Postgraduate study and paying the bills

My own personal experience has taught me this. Through participation in conferences and study groups, I have been able to share my knowledge with a range of researchers across Australia and (more broadly) the world. My own work has been enhanced immeasurably by the ideas and feedback I have received from many of these researchers, as well as by the constant intellectual and moral support that I have received from my thesis supervisors.

Also, thanks largely to the analytical skills developed through my studies, I have come to accept that social problems are never “black and white”. There is no easy or straightforward answer to resolving the economic burden placed on students at any level. Money simply doesn’t grow on trees. Anyone who has studied or worked in the Australian higher education system over the last few decades knows this.

Nevertheless, I cannot help but feel that there is more that can be done to relieve the financial pressures that so many of our future academics and heads of industry currently face.

There are many possible solutions. Universities could look into providing a broader range of living grants and bursaries to postgraduate students facing financial hardship. Universities could also look into providing a range of low-cost student housing options. (This last option would benefit many students in need, regardless of the level at which they are studying.)

Working out just what is to be done is a question for not only postgraduates, but indeed for society as a whole. Because we will all reap the rewards.