Ah, and another screen that firms use for potential employees turns to mush.<p>It's a really interesting situation to think about. If these foreigners (from places with much less opportunity) are able to produce work of this caliber (while the students paying for them are either unable or unwilling), it makes one wonder whether those foreigners should be in the students' places. For a long time, one's success was more a function of where one was lucky enough to be located rather than one's ability. Manufacturing workers in America would be paid better than skilled labor in less fortunate areas. However, that seems to be breaking down as advances in communication and transportation tear down the old barriers.<p>I can't imagine this situation staying indefinitely - those writing the essays must know that they are getting a pittance in return for the gains they're helping the students achieve. How long will people accept being outsourced to while others realise the gains of their hard work? That sounded a lot more "the people will rise up" than I meant. Like, it's one thing to be offered less than the value of your production - corporations won't take the risk of us not producing value without that and we, in exchange, get guaranteed revenue. It's a fine situation and I'm personally happy to have the stability. However, in this case the students getting their degrees are potentially gaining a few million in lifetime earnings and these essay writers are getting a paltry $2-3 per page. Sooner or later, more of the people with these skills will want to compete with those students - given the chance.
I don't understand how somebody could actually hand in a PhD dissertation from one of these places. Are there really schools where nobody would be suspicious that the student hadn't been working on this particular dissertation before they handed in the final version?
I cringed when I saw a quote by a student at my undergrad university. Not sure why anyone would respond to a reporter's inquiry on such a controversial topic that could get you expelled from school.
It's useless to fight this trend. Schools need to recognize the need for change. They can:<p>1) Understand that outsourcing this way is an important skill and start training for it.<p>2) Teach subjects that are so damn engaging that students actually want to learn them.
I suspect that these are the operations that are causing my trouble with Google. I am punished yet they get through!<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=534249" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=534249</a>