Gatekeeping
The Publishing Industry's Gatekeeping Has Extended to Education
When I was looking at colleges, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to major in. Like most eighteen-year-olds, I had a general idea of what my favorite subject in school was and I knew vaguely what field I’d like to go in, but I didn’t have any of the specifics figured out. I thought, as I toured these schools, that I might major in English, or maybe specifically creative writing, or maybe I’d get an education degree and become an English teacher. Susquehanna University had been on my list for a while—since eighth grade—because I was familiar with their creative writing department and its reputation. I didn’t learn about the publishing and editing department until I was on campus, speaking with the head of the creative writing department. I’d never heard of a publishing and editing major—I didn’t know that was a possibility. I had always figured that anyone in the publishing industry had studied writing, English, business, some combination, or another related field.
Why had nobody ever told me that I could get a degree in publishing and editing? The truth is, not many people do know that it's an option. Still to this day, when people ask me what I’m studying at university and I tell them that one of my majors is publishing and editing, they seem surprised. I didn’t know you could do that, someone said once. I couldn’t help but tell them, honestly, that I hadn’t known, either. Somehow, this major and career path has been gatekept. Ironic.
Susquehanna University is ranked as one of the top ten publishing colleges in the country. That sounds great on paper. While the publishing and editing department at Susquehanna is certainly not one to be called bad, it’s far from perfect. Publishing and editing was not always offered as a major. Though the creative writing department has long been a staple of the campus, publishing and editing was only offered as a minor until just a few years ago. It was a fairly new major when I was looking at the school. It’s a good program and I’ve taken several publishing and/or editing courses that have taught me valuable information (keep in mind, any information is valuable when you know next-to-nothing about the field you have suddenly dedicated your studies and future career to), but the department itself is more like a cluster of loosely strung together courses and professors trying their best.
Most of the required courses overlap with the creative writing required courses, which is what makes it so easy and so common for students to major in both. Almost every publishing and editing major will tell you that they are also a creative writing major. (I’m not sure it would require a full four years to complete a publishing and editing education at Susquehanna University, even with the general education classes taken into consideration.) There is not a single professor who is only a part of the publishing and editing department; they are all part of another department as well, most commonly the English or business departments. Still, it could be considered a miracle that this program exists in the capacity that it does. On the school’s website, there’s mention of just how rare offering publishing as a major is.
As mentioned before, Susquehanna’s program ranks in the top ten undergraduate publishing programs in the country. That sounds mighty impressive until you scroll down and learn that there are only twenty-seven publishing programs in the United States in total. Rare is not an exaggeration. Sure, the publishing industry is not one that requires specific educational degrees to enter or be a part of, but having studied the field and specifics related to it is most certainly helpful and can give a student an advantage when it comes time to look for a job.
Out of the top ten schools with publishing programs on the aforementioned list, four are public and six are private. While public colleges are government-funded, private colleges survive off tuition payments from their students and other funds. This means that private institutions tend to have higher tuition. Yes, they also tend to offer more financial aid, but they certainly are not cheap before or after any such giving. If you are not someone who can afford to attend a private university, there is a good chance you won’t be able to get a degree in publishing and editing. That still might not be enough. If you really want to get a leg up in the publishing world, the best thing you can do is go to a post-graduate publishing program, like the six-week summer/fall Columbia publishing course.
I first heard about Columbia’s program in my very first year as a publishing and editing student. You have two options: the New York course or the Oxford, UK course. Of course, the New York course costs an additional $10,000 and the Oxford course costs about $9,000 (not to mention air fare, etc.) on top of what you’ve already paid for your bachelor’s degree. But the connections! It’s all worth it to make the connections, they’ll tell you. You need them if you want to work in publishing and editing, and it seems like you’re one of the few people who do.
The publishing industry is so vast and so dominant, yet it’s one of the most gatekept and inaccessible industries to break into, even from an educational standpoint. Why is it so difficult for young people to learn about the industry and get their foot in the door? You have to know who to ask, where to look. You have to have the money to attend these colleges and be a part of these programs. Inaccessible education is one of the many things enhancing the publishing industry’s class issues—the lack of working-class voices and participants and the general culture of the genteel. If you fork over a big load of money (because you have plenty), read all of the classics (because they’ll shove those down your throat), and make connections with all the right people, you might just make it into a publishing house where you can make $40,000 a year in New York City!
Megan Kelly (’23) is a creative writing, publishing and editing double major from Susquehanna University’s graduating class of 2023. Born and raised in Bel Air, Maryland, Megan has two older siblings, two supportive parents, and one adorable dog. She is the only one in her family to pursue a Bachelor of Arts while the others found a home in the sciences, though they champion her on her creative journey. She plans to use her background in the arts to infuse creativity and critical thinking in every role she has throughout her career.