Are we archaeologists, or are we not? - Questions and responses

Introduction

For any writer, it is a privilege to receive questions and feedback on his/her work. When this happens, the writer needs to be receptive to criticism, and when there are valid points to take on board, they must bravely admit them and adjust their work accordingly. The article titled ‘Are we archaeologists, or are we not?’ triggered an interesting conversation with a fellow academic in Greece, Dr K. Meletsi of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, who produced some valid points and interesting arguments. Although there is not enough space to translate and present my entire communication with Dr Meletsi, which was conducted via email in Greek, I plan to summarise some of her points in relation to the above article and also present my personal responses. Before doing so, I need to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Meletsi for her contribution, for bringing some recent developments to my attention, and for her corrections regarding changes in the existing legislation in Greece.

The arguments

In relation to the recognition of foreign Bachelor’s degrees as valid language certificates for job applications in the Greek public sector, Dr Meletsi pointed out modifications introduced by Presidential Decree 347/03, which had previously slipped my attention. What I find notable about Greek legislation, though, is that the laws, originally voted by the Greek Parliament, are substantially modified by numerous Presidential Decrees issued later, to the point that the original laws are extensively paraphrased. Of course, that does not justify my ignorance, for which I need to apologise. Having studied the modifications to the law, I would like to make two points in response. Firstly, Presidential Decree 347/03 concerns the qualification criteria for job applications in the Greek public sector, but only for permanent positions. Although I have no reason to believe that different criteria apply for temporary positions, such as those advertised in archaeology, I know quite a few foreign university graduates who had their applications recently rejected as they failed to submit translated language certificates. If this was due to a mistake, I am grateful to Dr Meletsi for bringing this issue to attention, so that our colleagues can ask for their applications to be re-evaluated. I personally doubt they will ever be compensated for this mistake, but it is definitely worth trying. Secondly, Presidential Decree 347/03 does not reduce the ‘red tape’ when applying for such jobs; the bureaucratic procedures required for a foreign degree to be validated by DOATAP are still in place, adding extra obstacles for candidates who need to validate it again as a language certificate. To be fair, though, all these points have been taken on board, and my original article has now been modified.

In response to the validity of Greek Bachelor’s degrees in Greece, Dr Meletsi argued against my point that the titles offered by the Greek Open University, from which I graduated in 2008, ARE indeed recognised as valid Bachelor’s degrees by the Greek state. My response to her point was that such Bachelor's degrees are recognised by the Greek state ONLY for vacancies in the Greek public sector. Furthermore, if a Greek public servant, who has been appointed in a permanent position without a degree, manages to acquire an Open University Bachelor’s at a later stage of his/her career, then the Greek public sector recognises this degree as valid and facilitates a salary raise for this public servant to match his/her new qualifications. Again, this does not happen everywhere in the Greek public sector. For example, NO personnel of the Greek Police, the Greek Fire Brigade, or the Greek Armed Forces are entitled to a salary increase after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from the Greek Open University. To me, this distinction is not only unfair but also may undermine the efforts of such personnel to upgrade their qualifications.

The situation in the private sector is even worse. Unfortunately, despite the Student Association's efforts, the Greek state stubbornly refuses to grant professional rights to Open University graduates, leaving them exposed to employers' intentions. Although the Greek state has chartered a long list of rights and special privileges for graduates of conventional universities (e.g., medical personnel, lawyers, journalists, architects, engineers, etc.), graduates of the Open University have been completely ignored. And even when Open University graduates apply to join the chartered institutes of other professional bodies, their applications are usually rejected on the grounds that their degrees lack the same validity as those of conventional universities. On the other hand, it is amusingly hypocritical that graduates of conventional universities seek postgraduate degrees at the Open University rather than upgrading their qualifications at their own chartered institutes.

Going back to the validity of Bachelor’s degrees in the Greek public sector, the vacancies advertised by the Greek government, which supposedly welcome applications from Greek Open University graduates, are extremely limited and do NOT accept all graduates from all Open University Schools. The only case I am aware of (and please forgive my ignorance, as I have been away for a long time) concerns some teaching positions advertised by the Ministry of Education back in 2006. For a newly-introduced module in high-school education, which was titled ‘European Studies’, the Ministry produced a long list of Bachelor’s titles, which were acceptable evidence for teaching this specific module only. This was the first time in the history of the Greek education system when Open University graduates were allowed to apply for teaching positions; however, such applicants could only be the graduates of a single Open University programme, titled ‘Studies in European Civilisation’. Other Open University graduates from the School of Humanities, who had attended programmes such as ‘Studies in Greek Civilisation’ and ‘Spanish Language and Civilisation’, were not allowed to apply for teaching jobs, although there were advertised vacancies for history and foreign language teachers. This distinction allowed the ‘unprivileged’ Open University graduates from the School of Humanities to file a lawsuit against the Ministry, which led nowhere. Again, I am also not entirely sure if the ‘European Studies’ module was finally introduced or withdrawn from high-school education after the following elections.

