Doctorate
The Ph.D., an adaptation of the medieval doctorate, is the highest academic certification available to students but is rife with opportunity for failure and disillusionment. Even as the number of Ph.D. candidates grows, job opportunities shrink as positions are filled faster than they are vacated. For many fields the outlook is grim for a Ph.D. and many recent doctorates are forced to work for the private sector. Despite having achieved a level of knowledge sufficient to earn the title of doctor industry is not keen on seeking Ph.D. holders for employment, leaving some with no choice but a part-time position as adjunct professor. Those weighing the difference between graduate school and doctoral nomination will do well to take heed of these bits of advice. Those set in pursuing a doctorate or simply curious as to what the title really entails will find the costs, both financial and personal, are incongruous with the benefit. No matter what your stance on the Ph.D. there are many different ways of looking at this distinguished degree.
Overview of the PhD
The first doctorate can be traced back to a quasi-law degree from medieval Islam, but the true "Doctor of Philosophy" emerged in some of the early universities in Europe in the 12th century, encompassing any subject that was not law, theology, or medicine. Friedrich Wilhelm University awarded the degree to students who had defended long works of original research, such as dissertations, in the 1800s and Yale followed suit in the U.S. During the 20th century, the PhD became the highest possible degree that could be earned and saw widespread adoption in other English speaking countries.
The PhD ExperienceUniversity of California San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Mihir Bellare
Pursuing a PhD is a big decision. If you decide to enter graduate school, make sure you have a clear reason or goal in mind and that you're aware of the kind of work that will occupy your time. In particular, keep in mind that earning a doctorate is incremental. Rather than focusing on the thesis or dissertation that comes at the end, concentrate on individual projects and having something to show for yourself, research-wise, during most meetings with your committee. When conducting research, have a clear goal in mind and visualize how you might approach a problem, and then build from the work other researchers have done by trying to understand the processes they went through as you read their publications. You can measure your progress through your publications and by developing a healthy relationship with your adviser.
Graduate school at the PhD level is much more individualized than earlier stages of college, which requires a lot of self-motivation. Students will be expected to create a plan of study, specialize in a specific subject within their field, divide their time between research (ultimately leading to a dissertation), classes, and regular assessments, and gaining important experiences as teachers, grant writers, and contributors to academic publications. Because study in a PhD program is so specialized, you will want to make sure that you find a graduate program that carries weight in your field. This takes some research, as the default Ivy League schools do not always excel in your particular subject.
Masters versus PhD Psychology Today, Laura Buffardi, 2011
The main differences between masters students and PhD students are the expectations that universities have for each. Fundamentally, masters students provide cheap labor as teachers of undergraduates and teaching assistants, but also serve as representatives of their universities when they go out into the workplace. PhD students are a bigger investment. Besides offering the same teaching duties, PhD students also conduct research and assist professors directly. Before making a decision between the two, it's critical that you know exactly what career path you have in mind before investing the time and money that graduate school requires. Don't, however, pursue an advanced degree just to impress people or because your friends and family bullied you into it.
Master's degrees are better suited to students who are interested in entering the working world immediately, while PhDs, about 50 percent of the time, will lead to a life of research, publication, and education, but the decision ultimately rests on what kind of lifestyle most motivates students. In other words, prospective graduate students should not let others make the choice for them. Neither degree necessarily offers more opportunity than the other. Many industries, even in the sciences, cater to graduates from masters programs, so students should not be 100 percent focused on the job that waits at the end of their degree programs. Instead, graduate school should be seen as a valuable life experience in and of itself.
If all knowledge everywhere could be envisioned as a circle, and a student is at the center of the circle, graduate students, who must specialize in a specific field, start to take a direct path toward the edge of the circle. At the point when they reach the edge (the limit of human knowledge), they earn a PhD. This is one way of thinking about the original research that goes into a doctorate. A dissertation and the research that leads up to it expands the limit of understanding by reaching the boundary of human understanding.
Why Get a PhD?University of Michigan, Jay L. Lemke
Because it's easy to seek a PhD for the wrong reason, make sure you enter graduate school with the right frame of mind. For the most part, people pursue PhDs because they must, not for status or confidence. Although a student may be an excellent researcher, it is difficult to draw the positive attention of other researchers without a doctorate, even though many of these scholars may themselves be mediocre. Moreover, a PhD is usually required to gain a full-time faculty position at a university, to conduct research and be paid for it, and to work in an administrative position in the research divisions of the private sector.
