Econimist.docx

Econimist.docx

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Econimist

Doctoraldegrees

Thedisposableacademic

WhydoingaPhDisoftenawasteoftime

ONTHEeveningbeforeAllSaints’Dayin1517,MartinLuthernailed95thesestothedoorofachurchinWittenberg.Inthosedaysathesiswassimplyapositiononewantedtoargue.Luther,anAugustinianfriar,assertedthatChristianscouldnotbuytheirwaytoheaven.Todayadoctoralthesisisbothanideaandanaccountofaperiodoforiginalresearch.Writingoneistheaimofthehundredsofthousandsofstudentswhoembarkonadoctorateofphilosophy（PhD）everyyear.

InmostcountriesaPhDisabasicrequirementforacareerinacademia.Itisanintroductiontotheworldofindependentresearch—akindofintellectualmasterpiece,createdbyanapprenticeinclosecollaborationwithasupervisor.Therequirementstocompleteonevaryenormouslybetweencountries,universitiesandevensubjects.Somestudentswillfirsthavetospendtwoyearsworkingonamaster’sdegreeordiploma.Somewillreceiveastipend;otherswillpaytheirownway.SomePhDsinvolveonlyresearch,somerequireclassesandexaminationsandsomerequirethestudenttoteachundergraduates.Athesiscanbedozensofpagesinmathematics,ormanyhundredsinhistory.Asaresult,newlymintedPhDscanbeasyoungastheirearly20sorworld-wearyforty-somethings.

OnethingmanyPhDstudentshaveincommonisdissatisfaction.Somedescribetheirworkas“slavelabour”.Seven-dayweeks,ten-hourdays,lowpayanduncertainprospectsarewidespread.Youknowyouareagraduatestudent,goesonequip,whenyourofficeisbetterdecoratedthanyourhomeandyouhaveafavouriteflavourofinstantnoodle.“Itisn’tgraduateschoolitselfthatisdiscouraging,”saysonestudent,whoconfessestoratherenjoyingthehuntforfreepizza.“What’sdiscouragingisrealisingtheendpointhasbeenyankedoutofreach.”

WhiningPhDstudentsarenothingnew,butthereseemtobegenuineproblemswiththesystemthatproducesresearchdoctorates（thepractical“professionaldoctorates”infieldssuchaslaw,businessandmedicinehaveamoreobviousvalue）.ThereisanoversupplyofPhDs.Althoughadoctorateisdesignedastrainingforajobinacademia,thenumberofPhDpositionsisunrelatedtothenumberofjobopenings.Meanwhile,businessleaderscomplainaboutshortagesofhigh-levelskills,suggestingPhDsarenotteachingtherightthings.ThefiercestcriticscompareresearchdoctoratestoPonziorpyramidschemes.

Richpickings

Formostofhistoryevenafirstdegreeatauniversitywastheprivilegeofarichfew,andmanyacademicstaffdidnotholddoctorates.Butashighereducationexpandedafterthesecondworldwar,sodidtheexpectationthatlecturerswouldholdadvanceddegrees.Americanuniversitiesgearedupfirst:

by1970Americawasproducingjustunderathirdoftheworld’suniversitystudentsandhalfofitsscienceandtechnologyPhDs（atthattimeithadonly6%oftheglobalpopulation）.SincethenAmerica’sannualoutputofPhDshasdoubled,to64,000.

Othercountriesarecatchingup.Between1998and2006thenumberofdoctorateshandedoutinallOECDcountriesgrewby40%,comparedwith22%forAmerica.PhDproductionspedupmostdramaticallyinMexico,Portugal,ItalyandSlovakia.EvenJapan,wherethenumberofyoungpeopleisshrinking,churnedoutabout46%morePhDs.PartofthatgrowthreflectstheexpansionofuniversityeducationoutsideAmerica.RichardFreeman,alaboureconomistatHarvardUniversity,saysthatby2006Americawasenrollingjust12%oftheworld’sstudents.

ButuniversitieshavediscoveredthatPhDstudentsarecheap,highlymotivatedanddisposablelabour.WithmorePhDstudentstheycandomoreresearch,andinsomecountriesmoreteaching,withlessmoney.AgraduateassistantatYalemightearn$20,000ayearforninemonthsofteaching.TheaveragepayoffullprofessorsinAmericawas$109,000in2009—higherthantheaverageforjudgesandmagistrates.

Indeed,theproductionofPhDshasfaroutstrippeddemandforuniversitylecturers.Inarecentbook,AndrewHackerandClaudiaDreifus,anacademicandajournalist,reportthatAmericaproducedmorethan100,000doctoraldegreesbetween2005and2009.Inthesameperiodtherewerejust16,000newprofessorships.UsingPhDstudentstodomuchoftheundergraduateteachingcutsthenumberoffull-timejobs.EveninCanada,wheretheoutputofPhDgraduateshasgrownrelativelymodestly,universitiesconferred4,800doctoratedegreesin2007buthiredjust2,616newfull-timeprofessors.Onlyafewfast-developingcountries,suchasBrazilandChina,nowseemshortofPhDs.

