Researching the Researchers

Mark Bauerlein has an interesting article that is getting some attention. Called "The Research Bust," it runs some numbers on academic research in English departments. He shows, at least plausibly, that a lot of published research is barely read, even by other professors. He argues that universities shouldn't require so much professorial research - at least in English - and should focus on getting the professors to teach instead.

The unfortunate conclusion is that the overall impact of literary research doesn't come close to justifying the money and effort that goes into it.

I'm curious about how old this argument is. I've been hearing it for decades. Of course, in those decades, the percentage students majoring in English has plummeted.

English should be a popular major.
It may not make you any sager,
but since it's a language you already know,
it ought to be easy to give it a go.