Agricultural Science
The Last of the American Ag EconomistsUniversity of Georgia Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, J. E. Epperson, 2009
Universities in the past few years have found it increasingly difficult to attract students in the combined fields of agriculture and economics. The primary concern of prospective students who are considering this interdisciplinary track is the low starting salary. which fails to help students efficiently compensate for their grad school expenses. The solution is fundamental changes in hiring practices in the government and industry. Students are also wary of the need to move anywhere in the world for job placement and the requirement of attending an institution in the Midwest.
Students pursuing advanced degrees in Food Science not only hail from poultry science, horticulture, and other agricultural sciences, but also more traditional sciences, such as microbiology, chemistry, and nutrition. Students from any of these backgrounds can create plans of study and prepare for careers as scholars or as experts employed by various food industries, such as bioprocessing.
Although an agricultural scientist can usually gain employment with a bachelor's degree alone, a PhD is required for administrative positions in research teams and faculty positions at universities. Any kind of agricultural scientist, however, may require certification, which is offered at institutions like the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America. Experience can compensate for the lack of a PhD in the fields of agronomy, soil science, and crop advising. Graduates from PhD programs require the least amount of hands-on work before becoming certified.
Why a SUSAG Degree?Iowa State University Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture, 2010
We can no longer afford to see farming and the environment as separate disciplines. Thus, graduate programs in sustainable agriculture exist to produce experts who can balance environmentalism, consumer-conscious food costs, the prosperity of farmers, and public nutrition all at the same time. Iowa provides an ideal place to pursue an advanced degree in this subject due to its long history of progressive farming education. Graduate students can expect to take courses from multiple departments and draw upon several different fields in order to conduct research in issues as diverse as organic agriculture and agroecosystems. Graduates can move to jobs as professional consultants for farms that are seeking a transition into more cutting-edge practices.
ACCI, or the African Centre for Crop Improvement, produces PhD students who work throughout the continent to maximize crop yields in order to meet African countries' demand for food. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa supports students after graduation and encourages them to remain in Africa. This is important due to the uncertainty of funding for African scientists and the low number of experts: out of every one million Africans, there are 70 researchers, while the number in North American exceeds 2,500 per million. Also, a much lower proportion of these researchers have PhDs compared to other countries.
Arts and Humanities
The vast majority of humanities PhD students want to become professors but there are fewer positions available than there are graduates, leading to hearsay about workers with doctorates working entry-level positions with little pay. A recent study shows that the future of humanities graduates with PhDs is much more complex, however. The extremely long period that most PhD students take to acquire their degrees, often over 10 years, mean that while many of them do not secure tenure-track positions they do become accustomed to life in a university setting and often never leave: working as adjunct faculty at different universities. They may also enter the private sector, taking on jobs in business that rely on their unique skill set, such as writing and editing.
The poor economy of the late 2000s is especially grim news for humanities PhD students who are graduating. Universities are inundated with applicants, and yet have slowed down the rate at which they hire new faculty as older professors, also hit hard by the recession, can't afford to retire. This news is dissuading many undergraduates from starting grad school as fellowships and scholarships shrink and institutions turn a blind eye to students with poor employment prospects. Moreover, these dire circumstances are leading PhD graduates to give up the job search in favor of temporary positions as low-level adjunct instructors.
Undergraduates who are contemplating grad school should not necessarily listen to professors who are too overeager recommend the PhD route. Jobs for tenured faculty are scarce, retirements are not clearing the way for new blood, and even extremely talented and hardworking graduates who hold doctorates are working in part-time positions without benefits. Young students are pumped full of idealism and misconceptions about the working world in grad school and then find themselves in their 30s and ridden with with debt and few employable skills. In general, students should only attend graduate school if they are already wealthy and can afford to not work for long periods of time, have a great many connections in the world of academia, or already have a job and simply need a graduate degree for a promotion.
Artists typically struggle to sustain themselves financially on their art alone, and so an advanced degree in studio art can be a great way to make oneself more attractive in the working world. However, the new phenomenon of PhDs in studio art only exacerbate a problem that began with MFAs in the same subject: the art community is becoming an increasingly cloistered group whose focus is primary on itself. Academic art is not necessarily a reaction against norms in mainstream society, which has been one of the definitive roles of fine arts.
