How to survive a bad university?

October 31, 2019 7:11 AM

I'm trying to earn a Master's degree in architecture in a disastrously bad university. I earned by Bachelors abroad, but now I've returned home and this is the only place I can study in my home country. For various reasons it's not possible for me to go abroad again, but a Master's would really help my career. The program I'm in is run by old, conservative professors who really haven't caught up with the 21st century, use racial slurs in class and express sexist sentiments. A couple of years ago the head of the department said that women should't really pursue a career in architecture. It was in an informal setting, but clearly, he believes this. More nightmare fuel below the fold.

Apart from a toxic environment, the quality of education is just awful. There are no clear study outcomes, many courses have no real content, professors often don't show up for their workshops, the work load is badly distributed, there's chaos everywhere. The general approach is of form and appearances over content and meaning. The students are supposed to jump through confusing, sensless buearocratic hoops and any complaints are readily dismissed. There's a high degree of favoritism, and any resistance to the system is smashed down with straight up ad hominems.

I need a Master's degree to work towards my certificate, but this is driving my crazy. I'm not even expecting to learn anything, I just want to get my damn paper and move on with my life, but at times I feel so helpless and angry, and start to question wether I really need a certificate. My fellow peers are also unsatisfied with how things are run, but they've spent five years in this Kafkaesque nightmare, and they don't have the energy or the courage to stand up for themselves. It's a very depressing environment and I dread going there.

Education isn't too great in other universities in my country either, but this is a whole new level of awful. Sometimes I get into arguments with my professors because I can't take it anymore, but nothing good comes of it. Complaining seems pointless. The head of the department thinks it's the students fault, and the head of the university is of the same ilk. We fill out the surveys at the end of every semester, but nothing changes. I don't think I have the energy to take this to a higher level, whatever that might be.

So, how do I stay sane? Obviously, my relationships with the staff are bad, as I'm seen as an unruly outsider, and just today a professor suggested I should take a year off to calm down, but nothing will change in the meantime, I'll have to power through the toxic sludge anyways.

Would you continue pursuing the degree if you were in my shoes? Is there some magic trick to detach myself from it mentally? I'm doing well career-wise, but I'll have to bury the dream of my own practice if I don't get the degree. I have a bit more than a year left. I'll admit that my personality is ill suited for bowing down to senseless authority, and I would consider therapy to work on that, although I'm sort of sceptical on this specific issue. It's them who need to change for the better.

Any advice, be it practical or otherwise, would be very welcome.

posted by luminary to Human Relations (14 answers total)

Without knowing where you are (and I understand you probably do not want to disclose that) it is hard to offer suggestions regarding alternatives to just slogging through this. Clearly, if you are getting feedback that you should "take a year off to calm down," you are letting your feelings come through, which is not going to endear you to the kinds of people who appear to be running this institution.

Conceivably though, taking a year off would not be a bad idea. You could see whether you could apprentice yourself to a master architect in your country whom you respect. This in turn might give you greater credibility at the school when you return. Or perhaps you could pursue the master's part-time while working.

If that's not possible and you need to stay at the school, consider forming a sanity group together with like-minded students, so that you can freely discuss progressive architectural issues with them rather than with the profs, while just going through the motions with the faculty.
posted by beagle at 7:26 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]

Make tiny tiny steps -- not too time-consuming -- toward your larger dream, starting now. If it's your own practice, start some rudimentary research into the location you want to work, or the kinds of things you want to design. Start to make connections with people, too, either potential clients, partners, or outside resources.

This will keep you focused on the larger version of your life, and make the ridiculousness of your academic environment seem just a bit less important. I'm not saying it isn't important, just that if you focus on something larger or longer-term, the rest will not weigh on you as much.
posted by amtho at 7:27 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]

I do not have experience getting a graduate degree. I did work for a sexist, toxic European company for 3.5 years that felt like the patriarchy personified. (Example: one co-founder introduced himself to me at a trade event by sneaking up behind me and grabbing my hips as I was helping pack up after the event and physically bent over picking up posters off the floor.)

I stayed in that job because I needed it to survive. I had just left my marriage and I needed a job to support my family. It had been hard to get that job and it would have been harder to get a different one. So I took it one day at a time, took walks at lunchtime, made friends at work who agreed that the place sucked, etc.

I'll admit that my personality is ill suited for bowing down to senseless authority, and I would consider therapy to work on that, although I'm sort of sceptical on this specific issue. It's them who need to change for the better.

Dear OP, no one's personality is particularly suited to bowing down to senseless authority. But how you frame your own situation can make it easier or harder for you to complete your degree. If you truly want your own practice and a Master's degree is needed for that, then reframe the situation in a way that helps you meet your goal. Deciding that following stupid requirements is a form of "bowing down to senseless authority" will not help you get what you want.

1. You are not forced to stay in school. You are not forced to put up with bullshit. If you stay, that is a choice you are making so you can open your own practice. That means you are choosing to deal with the situation as it is, not as it should be. That is simply the reality.

