The Rise of the Panic Masters Degree
5th July 2022
The phenomenon of the “panic masters” hasn’t died with the pandemic — if anything, the term is set to become a permanent addition to the student lexicon.
The charge of enrolling in one (also known as a “procrasta-masters”) is being levied at the latest crop of post-grads, generally by unsupportive parents or peers who signed away their twenties to American law firms. As graduation nears, they sneer that “snowflake” students are making last minute applications to MA programmes to keep putting off the day they have to venture out into the “real world”.
This year half a million students will be finishing their undergraduate degrees. But the paths post-pandemic graduates are choosing are markedly different to those of their predecessors. They are opting to stay in education, and they are doing so in droves. The latest data shows a ten per cent increase in postgraduate students, and there are no signs of this changing soon. The “panic masters” are here to stay. I should know, I am doing one.