Ashortcourseinsupplyanddemand

Inresearchthestoryissimilar.PhDstudentsandcontractstaffknownas“postdocs”,describedbyonestudentas“theuglyunderbellyofacademia”,domuchoftheresearchthesedays.Thereisaglutofpostdocstoo.DrFreemanconcludedfrompre-2000datathatifAmericanfacultyjobsinthelifescienceswereincreasingat5%ayear,just20%ofstudentswouldlandone.InCanada80%ofpostdocsearn$38,600orlessperyearbeforetax—theaveragesalaryofaconstructionworker.Theriseofthepostdochascreatedanotherobstacleonthewaytoanacademicpost.Insomeareasfiveyearsasapostdocisnowaprerequisiteforlandingasecurefull-timejob.

Thesearmiesoflow-paidPhDresearchersandpostdocsboostuniversities’,andthereforecountries’,researchcapacity.Yetthatisnotalwaysagoodthing.Brilliant,well-trainedmindscangotowastewhenfashionschange.Thepost-SputnikeradrovetherapidgrowthinPhDphysiciststhatcametoanabrupthaltastheVietnamwardrainedthesciencebudget.BrianSchwartz,aprofessorofphysicsattheCityUniversityofNewYork,saysthatinthe1970sasmanyas5,000physicistshadtofindjobsinotherareas.

InAmericatheriseofPhDteachers’unionsreflectsthebreakdownofanimplicitcontractbetweenuniversitiesandPhDstudents:

crummypaynowforagoodacademicjoblater.StudentteachersinpublicuniversitiessuchastheUniversityofWisconsin-Madisonformedunionsasearlyasthe1960s,butthepaceofunionisationhasincreasedrecently.Unionsarenowspreadingtoprivateuniversities;thoughYaleandCornell,whereuniversityadministratorsandsomefacultyarguethatPhDstudentswhoteacharenotworkersbutapprentices,haveresisteduniondrives.In2002NewYorkUniversitywasthefirstprivateuniversitytorecogniseaPhDteachers’union,butstoppednegotiatingwithitthreeyearslater.

Insomecountries,suchasBritainandAmerica,poorpayandjobprospectsarereflectedinthenumberofforeign-bornPhDstudents.DrFreemanestimatesthatin1966only23%ofscienceandengineeringPhDsinAmericawereawardedtostudentsbornoutsidethecountry.By2006thatproportionhadincreasedto48%.Foreignstudentstendtotoleratepoorerworkingconditions,andthesupplyofcheap,brilliant,foreignlabouralsokeepswagesdown.

APhDmayoffernofinancialbenefitoveramaster’sdegree.ItcanevenreduceearningsProponentsofthePhDarguethatitisworthwhileevenifitdoesnotleadtopermanentacademicemployment.NoteverystudentembarksonaPhDwantingauniversitycareerandmanymovesuccessfullyintoprivate-sectorjobsin,forinstance,industrialresearch.Thatistrue;butdrop-outratessuggestthatmanystudentsbecomedispirited.InAmericaonly57%ofdoctoralstudentswillhaveaPhDtenyearsaftertheirfirstdateofenrolment.Inthehumanities,wheremoststudentspayfortheirownPhDs,thefigureis49%.Worsestill,whereasinothersubjectareasstudentstendtojumpshipintheearlyyears,inthehumanitiestheyclinglikelimpetsbeforeeventuallyfallingoff.Andthesestudentsstartedoutastheacademiccreamofthenation.ResearchatoneAmericanuniversityfoundthatthosewhofinisharenoclevererthanthosewhodonot.Poorsupervision,badjobprospectsorlackofmoneycausethemtorunoutofsteam.

Evengraduateswhofindworkoutsideuniversitiesmaynotfareallthatwell.PhDcoursesaresospecialisedthatuniversitycareersofficesstruggletoassistgraduateslookingforjobs,andsupervisorstendtohavelittleinterestinstudentswhoareleavingacademia.OneOECDstudyshowsthatfiveyearsafterreceivingtheirdegrees,morethan60%ofPhDsinSlovakiaandmorethan45%inBelgium,theCzechRepublic,GermanyandSpainwerestillontemporarycontracts.Manywerepostdocs.Aboutone-thirdofAustria’sPhDgraduatestakejobsunrelatedtotheirdegrees.InGermany13%ofallPhDgraduatesendupinlowlyoccupations.IntheNetherlandstheproportionis21%.

Averyslimpremium

PhDgraduatesdoatleastearnmorethanthosewithabachelor’sdegree.AstudyintheJournalofHigherEducationPolicyandManagementbyBernardCaseyshowsthatBritishmenwithabachelor’sdegreeearn14%morethanthosewhocouldhavegonetouniversitybutchosenotto.TheearningspremiumforaPhDis26%.Butthepremiumforamaster’sdegree,whichcanbeaccomplishedinaslittleasoneyear,isalmostashigh,at23%.InsomesubjectsthepremiumforaPhDvanishesentirely.PhDsinmathsandcomputing,socialsciencesandlanguagesearnnomorethanthosewithmaster’sdegrees.ThepremiumforaPhDisactuallysmallerthanforamaster’sdegreeinengineeringandtechnology,architectureandeducation.Onlyinmedicine,othersciences,andbusinessandfinancialstudiesisithighenoughtobeworthwhile.Overallsubjects,aPhDcommandsonlya3%premiumoveramaster’sdegree.

DrSchwartz,theNewYorkphysicist,saystheskillslearnedinthecourseofaPhDcanbereadilyacquiredthroughmuchshortercourses.Thirtyyearsago,hesays,WallStreetfir