Graduate Study in PhilosophyUniversity of California San Diego Department of Philosophy, David O. Brink, 2006
If you're interested in pursuing an advanced degree in philosophy, a PhD is absolutely required for job placement. However, once you've accepted that philosophy is not a lucrative field and that the job prospects are less than spectacular, pursuing a doctorate in the discipline can be an intellectually rewarding endeavor. Students can expect a program that lasts between five and eight years (only some of which is occupied with classroom learning), requires that one writes a thesis, and provides exams during the application period. After you receive your PhD, be prepared to go anywhere for a job as there are more graduates than there are available positions, especially since the jobs are almost exclusively limited to higher education.
Engineering
Some major changes need to take place in engineering PhD programs, as indicated by statistics. For example, less than half of all PhDs awarded go to U.S. citizens and nearly 1/3 of graduates from PhD programs end up working in university settings. The number of engineering PhDs awarded in both Europe and Asia exceed those awarded in the U.S. and, after a certain period of time, master's graduates in engineering make more than PhD graduates. PhD programs should prepare students to meet the demands of the industries that hire them, including good communication, applicability of conceptual knowledge, a practical view of the big picture, even when working in a sub-specialty, and so on.
Between the 1960s and the 2000s there has been a major change in the racial and gender makeup of engineering PhD students. Nearly 40 percent of graduates from doctoral programs in the field were international students and nearly a quarter were women in 2000, and the number of minority students tripled since the 1960s, although the figure is still less than 10 percent. The allure of U.S. PhD programs for foreign-born students is their value compared to the equivalent in many of their home countries. The other reason for the shift in demographics is the rise of smaller, less prohibitive engineering schools that offer an alternative to the PhD programs of big name institutions, which have been traditionally dominated by white men.
There have been major changes in the demographics of engineering PhD programs in the past few decades, but a recent Survey of Earned Doctorates reveals interesting trends in where these students earned their undergraduate degrees. Primarily, the number of PhD students in prestigious doctorate-level engineering programs, such as those offered by Cornell, Berkeley, and MIT, who hail from undergraduate programs at similarly well-respected institutions has changed considerably. Graduating PhD students come from any number of schools, many of them small, relatively new universities or colleges from outside the U.S.
While there is no data to contradict the notion that PhD candidates earn their undergraduate degrees from leading institutions, a large number also hail from small institutions that do not bear a major reputation nationally. In fact the National Science Foundation reports that, altogether, liberal arts colleges produce more graduates who move on to pursue science and engineering doctorates than other kinds of institutions. The reasons for this may be that liberal arts schools tend to produce highly-motivated students who are interested in subjects for their own sake and whose research interests have been nurtured by more attentive faculty than in large research universities. Also, undergraduates fulfill many of the same roles (interns, assistants, etc.) at liberal arts colleges as grad students in larger institutions.
Gareth Moore recounts his experience of pursuing a mechanical engineering doctorate while working at the same time. He began with a Master of Engineering degree and was then granted a "sponsored" PhD by Rolls-Royce, who provides hands-on experience with already-established engineers working on passenger aircraft turbines. Moore spends equal time in his "apprenticeship" and in a university setting, the vast majority of his work comprised of individualized research and study.
Health Sciences
PhD FAQsVillanova University College of Nursing
A PhD is not required to become a nurse, so many students have questions about why a student would pursue such a high-level degree. PhDs are for nurses who are interested in working in academic and research settings and/or teaching. These positions are available in corporations, medical facilities, universities, and private practice, and the demand is high. In particular, there is a great need of nursing professors. Students can expect to spend 2 to 3 years in a PhD program and perhaps a few more working on their dissertations. Throughout this experience, they will have the opportunity to conduct research on health topics of their choosing, with the limitation that these projects may be collaborative.
Nurses interested in attaining doctorates choose between two main paths: practice and research. The research route typically leads to a PhD while the practice route is a special, newer degree called a Doctor of Nursing. Both focuses require years of directed study, but the former is more theoretical and emphasizes expanding the body of knowledge in the academic field of nursing. The latter conducts research with the goal of finding practical applications in clinical settings. Doctorate programs in general are an expansion of the traditional Master of Science in Nursing degree, created to meet the increased need for educated researchers and nursing faculty. Students in such programs can expect to gain a firm understanding of the scientific, technological, and legal foundations of nursing practice, hands-on experience, and an understanding of widespread issues in nursing, such as public health.
