intention of going to law school, grad school or business school,” says Foote. “They are not vocational-minded at all but see the utility of a journalism degree. We are now seeing a first generation of students coming at this from the front end, not expecting to enter the profession. In the past, it was after they got out they decided they didn’t want to do (journalism). This has reinvigorated journalism education in a special way.”
