law school profs aren’t that blind, wolf. Each school publishes its employment data per ABA requirements. And teh Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes data on need. The issue with law schools is that historically they’ve been a cash cow for the University – mostly full pay students (on loans). Being a tenured Law Prof just has to be the best academic gig out there. Much of what is published in Law Journals would never pass muster with academic peer review.
Of course, you may be right, as the old saying goes, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclari? HL Menken?
We do a great disservice to our young people by allowing unlimited Grad Plus loans…it enables low ranked/poor universities to keep cranking out grad students who end up with massive loans.
@bluebayou It was Upton Sinclair, I think he was complaining about his media coverage when he was running for governor of somewhere, though it sounds as cynical as Menken.
Demand does very much depend on the field. At my university, it’s hard to fill the tenure track accounting jobs we have. We get the fewest applicants (relative to other fields), and they are the searches that don’t always get filled in the year they are opened. They are also those with the most churn - where people come to the uni without planning to stay - they’re using it as a stepping stone to another, bigger uni. It’s also hard to fill business analytics, CS, engineering, marketing, nursing, and finance. I’ve also noticed, from other unis, that professors who can teach in a Physicans Assistant program seem to be very hard to find.
I know somebody with a recent PHD from Harvard (his undergrad, Masters from Harvard as well). Could not get a position at any University in his field. He is a HS teacher now.