The disposable academic
Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time

Dec 16th 2010 | from the print edition


ON THE evening before All Saints' Day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. In those days a thesis was simply a position one wanted to argue. Luther, an Augustinian friar, asserted that Christians could not buy their way to heaven. Today a doctoral thesis is both an idea and an account of a period of original research. Writing one is the aim of the hundreds of thousands of students who embark on a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) every year.

In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction to the world of independent research—a kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by an apprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one vary enormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first have to spend two years working on a master's degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend; others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes and examinations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozens of pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can be as young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings.

One thing many PhD students have in common is dissatisfaction. Some describe their work as “slave labour”. Seven-day weeks, ten-hour days, low pay and uncertain prospects are widespread. You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is better decorated than your home and you have a favourite flavour of instant noodle. “It isn't graduate school itself that is discouraging,” says one student, who confesses to rather enjoying the hunt for free pizza. “What's discouraging is realising the end point has been yanked out of reach.”

Whining PhD students are nothing new, but there seem to be genuine problems with the system that produces research doctorates (the practical “professional doctorates” in fields such as law, business and medicine have a more obvious value). There is an oversupply of PhDs. Although a doctorate is designed as training for a job in academia, the number of PhD positions is unrelated to the number of job openings. Meanwhile, business leaders complain about shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. The fiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

AjanleKoko: Nothing wrong with getting a PhD in itself. Just that the whole academic thingy is over-commercialized these days. Degrees are aggressively marketed by top schools, and sold as luxury products. Africans see foreign degrees as a nice route to immigration, and a better life (which it usually is, anyway).

See how the MBA has been packaged as the route to the seven figure salary and the corner office on the top floor. Same way Nigeria has tons of uni graduates, but hardly anybody with vocational skills.

Like most things in the modern world, even education's got an angle, a sales pitch.

obowunmi: You can teach at a Uni without a PhD. All you need is to have connections. Probably for most things in life.

Mustay: First Impression as I read the title "Doing A Phd Is Often A Waste Of Time, Says The Economist" - that's if you're not into academics

again sha, well there's also an oversupply of graduates

Well that's for the academia. For the business world, errm ermm ermm, it's kind of a misnormer (if am permitted to use that word) the way success has been equated with academic progression. I still insist on application - often times, Africans especially are 'bagging' 'em degrees for personal aggrandizement rather than contribution to at least, the nucleus environment. The orientation has been skewed to assume that the higher the degrees, the better the person is (if you knoweth what I mean) - am sorry but e.g. Mr. Olusegun Aganga and his stay as Finance Minister.

Mustay: It's not about starting a career in research, I inferred that PhD involves research - I don't think any Tomiwa, Dickson and Haruna would just "voila", out of a desire to know why x has not been able to produce y just embark on a research - Msc, PhDs are more structured than the former ('formal' approach I'd say).

Mustay: What can I say? Errrrrrmmmmmmmm I see your point but you now went on and on so that what I've gotta say next is "Ye! He yaf finish me with eggsamples"

Anyway, this part "the degree has little or no use in the non-academic public or private sector" has one kind of K-leg o for some of these researches are carried out on practical, 'on-the-work'/ on field basis so it's kind of a contradiction that it's of 'no use'.

AjanleKoko:
PhDs are not for everyone is what I am saying. It represents a symbol of high academic achievement, and should not be bastardized, in my view.

violent:
Phd is never a waste of time, oftentimes, the purpose of obtaining one is what makes the difference. Many people get a Phd simply to strut their shoulders.

AjanleKoko:

That's a lot of pain to endure, just for the privilege of strutting your shoulders

violent:

Well, i have seen people endure much worse pain for the privilege of strutting their shoulders. It's a society thing. The same reason some study for medicine or engineering.

SimonAndal: Bleep whomever wrote this article. I finalised my plans for my M.Sc and Ph.D long before I graduated from secondary school. It might be a "waste of time" to the author whom I suspect was not brilliant enough to be admitted into a program, but it is known the world over that the higher your qualification, the higher your worth.

AjanleKoko:

But you haven't even graduated from bachelors, sir
I've seen a couple of posts where you said you were 18. So . . . well, you know the rest of what I would likely say

jammyunn: What's a PHD?