A Nigerian professor who makes more money welding
A BBC story about a Nigerian engineering professor who earns more from running a welding workshop than from his academic salary prompts broader reflection on how societies value different kinds of work. Commenters contrast underpaid, often precarious teaching roles with relatively lucrative skilled trades, noting both the physical risks of manual labor and the status stigma many attach to “working with your hands.” The conversation expands to supply-and-demand dynamics, the role of entrepreneurship, and concerns that market wages for educators may be too low to sustain the long-term benefits of a strong academic class.
Pay and career comparisons
- Many note that in the U.S. most instructors are poorly paid adjuncts; trades like welding often out-earn the majority of university teachers.
- Several say this is unsurprising and consistent in other countries; welders and plumbers can be highly paid, especially when skilled or in short supply.
- In the Nigerian case, commenters stress he’s not just a part‑time welder but a small business owner with a long-running workshop, so income reflects entrepreneurship as much as manual skill.
- Some contrast niche academic/technical work that pays poorly (e.g., certain programming languages) with more mundane but high-demand skills (e.g., SQL, trades).
Stigma, status, and parenting expectations
- One thread argues society undervalues “work with one’s hands”; trades are seen as lower-status despite good pay and essential skills.
- Others counter that in some circles (e.g., parts of the Bay Area) trades are viewed as normal and respected, and claims of broad stigma are overstated.
- Multiple comments note that well-off, educated parents rarely encourage kids into trades, even for non-academic children, reflecting perceived risk and status concerns.
- Stronger stigma is reported in some European countries and India, where manual work is linked to lower social class.
Nature and risks of trades work
- Welding and similar trades are praised as satisfying, tangible, and “cool,” but also described as physically demanding, injury-prone, and hard on back, knees, lungs, and hearing.
- Desk jobs are called unhealthy in different ways, but many parents still prefer them for their children due to lower acute physical risk.
Academia’s incentives and social role
- Several posts lament that skilled teachers and professors leave for better-paying work (including Costco), calling it socially wasteful.
- Others respond that universities over-expanded, the academic class may be too large, and market pay simply reflects limited demand.
- There’s debate over how much “high-quality teaching” actually affects outcomes; some cite research suggesting student factors dominate, others insist great teachers have large long-term impacts that are hard to measure.
- Many point out professors are selected and rewarded primarily for research, not teaching quality.
Automation, onshoring, and future of trades
- Some argue re‑onshoring manufacturing and the limits of AI/LLMs in physical tasks will keep trades in high demand; others note welding robots already exist and are improving for complex work.
Global and distributional issues
- Supply–demand examples (e.g., doctors vs engineers, Egypt’s doctor turned papyrus seller) illustrate how pay is often decoupled from training length or social value.
- Commenters debate “free market” fairness, wealth concentration, and alternatives like market socialism and worker cooperatives.
- In weaker-currency countries, people are portrayed as needing multiple hustles (like the professor’s workshop) and sometimes turning to dollars or crypto to preserve value.