Why Pursue an MD-PhD?The Association of American Medical Colleges
The MD-PhD option is for doctors who want to spend most of their time in research laboratories rather than in clinical settings. Graduates from these programs make important innovations in treatments and expand the corpus of medical literature, an endeavor that became gradually institutionalized after the 1960s, during which physicians often had to find novel solutions to patient ailments through individual research. The MD-PhD represents an official merger between medicine and science in order to professionalize the search for new treatments.
Students enrolled in Harvard's Health Policy program can either pursue a PhD by itself or a PhD combined with a Juris Doctor or MD. Health policy is a scholarly discipline that is most appropriate for grad students who have an interest in the research and development divisions of companies, or professorships at universities. Completion of the program typically takes between 4.5 and 5 years, and participants have a choice between writing a full dissertation or writing three separate academic papers.
Before You ApplyAssociation of Schools of Public Health
Attending graduate school in public health is a great decision, but be aware of a few considerations before you get started. First, there are advantages to attending a school accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, namely the availability of the Certified in Public Health exam. Graduate students in public health can also expect to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and perhaps an additional, more specialized, test. After that, a selection of specialty should influence one's choice of school. Biostatistics, health policy, and environmental health sciences are just some of the sub-disciplines encompassed by public health. Finally, graduates with advanced degrees can look forward to jobs as educators, researchers, healthcare administrators, and so on.
Science
The key to enjoying, and succeeding at, a PhD program in the sciences is motivation. Students who enjoy losing themselves in research questions are far more likely to get something out of the experience than students who simply enter graduate school because it's the "default" option or because of peer pressure. A great way to know whether or not you have the interest level to finish a PhD program is to gain experience doing research and see how much you enjoy it. Undergraduates can take on jobs as research assistants or simply thumb through scientific journals to get some perspective. Although aptitude and intelligence go a long way, enthusiasm is what carries students through the hardships -- stress, unexpected setbacks, etc. -- of the PhD experience.
Just as biology contains a large number of sub-fields (microbiology, botany, etc.), so too does the discipline offer a huge array of opportunities for graduate students. To enter graduate school at the doctorate level, applicants should expect to take an oral exam. Once accepted, students will spend most of their 4 to 7-year program conducting research rather than taking classes, but will have privileged access to facilities and samples. This research should ideally lead to a dissertation in a field that expands the knowledge of biology in some way, which must be defended before a committee. While most students get this far, many drop out due to the sometimes overwhelming workload, a lack of enthusiasm, and/or the high failure rate of experiments. However, after graduating, PhD students can expect a starting salary of around $60,000 which can approach six figures after 15 years or so.
Prospective students to PhD programs in the sciences should emphasize their worth as researchers. Because institutions invest a great deal of money in their PhD students, mostly in the form of tuition waivers, they select candidates based on their potential to contribute as research assistants. This model differs substantially from other advanced degrees, such as MBAs and JDs, because the PhD student is a paid position. Recruiters from top research institutions care about your research credentials to the exclusion of almost all other factors, including GRE scores, prior grades, and extracurricular activities. Publications and experience in research groups are good examples of the kind of credentials that will be expected.
Working as a scientist is a dream come true for students who love research, but most never make it that far. Part of the problem is universities not preparing students adequately for the demands of a PhD program. Students should expect to: 1) take ownership of their projects and the direction of their research rather than simply doing what their advisers tell them, 2) enjoy their particular science well enough that they don't mind working on it at all times, 3) exercise excellent time management and plan their projects carefully, 4) keep an eye on the big picture, understanding the larger context of their work, and 5) be strong writers.
PhD graduates 2007-2008 physics departments were the subject of several surveys by the American Institute of Physics, the most recent of which shows some trends in their early-career employment. The study finds that over half find themselves in temporary positions, while about 33 percent were accepted in careers that could lead to permanent jobs. The rest are either unemployed or in other temporary positions, while graduates who left the U.S. were not surveyed. Institutes of higher education employ the majority of the recent PhDs, followed by the private sector. Of those on track to obtaining permanent positions, one third are actually employed in physics while nearly half work in other disciplines, the largest share of which is engineering at 17 percent.