Dr Meletsi also argued against my point that “the only people who are allowed to work in Greek archaeology are the undergraduates of a single School, holding a bachelor’s degree in archaeology or a joint degree in history and archaeology together”. Furthermore, she disputed my point that Open University graduates are NOT allowed to apply for archaeological vacancies in Greece. In support of her point, Dr. Meletsi forwarded me a recent bulletin of the Greek Government’s Newspaper, and more specifically Issue 41, published in December 2017 (1). According to the bulletin, 62 vacancies were newly advertised in the Greek public sector, 43 of which were for permanent archaeological positions. Dr Meletsi pointed out that the chart of required qualifications, published on pages 1104 and 1105, clearly stated that not only graduates of more than one University School could apply for the jobs, but also that Open University graduates had the same privilege! This revelation surprised me and made me feel uncomfortable with my ignorance of the new criteria for archaeological vacancies in Greece. All of a sudden, I felt I had written an article accusing the system of its stiffness, right at the moment when the system decided to upgrade, abandon the past, modernise, and become more flexible. After reading the bulletin very carefully, I was once again disappointed and emailed my arguments to Dr Meletsi as follows:

Firstly, it is a notable achievement that the archaeological vacancies advertised in the bulletin invite applications from graduates of God-knows-how-many programmes! Personally, I cannot count them because the list's structure is extremely confusing, not to mention the lack of commas and full stops. For one more time, this linguistic incompetence of the people putting together such advertisements makes me wonder what the qualifications of these people are; or, could it be that the list is intentionally produced to be confusing in order to allow various interpretations depending on the ‘occasion’ and the ‘candidate’? The accepted qualifications list is long and this is how it reads in English: “Degree or diploma in Archaeology or History and Archaeology with specialisation or direction in Archaeology or History and Archaeology with direction in Archaeology and history of the Arts or History-Archaeology-Social Anthropology with direction in Archaeology or History, Archaeology and Management of Cultural Resources with direction in Archaeology and Management of Cultural Resources or History-Archaeology-Folklore Studies with direction in Archaeology or Archaeology and Mediterranean Studies with direction in Archaeology-Archaeometry” (2). Is it just me who is not getting it???

Secondly, I pointed out to Dr Meletsi that the advertised archaeological vacancies were for permanent staff with administrative roles within the Ephorates of Antiquities (Εφορείες Αρχαιοτήτων) and the Fund of Archaeological Resources and Expropriations (Ταμείο Αρχαιολογικών Πόρων και Απαλλοτριώσεων). Such vacancies required different criteria than those advertised for temporary staff in supervisory roles for archaeological excavations. In other words, the advertised positions in the bulletin were for broadly archaeological vacancies; therefore, they allowed a broader range of graduates to apply. Again, the expression ‘broader range of graduates’ is ironic. As I pointed out to Dr Meletsi, all these Bachelor’s titles from the confusing list I mentioned earlier are offered by a single Greek University School; therefore, my original argument on professional exclusion in Greek archaeology remains valid.

Thirdly, I admitted to Dr Meletsi that I was surprised to learn that the advertisement indeed stated that graduates of the Greek Open University were allowed to apply for vacancies in archaeology; however, after a closer look, I realised that the way this was stated made participation by Open University graduates completely impossible! In a cunning and insidious game of words, the advertisement stated (under a hidden asterisk below the list of acceptable Bachelor’s degrees) that the Open University certificates needed to mention the same exact programme title (ομώνυμο πτυχίο ή δίπλωμα) as the degrees offered by the ‘one and only’ University School mentioned earlier (3). This would, by definition, have been impossible, as the Open University is still not allowed to produce such titles, at least in the humanities. More specifically, the Greek Open University offers six Bachelor’s programmes, at least until the time of writing of this response: three belong to the School of Humanities and are titled ‘Studies in Greek Civilisation’, ‘Studies in European Civilisation’ and ‘Spanish Language and Civilisation’; two belong to the School of Science and Technology and are titled ‘Studies in Natural Sciences’ and ‘Informatics’; and finally, one belongs to the School of Social Sciences and is titled ‘Management in Businesses and Organisations’ (4). At this point, I am not planning to mention the postgraduate degrees offered by the Greek Open University, as formerly stated in my original article, all postgraduate diplomas from all Schools and Universities across Greece (and abroad) are only regarded as supplementary evidence for applications in the Greek public sector; the only degree that counts is the Bachelor’s. The Bachelor’s degrees offered by the School of Humanities at the Greek Open University do not match any of the degree titles offered by conventional universities; therefore, all applications from Open University Graduates will be rejected.