2. To stay sane, remember that you don't control how the university operates or what you are required to do. You do have control over how you respond to the situation. You do have control over choosing to do things outside of school that help you feel better. Exercise, friendships, fun activities, etc.

3. If you want to make a difference at that university, make it a project for after you graduate, establish your practice, and get invited back as a guest lecturer or whatever. Yes, you are getting a shitty education. That is not going to change. Only you can change by either dropping out or by fully accepting that you have to survive the discomfort of dealing with jerks to meet your goals.

If you decide to stay, don't become a jerk yourself. Arguing with professors is only going to hurt you now and, potentially, in the future. Do not confuse acceptance (this crappy education is reality) with approval. Going along with the system and the professors as they are doesn't mean you approve, it just means you are being realistic about what you need to build the business and career you want in the future.

It's not going to be easy. But you have stuck it out this long. Consider finishing your degree if you can. If you can't manage that, don't suffer over it. Just leave and make the best career you can. Maybe something wonderful is waiting. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 7:41 AM on October 31, 2019 [23 favorites]

Think of this as a good training ground for dealing with bureaucracy once your career is going, because part of the actual practice is finding ways to get a project through all sorts of reviews. Sometimes it's the dreaded design by committee group or a particular permit insanity or code requirement that you have to accommodate. Think of this as ways of working the system, or gaming the system if that helps you survive.

As a jaded ex-architcture grad student I empathize with your need to explode, but remember that it's not the real world within school that matters the most to you; it's the damn piece of paper that you need. Hugs.
posted by mightshould at 7:50 AM on October 31, 2019 [5 favorites]

Never underestimate the power of cold-calling people with large reputations, in any field. They are often very willing to support a student who has a passion for their field. Try LinkdIn, try websites for email addresses. I have known eminent architects, and they were unfailingly willing to reply to students who contacted them, usually not to form direct mentor relationships, but to offer advice and occasionally the contact information of someone in their office who was willing to carry on some communication. If the school you attend is not too obscure, there will be someone they know who is from your region, and they might well offer that person as a contact. If this occurs, follow it up! You never know who people know, and much of professional life hinges on networking.
posted by citygirl at 7:51 AM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]

It's them who need to change for the better.

And by your own description that is not going to happen. Period.

With only a year left I would suggest you change your view of the staff. They gave up any right to call themselves "authorities" a long while ago — they are now bureaucratic speed bumps on the way to your piece of paper. One does not get out of the car to argue with a speed bump, no matter how badly placed it is. Kicking a speed bump just hurts your foot.

A badly designed road is still frustrating though, so you might want to find a channel to express that — just one that doesn’t leave you with a permanent limp from kicking concrete all the time.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:16 AM on October 31, 2019 [10 favorites]

This sucks. But you seem to see rationally what's going on. If the worst offenders are old men, know they will retire or die soon ... but probably not soon enough for you. If you CAN hold on and get a degree and then...probably another glass ceiling since the power-holders in the profession taught with these old farts or men like them...get a responsible job or partnership, you will start to change the world of this profession in your country.

Hard choice: for you or for the future? It doesn't seem from your description there are any good choices for you now. So keep a bright thought of the future.

Sorry, this comment sucks, too.
posted by tmdonahue at 8:21 AM on October 31, 2019

In order to get your own practice, you need a Master's. And because of your situation, you need it from this institution. So if you want your practice, you're going to have to suck it up.

It's said one can bear almost any burden if one has a clear timeline of when one can put it down. You've got a clear timeline: about a year.

All you need to do is displace/dismiss all your anger and frustration into a small box that you put on a shelf and regularly cathartically, metaphorically, set on fire. Find a therapist to complain to. Make some friends among your cohort who are similarly fed up and start a weekly gripe session. Take up boxing and punch a bag every day until your frustrations are done.

There's an end to the suffering, and when you get there, you can have what you want. Power through it. I believe in you, internet stranger, you can do the thing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:50 AM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm already working in a well-established office with supportive colleagues, and that does help a lot to keep the bigger picture in sight. I'm trying to focus on that as much as possible.

Thank you for your responses thus far.
posted by luminary at 9:02 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]

It may be helpful to think of the program requirements less in terms of what the program should be, but instead as a series of hoops that you need to jump through to obtain the degree you want. I've had a couple of classes where the assignments were profoundly not useful to me, and focusing on fulfilling the requirements with that mentality helped me to focus and make it happen. Of course, I could still complain loudly to friends and family as needed too.
posted by past unusual at 10:58 AM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]

"I'll admit that my personality is ill suited for bowing down to senseless authority, and I would consider therapy to work on that, although I'm sort of sceptical on this specific issue. "

Yeah so hate to break it to you, but this is litterally what being an architect is 95% of the time. It's a customer service job, your whole job is making whimsical clients happy. Even more so if you want to have your own firm. I don't know what to tell you other than, get over this if you want to be an architect.