Computer Science
Graduate school in computer science can go much more smoothly for new students if they ask themselves some important questions and watch out for some pitfalls early on. For example, you should have a clear reason why you are seeking a PhD (the M.S. is a more lucrative option) and avoid it if you don't have one. You should also understand that the politics and greed inherent to the business world are very much present within universities and that you will be expected to do a great deal of self-directed research on your own without anyone holding your hand or directly guiding you. In general, hard work and self-discipline are more important than intelligence, and can make a huge difference in how long a program takes. Most of all, listen to people who have gone through the process.
There are four main considerations in applying for a doctorate-level program in computer science. First, you should make sure you know what to expect. Unlike in undergraduate studies, classwork does not constitute the majority of a student's work in C.S. PhD programs. Research does. Once you understand what you are getting into, the next step is the application. Transcripts, GRE scores, personal statements, and letters of recommendations from professors who can write something substantial about your performance should be gathered and sent to around six or seven graduate programs at various levels. The programs should have faculty that you respect and work in the particular sub-field that you're interested in. They should also provide you with apt peers who keep your standards high. Finally, for obvious financial reasons, you should always try for a fellowship.
In 2010, Facebook offered fellowships for PhD students in computer science to conduct research directly applicable to the company. The 9-month stipend was $30,000, plus additional travel expenses for conferences and other events. Data mining, search algorithms, and other topics all fall under the scope of the program. Although limited to 2010, there is a strong possibility of future fellowships. Facebook's stated goal is to build bridges with academic institutions in order to further its own research and development goals.
The Computing Research Association's most recent yearly survey points to two main trends: the total number of PhDs in computer science has risen and more of them than ever are being employed by industry instead of academic institutions. In the 1990s, the low point of new PhDs granted was 800 and since then the number steadily increased to a high of 1,500. This trend is not expected to continue, however, as enrollment figures since the mid-2000s have evened out. Also, the majority of graduates with PhDs are now finding employment outside of universities, which is a reversal of the figures from the mid-1980s and early 1990s. This is largely tied to economic rebounds in IT.
If you are a non-U.S. citizen and applying to a graduate-level computer science program, there are a few guidelines you can follow. One, make sure you have excellent command of English. Graduate-level work requires both presentations and a great deal of writing, and professors who accept new students will not want pupils whose grammar and usage requires constant attention. Second, applicants should know the program they're applying to and mention some of the department's specific research areas in their applications. Third, ensure that your address is ASCII format to differentiate it from spam when you send an application electronically. Finally, consider a potential committee member's workload when applying, as professors do not want responsibility for too many graduate students at the same time. With these considerations in mind, know that the University of California at Santa Cruz is interested in the diversity that international students can bring.
Math
Graduate school can be an uncertain prospect for students interested in mathematics. Some of their concerns include the application process, in which case they can expect to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a qualifying exam, and sometimes have completed some form of hands-on research, such as an internship. Once accepted, the major benchmarks are the oral exams, the selection of an adviser to guide one's individualized studies, the completion of a dissertation, and finally its defense. Luckily, this extended process is usually funded for anyone who is accepted. Three main sectors employ graduates from math PhD programs: universities, the government (especially the National Security Association), and business.
Mathematics education is an in-demand field with some interesting characteristics. For one, a third of all PhD students in math education come from master's programs in mathematics (another third come from mathematics education itself). One third also find employment at the institution in which they are studying and half attain jobs in higher education. The average span of time between earning a 4-year degree in a doctorate was 18 years. Finally, graduate students in math education at the PhD level published nearly 10 works (journal articles, books, reviews, etc.) and nearly 20 conference presentations. In general, there is a shortage of doctorates in this field that needs to be filled.
As you approach graduation with your advanced degree in math, you are likely to be a little overwhelmed. First, you may want to consider researching the job market at the Chronicle of Higher Education, the American Mathematical Society, and Mathjobs.com. When applying for a job, include a cover letter, your CV, transcripts, and a declaration of one's pedagogical outlook and research focus. Once you make it past the initial application, you can expect to visit a campus and will likely undergo an interview and presentations. This is an important time to gauge the amount of teaching that is required, the level of the students, and the teaching philosophy of the institution.
