alt Hacker NewsIt’s an economic issue. Doing original research is not generating value for the institution, so they wouldn’t get paid. In fact, grad students are lucky they aren’t being asked to pay extra to be provided with research topics and lab time to pursue them. Maybe that’s another step in the monetization of higher education.
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> Doing original research is not generating value for the institution, so they wouldn’t get paid
Literally how grants work.
Once you finish your classes research is all you are doing. What else are you paying for?
If the undergrads are still paying tuition then the economics won't change. They'll just be paying for more practical experience instead of graded homework.
> Doing original research is not generating value for the institution, so they wouldn’t get paid
It is the _main_ activity which "generates value" for an institution, whose primary goal is conducting research.
> grad students are lucky they aren’t being asked to pay extra to be provided with research topics and lab time to pursue them
It depends on the field, but grad student wages in science and engineering are usually much lower than what industry would pay for similar work. Academic research is very cost-effective because most of the work is done by underpaid graduate students.