Finish up the schooling you have left and try to learn something. I promise you have a ton left to learn. Your professors might help guide you, but you can learn with or without them. If you're not learning that's on you.

You actually might not be suited for the industry if you can't figure these two things out. It's a hard career to succeed in, but it is possible if you can thrive without direction and recognize opportunity in every situation.
posted by KMoney at 7:14 PM on October 31, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'd say you have two goals. One is to finish the degree, the other is to change the situation at the university.

As far as goal #2, what is the most effective way to achieve that? Hint: Arguing with professors, lodging complaints, etc, as a student is definitely not it.

So do some thinking about this. If Goal #2 is a real goal that you have, what is and what is not effective in reaching that goal?

When you do that things that you do that are frustrating you and everyone around you, I am guess they are out of frustration in the moment and not really because you think they are effective ways of achieving Goal #2.

Figure out what is really effective on achieving Goal #2, and do the things that are effective while avoiding the things that are ineffective. Hint #2: Anything you do as a student is going to be pretty ineffective. Whereas as a distinguished alumnus--perhaps banding together with other alumni--the situation starts to look quite different.

Hold your tongue as a student--not because you are some sellout coward who doesn't stand up for what you believe, but because you have a real long-term plan for creating real change and you are executing it.
posted by flug at 10:43 PM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]

A lot of architecture programs are like that, and more masters' programs than bachelors' because there is more prestige in being a professor at a masters' program (I know, it makes no sense, just trust me). Back when I graduated, 99% of architecture programs were like that. It was something you had to go through to achieve your goal of becoming an architect. Though some friends of mine just quit and set up office with someone who had the certificate.

The way to handle it is to set up your own plan and adapt it to the circumstances. What do you want to learn in this last year, and what types of artistic development do you want to work with? Use the library and librarian a lot, both for contemporary ideas and for basic knowledge. Write your own briefs over the assignments you are given -- for instance if you are asked to design an office building and document structural properties, make it a sustainable office building, and use the library and internet to find knowledge beyond what the school can offer. Document the properties of a sustainable structure but show the climate solutions as well. Do what you are asked to do, but do it better. Lots and lots of good architects have learnt this way, because like I said, lots and lots of programs are like yours.

Like someone said above, create a study group, where you discuss literature and projects, both your own and international benchmark projects. And ask your boss and/or work colleagues for guidance with your study project, they'll love helping you.

Take care of your mental health. Architecture programs break people down. One architecture school I worked at had double as many depressed or anxiety-ridden students needing therapy as the much bigger neighboring humanities department, in absolute numbers.
When you take ownership of your studies, you will already feel better, but you still need to take walks in nature, listen to music, dance and eat healthy food.

For my final two semesters I had two main projects. The first was an urban planning project, with three friends. We failed because our project was too radical, but were allowed to provide additional documentation over the break, and then we just did what we were asked to do. The faculty hated our project and demolished our models, but then they asked us to recreate them because one of their colleagues had informed them that it was very important. I had contacted that colleague privately, its a long story but I had a sense he would get it, and he did and became a life long mentor.

I'm assuming that you get that all the classes where you go to lectures, read a curriculum and hand in a paper are stuff where you just do the work and don't worry. You just have to pass, not shine. The type of professors you describe are often very clear about how they want those papers done, and it isn't hard, it's a craft. Read, write. There are handbooks for learning how to write academic papers. Use them.

For my thesis project, I wanted to do the first theory-based thesis project at my university (young people: think Deconstructivism). My program insisted I do construction details and descriptions etc. which was quite absurd at that point in time. But it was actually a fair requirement as I see it now, after all, the main issue was certification, and it wasn't a huge problem for me since I already was running my own office with a certified partner. So I designed a house, but spent most of my time developing the theoretical underpinning of the design. I also ended up having a good time with some of the professors, because I began studying fifties architecture, the stuff they had built when they were young. Sadly, the professor who hated me the most was the only youngish woman, I think she resented that I stuck to my own ideas. But after I left, she began building a program based on the ideas I'd worked with. So there..

You can memail me about more specific issues, maybe I have some slides about project management you can use as a guide for owning your studies.
posted by mumimor at 5:21 AM on November 1, 2019 [4 favorites]

In your position, I'd organize a small group of people for an outside study group. Maybe have each person research and present on a new topic every week, or show a film on a relevant topic and discuss, or have everyone read an article and discuss. If you can find even two other people whose interests aren't being reflected in the curriculum of the school and who are similarly passionate, this can go far in making you feel more satisfied and feel like you have more agency in your learning. As for the other stuff, just motor on through and get your piece of paper. But as for the intellectual crux of the matter, it's pretty much always a lonely affair when your passion and interest doesn't match your environment. But autonomous/DIY study can fill in those gaps nicely. Good luck.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 7:29 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]