The selection of a PhD-granting program in mathematics must take into account a student's interests and ambitions. The publication "Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change" provides a directory of institutions, of which the mathematics programs are herein grouped. Group I includes those that are simply the highest ranked, including Rutgers, Purdue, Berkeley, Harvard, Duke, and so on. Group II includes universities in the middle-range, including Auburn, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt. Group III comprises all the rest. Further categories include Group IV, which comprises departments of associated fields, such as statistics and biometrics, and Group Va, make up of the affiliated programs of "Applied Mathematics," "Mathematical Sciences," "Engineering and Mathematics," and so on.
Undergraduates who are considering a PhD in math must understand the difficulty and hard work involved in the process. Courses are extremely challenging and are followed up by examinations that serve as a primer for an additional two years of directed research. Students should be prepared for this rigor even before applying and should know well in advance that a PhD is the right decision for them. They should also seek out the more challenging programs, as their difficulty is often indicative of quality. (This can also apply to faculty who serve as graduate students' advisers.) Sources like PhDs.org, the Mathematical Genealogy Project, and the NSF Award Search can help prospective students make these decisions. During your search, prioritize the prestige of the program and the quality of faculty even above considerations of sub-specialty.
Social Sciences
Students entering PhD programs in the social sciences have some needless misconceptions. For example, PhD students are not geniuses and usually don't make revolutionary innovations in their fields before graduating. Furthermore, writing is a skill of primary, not secondary, importance. You will be much better off by setting realistic standards for yourself (the dissertation, for instance, does not have to be a work of brilliance) and understanding that hard work and other practical skills are of paramount importance. Some advice for enjoying a PhD program is to build a healthy, professional rapport with your adviser, develop a clear set of research goals that can lead to a thesis/dissertation with a focus on the big picture instead of the details, and have a clear reason in your head as to why you want a doctorate.
A PhD in psychology requires that students make some important decisions early on. First and foremost, you have to decide what setting you want to work in, which is determined by three main paths: clinical practice, industry, and research/education. This decision is further complicated by the sub-field of psychology that best describes your research interests. Social psychology, for example, is very different from counseling and cognitive psychology. The program itself may take as many as six years to complete after your undergraduate work is finished, and involve hands-on internships, individually-directed research, and courses about research methods.
The Center for Research and Innovation in Graduate Education reports that political science PhDs, somewhat contrasting with the PhDs in other fields involved in the "Ph.D.'s Ten Years Later" study, have taken advantage of their traditional affiliation with the non-academic sector. Even though most graduating PhDs did seek employment on college campuses, those who specialized in comparative politics, public administration, and other sub-fields had a tradition of employment outside university settings to fall back on. In other words, political science doctoral graduates have fared better than those in the humanities.
Whether you're interested in socio-cultural, archaeological, linguistic, or biological anthropology, you will likely have some questions and concerns before committing to a program. First, if you're interested in the PhD option, know that it requires, on average, eight and a half years of study beyond the bachelor's degree level, that finding financial aid is easier, and that a doctorate should not be pursued for job placement alone. During your undergraduate years, you can get a feel for the kind of work you will be doing in grad school by attending conferences and pursuing internships. As graduation approaches, start looking for a proper graduate program by researching both the anthropology departments of universities and, because anthropology is interdisciplinary, the affiliated departments as well. Finally, prepare your statement of intent and secure letters of recommendation from professors who are truly familiar with your work.
Graduate work in sociology readies students for jobs in education, business, law, social work, and other fields, but the decision between a master's degree or a PhD can have a major impact on your future. In particular, a PhD program in sociology requires between 4 and 5 years (less if you begin with a master's degree) and is meant to produce graduates who are capable of conducting original research. The doctorate is required for faculty positions at major research universities, although not necessarily at smaller, 2-year colleges. There are hundreds of graduate-level sociology programs in the U.S., so your professors, your sub-specialty of interest, and the American Sociological Association's Guide to Graduate Departments of Sociology can help guide your decision. Researching, or even visiting, the departments and taking the GRE (there is a sociology subject test) are good ways to prepare for your graduate career.
