畑 vs 分野 when referring to an abstract "field"


I know that 畑 can refer to a physical field while 分野 can't, but what is the
nuance when 畑 is used in the abstract sense? For example, what is the
difference between:

  1. 教育の分野 and 教育畑
  2. 言語学の分野 and 言語学畑

Google frequency tells me that the former is more popular by a factor of like
100, but the latter doesn't seem wrong (google exact search of this type will
give hundreds to 10s of thousands of hits from Japanese URLs).




畑 in this sense is a metaphorical expression used in relation to someone's
career. This is an interesting expression in the context of introducing a
person (formally or informally, e.g., 彼には教育畑を30年歩んできた自負がある,
営業畑を渡り歩いて多彩な経験を積んできました). It should be avoided when neutrality and
objectiveness are important (e.g., in Wikipedia).

Besides, when it is intentionally used in contexts that have nothing to do
with personal career, it may sound slightly disrespectful. For example,
言語学畑の人間 basically refers to linguists, but often with a nuance of "someone who
has lived in the field of linguistics long enough to forget other things".
言語学畑の用語 may sound like "(odd) jargon used by linguists" rather than
"linguistic terms".




畑 in this sense is a metaphorical expression used in relation to someone's
career. This is an interesting expression in the context of introducing a
person (formally or informally, e.g., 彼には教育畑を30年歩んできた自負がある,
営業畑を渡り歩いて多彩な経験を積んできました). It should be avoided when neutrality and
objectiveness are important (e.g., in Wikipedia).

Besides, when it is intentionally used in contexts that have nothing to do
with personal career, it may sound slightly disrespectful. For example,
言語学畑の人間 basically refers to linguists, but often with a nuance of "someone who
has lived in the field of linguistics long enough to forget other things".
言語学畑の用語 may sound like "(odd) jargon used by linguists" rather than
"linguistic terms".