If this is the case, why would the advertised vacancies welcome applications from Open University graduates? And which ones can actually apply without being immediately rejected? The answer is simple: the only two Greek Open University degrees that carry the same exact names as their equivalents from Conventional Universities are ‘Informatics’ and ‘Management in Businesses and Organisations’. In the above-mentioned job advertisement, graduates of such programmes can apply for other administrative roles associated with the remaining 14 of the 62 positions that are not archaeological.

In its own right, and given the existing climate in the Greek job market, the recognition of Open University degrees by the Greek state must be welcomed as a big step forward. Unfortunately, such recognition only applies to selected degrees. In the humanities, it is clear that there is still no room for Open University graduates; if there ever is, it will be under specific terms and conditions.

Final remarks

I would like to once again thank Dr K. Meletsi for our communication and her suggestions, and also for giving me an opportunity to present the problems encountered by Open University graduates in Greece, particularly in the humanities. I would also like to thank her for raising a valid point: the system in Greece is gradually changing, although the situation within the humanities still requires major steps forward. Personally, I am happy that the Greek Open University is slowly catching up with other conventional institutions in Greece, especially in the recognition of its degrees. Again, to me, this is not enough. The fact that Open University graduates are not welcome to most professional bodies and chartered institutes in Greece is still a problem, leading to their segregation and unequal treatment by employers. Furthermore, the exclusion of many Open University graduates from public sector jobs, achieved through the advertising of positions with unclear, intentionally blurred criteria, only promotes tension among graduates of different Open University Schools.

Finally, I insist that the absence of a true market economy in Greece makes it extremely difficult for any graduates to find jobs in their preferred industries, resulting in greater competition for limited vacancies offered by the public sector and various government organisations. To me, the answer to the problem is not the ‘opening-up’ of this bureaucratic and dysfunctional public sector to more graduates, but the creation of a strong, flexible and productive private sector, which will absorb as many graduates as possible and contribute to national economic growth and development. Unfortunately, the dominance of self-contradictory ideologies in Greek society, and in politics in particular (conservative and socialist alike), which has bloomed since the 1980s, if not from the civil war onwards, does not allow the creation of such a private sector.

Notes

1. The bulletin can be found at:
   http://www.asep.gr/webcenter/content/conn/ucmserver/path/Enterprise Libraries/asep/Competitions/16Κ_2017/comp16Κ_2017.pdf?lve
   If` the bulletin is removed from the Greek Government’s website, the author can provide a PDF copy to readers interested in confirming its content.
2. In the exact words in Greek, which I still fail to understand:
   “Πτυχίο ή δίπλωμα Αρχαιολογίας ή Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας με ειδίκευση ή κατεύθυνση στην Αρχαιολογία ή Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας με κατεύθυνση Αρχαιολογία και Ιστορίας της Τέχνης ή Ιστορίας - Αρχαιολογίας- Κοινωνικής Ανθρωπολογίας με κατεύθυνση Αρχαιολογίας ή Ιστορίας, Αρχαιολογίας και Διαχείρισης Πολιτισμικών Αγαθών με κατεύθυνση Αρχαιολογίας και Διαχείρισης Πολιτισμικών Αγαθών ή Ιστορίας - Αρχαιολογίας - Λαογραφίας με κατεύθυνση Αρχαιολογίας ή Μεσογειακών Σπουδών με κατεύθυνση Αρχαιολογίας – Αρχαιομετρίας”.
3. In the exact words in Greek, found on page 1105 under asterisk one:
   ΑΕΙ ή το ομώνυμο πτυχίο ή δίπλωμα Ελληνικού Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου (Ε.Α.Π) ΑΕΙ ή Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών Επιλογής (Π.Σ.Ε) ΑΕΙ της ημεδαπής ή ισότιμος τίτλος σχολών της ημεδαπής ή αλλοδαπής, αντίστοιχης ειδικότητα.
   As for the foreign degrees that are acceptable for this application, I will repeat what I have already mentioned in my original article: “The tricky part for foreign graduates is that if their title does not translate literally as ‘bachelor’s in History and Archaeology with specialisation in Archaeology’, the Ephorate will reject their application”.
4. More information on the study programmes offered by the Greek Open University can be found at:
   www.eap.gr