Issues with the PhD
The results of the "Survey of Earned Doctorates," which studied over 9,000 grad students in more than 20 different institutions, helped to provide some insight into why students tend to drop out of graduate programs before finishing. In particular, about a third of these students had insufficient guidance from an adviser and, in the social sciences and humanities, had little interaction with professors in general. This gap between graduate students and faculty was especially pronounced among minority students as well. African American and Latinos fell behind Whites and Asians and were given fewer opportunities, such as internships. Distinguishing between mentors and "advisers," which is only an official position, helped uncover the social disconnection that leads many students to quit.
All but 5 percent of graduate students in the U.K. revealed that proper supervision and guidance from an adviser is the most pivotal influence on their success in grad school. Of all the complaints made by postgraduates, lack of interest, involvement, or understanding by supervisory professors was one of the most common. This reached a head in the late 90s when several doctoral students filed lawsuits against their host universities for failing to provide proper supervision. Although this has led to greater accountability in the U.K., there are a number of steps that you can take to ensure that their studies are guided professionally. Prepare topics and questions whenever you have a meeting with your adviser, schedule meetings in advance so that they are sure to occur, keep relationships with professors professional, and act as a record-keeper in all your encounters with advisers so that you both stayed focused.
In general, the number of PhDs being awarded is increasing, and while this bodes well for research and development across a number of industries, the quality of PhDs may weaken and the arduous process of attaining one may disenchant many of the most-needed innovators before they even finish. Some solutions are to provide incentives for PhD students in the fields where research is most needed and to add career-focused components, such as meetings with industry leaders, to graduate programs in order to give the theoretical and esoteric challenges of university life a bit more purpose.
Producing as many PhD graduates as possible is the default approach of many graduate programs, but the horrible job market in psychology and related fields means that universities need to rethink their impetus for doing so. Specifically, fewer students should be accepted into PhD programs. Even extremely bright and qualified applicants who hail from respected schools are struggling to find work as the number of graduates outpaces the available positions in the working world. By accepting fewer new students, and in some cases accepting no new students, professors can do their part in preventing young professionals from being misled into a dark future.
Even though most people understand a PhD to be the highest attainable degree at most universities in most subjects, its actual definition changes from country to country and from time to time. In the U.K., for example, theses have come to be individual scientific papers rather than book-length dissertations and more emphasis has been put on research experience. In the U.S., there is more focus on classwork and hands-on experience and in Germany an intermediate diploma is necessary before moving on to PhD work. Elsewhere in the world, the requirements can be quite mixed. Finally, the emphasis on collaborative research has made the concept of original work by an individual (the thesis or dissertation) somewhat outdated, and yet many scientific teams are plagued by weak members who can increasingly "coast" through PhD programs. More rigorous definitions of what the PhD means are required.
The PhD FactoryNature, David Cyranoski et al., 2011
Trends in selected countries show how the massive increase in the number of PhDs in the past decade is not necessarily to the benefit of either the graduates or the industries that demand them. In Japan, for example, the number of graduates from PhD programs far exceeds the number of positions that are appropriate for workers of that level of education. In China, the production of PhDs is the fastest, but poor oversight means that many of these graduates are far less qualified than their credentials imply. Finally, the United States's problem is similar to Japan's, with far more PhDs than there are available positions. Only in Germany is there good news. After major reforms, the country has turned the PhD into a much more career-focused degree that resembles apprenticeship.
Studies show that many PhD programs in the U.S. are too cloistered from other fields and from industry, limiting the flexibility and employabilty of graduates, both in academic and corporate settings. Graduates have responded by forming unions and drawing attention to the weaknesses in graduate programs, even those at prestigious universities, such as Berkeley and Yale. There is, however, optimism that their concerns will make American universities more outwardly focused.
The rising number of PhDs is hampered by fears of decreased standards among professors. Some of the problems include dissertations that no longer contribute fresh innovations to their fields, students who see PhDs as products that they paid for, the increased enrollment of non-native speakers of English who diminish the quality of written scholarship, and an inundation of new students, which leads to less individual attention from advisers. Many of these issues stem from a motive on the part of many institutions to make money from the swelling number of graduate students, which unfortunately brings in students who simply aren't prepared for doctorate-level study.
Contrary to recent articles about the uncertain job prospects of PhD graduates, there is no convincing evidence that more PhDs are being produced than there are positions to fill unless one takes a narrow view of what kind of career a graduate should pursue. These articles also gloss over one of the primary motivations for students in these programs: pursuing an advanced degree to secure a job is not, for many, nearly as important as self-improvement and curiosity about a particular subject matter. Articles that depict a gloomy picture of PhD students' future focus on large incomes and conspicuous consumerism as the only meaningful rewards of a doctorate. However, settling for a job that could be acquired without the 10-year devotion required of doctorate-level students is not a failure, as financial superiority to bachelor's and master's students who saved money by avoiding the PhD route is not the end goal of many students. In other words, the pursuit of a doctorate is not always about money.
Earning a doctorate part time is a great way to have the flexibility to explore one's research interest, but it does require some resolve on the part of the student. For one, make sure that your committee sees eye-to-eye with you, as the part-time option may not even be available at your institution, and that they are enthusiastic about your research area. Also make sure that you are extremely motivated about your subject area, as this will be the only way to overcome the fatigue of large workloads. It also helps to make your subject area closely related, if not the same, as your job. Becoming comfortable with publishing in short time frames, funding your PhD program out of your own pocket, and knowing (and using) your strengths are also important for the part-timer.
Resources for PhD Students
Writing Tips for PhD StudentsUniversity of Chicago Graduate School of Business, John H. Cochrane, 2005
There are four main guidelines for writing papers that are intended for academic journals and conferences. Students should: 1) organize their articles by reducing their content down into a single paragraph or other compact form, complete with the expected literature review, body, conclusions, and so on, 2) write economically and implement visual aids, such as graphs, selectively, 3) be explicit in defining the parameters in your empirical methods, and 4) strip your project to the bare necessities when preparing to present your paper at a seminar. Graduate students, even in fields outside the humanities, spend a great deal of time writing and it is a pivotal skill to develop.
PhD students often run into snags when they work on their theses because they went without some practical advice. Anxiety about the length, the open-ended nature of such a project, and the coming defense are some of the first obstacles to overcome. For one, a PhD can accomplish any of a number of goals: expand research, ask new questions, attempt to answer old questions, support an existing outlook, and so on. Students often bite off more than they can chew early in the process and necessarily have to undergo a crisis of confidence before emerging on the other side. The process itself involves gaining a macroscopic understanding of the field, setting a research goal with a clear purpose, reviewing other attempts to fulfill that purpose or other relevant research, writing the thesis, implementing feedback from one's committee, and finally defending it. Along the way, students should take care to avoid research questions that are too sweeping (and other common mistakes) and falling for misconceptions, such as assuming that one's committee knows more about a topic than the student.
Individual stories about life after a PhD and the range of emotions can be some of the best medicine for struggling post-grads in the liberal arts. Graduates who are interviewed convey their experiences about finishing their dissertations, finding a job, applying the lessons learned during their graduate school careers to their current careers (whether these lessons pertained to the content of their field or not), and what tripped them up along the way. Furthermore, topics relevant to PhD students, about the role of the humanities in the working world and changes in how departments are curricula are organized, are explored.
"At Cross Purposes: What the Experiences of Today's Doctoral Students Reveal About Doctoral Education" was a 2001 report that surveyed thousands of graduate students from over two dozen universities, including Rutgers, Princeton, Standford, and Harvard, and compared the expectations in graduate school to the reality of the working world. Traditional university fields were addressed, including English, History, Ecology, Chemistry, and Mathematics. In general, the report concluded that graduate students found PhD programs to be insufficient in preparing them adequately for their careers, nor did they feel prepared for the expectations placed upon them during graduate school itself.
The National Science Foundation has released yearly figures about students in, and graduates from, master's and PhD programs in science and engineering from 1994 to 2008. If read as a timeline, the reports show a general decrease in enrollment from the mid- to late 1990s, except for an increase in the number of women and minorities. This is followed by a rebound in 1999, which is is the beginning of a steady increase in enrollment that continues until the last year in the survey. The exception is international students whose enrollment declined in the early 2000s, but recovered in 2005.
Your questions about applying for, and attending, graduate school are answered by the Princeton Review. In particular, your concerns about funding, the GRE, research, job placement, and the typical teaching requirement are informed by PhD students who were interviewed from multiple institutions in a variety of fields, including art history, English, bioengineering, computer science, and so on. Different subject areas provide different answers. For example, in science and engineering, a student's dissertation is usually on a topic for which the faculty have the proper equipment and funding, while a grad student in the social sciences and humanities can have more self-directed research goals.
Prospective & Current Students
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