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Well, from the biased perspective of a Canadian who went through a very enjoyable PhD process in the UK from 1992-1995 (and sometimes felt very old!), it is the visible manifestation of system that drives (and expects) students to move straight through the entire undergraduate/graduate education process in the 6-8 years after they finish high-school. Most of the students I worked with with were 24-26 when they graduated with their PhD. Cambridge is just being open about their biases, with most geography departments assuming this is the ideal career path (unlike some other disciplines). "Mature students", students who took serious amounts of time off to travel or work, students who took time off to raise children, all face problems in the hiring process for new Lecturer posts in the UK...after all, virtually everyone on the hiring committee (at Cambridge and elsewhere) went through this system, and the RAE has only made the pressure worse as departments search for young hardworking RAE-active fresh meat. Kris Olds --- Maureen Williams <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >Initial appointment will be on the University's > Assistant > Lectureship scale (currently £17,775 at age *26* to > £23,256 at age *32*). Further particulars may be > obtained > from Professor A.D. Cliff, Head of Department, > Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, > Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, to whom > applications (10 copies) should be sent by 21 > September > 2001. > > The University of Cambridge is an *equal > opportunities > employer* > > > > One may ask what age has to do with compensation? As > someone returning to > University to undertake doctoral research as > part of a planned > > career change, a statement such as this leaves me > concerned that the longterm > effects of hiring aimed at a particular cohort > are still not being > recognised. Have we learned nothing from the > current retirement crisis in > our departments? > > > > Maureen Williams > > Dept Canadian Heritage > > Ottawa, Canada ===== Kris Olds Department of Geography University of Wisconsin-Madison 550 North Park Street Madison, WI 53706 USA Email: [log in to unmask] _______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca