Is it worth doing a phd?

[Miss Ellie]

My mates who have got Phd's did them cos they didn't know what they wanted to do when they left uni so instead of leaving after their Masters they just spent another 3 years doing a Phd.

They agree that it makes no difference to their earnings.

However it is fun saying to people "No that's Dr so and so", and letting them believe they are a medical doctor for a while.

[Francko]

I have only met a dozen or so contractors of my age (40's) that have got degrees, let alone M.Sc's or Ph.D's. Having said that, I met a couple of gyus at an investment bank: one had a Ph.D in Astrophysics and the other in some obscure subject that I can't remember. Both on £ 50 k or so and quite happy whilst their coleagues (most taken straight from school with just A-levels) were on at least 50% more. Why were they there? More to do with snobbery/prestige (for the bank that employed them, that is)

Why should a degree make you better than someone else? (especially considering what kind of skills you need to get on the top, and normally this is nothing that can be learned at any school). That's a common mistake. A degree can make you a better person than what you were before, but it won't necessarily make you better than any other. Besides, studying is the most important thing but people can do it in their own way and most of the time the people who are capable of studying on their own are self-disciplined and creative talents. Nonetheless, a phd is mostly a work on your own, therefore it should prove some of those qualities.

[sasguru]

Why should a degree make you better than someone else? (especially considering what kind of skills you need to get on the top, and normally this is nothing that can be learned at any school). That's a common mistake. A degree can make you a better person than what you were before, but it won't necessarily make you better than any other. Besides, studying is the most important thing but people can do it in their own way and most of the time the people who are capable of studying on their own are self-disciplined and creative talents. Nonetheless, a phd is mostly a work on your own, therefore it should prove some of those qualities.

I hereby award you a PhD in "Stating the bleeding obvious" for the above thesis.

[Nipple Clamp]

I've worked with a couple of people with PhD's and it didn't seem to make any difference to their prospects. I guess it depends what sector they're working in - perhaps the education sector and maybe government or high technology or other science-based organisations would take more notice than, say, a bank or a retailer.

Here is a true little story : someone I once knew went right through the education system - BSc to MSc and did a PhD in information theory or somesuch subject. The crucial part of her PhD was to produce some original research on the subject. She spent several years working at this PhD under the tutorship of a University professor. At the end of all this work she submitted her thesis and some time later received the news that someone in another country (France I think) had produced some research almost exactly the same and had submitted it first. After much deliberation, the body that decides on these things decided that her work didn't qualify because it wasn't original and she might even have copied Messr Frog's work ! She had a nervous breakdown and does not have a PhD to this day.

That's curious, because at PhD level one generally narrows the focus down so far that there are often only a handful of others worldwide in the same speciality, and having done a literature search and attended a few conferences our budding PhD should really be in a position where they know and have met most of these others or at least corresponded with them by email.

Mind you, this may vary by discipline, and commercial applicability and confidentiality may have a bearing respectively on numbers of researchers and their openness in things like medicine or technology. But in maths and physics, for example, and theoretical computer science, I think the above is broadly true.

For example, I seem to recall Lubos Motl estimating that there are currently about 1000 cutting edge string theorists. So with presumably a dozen or more specialities within string theory a would-be PhD's "colleagues" (or competitors!) number less than a hundred.

[oraclesmith]

That's curious, because at PhD level one generally narrows the focus down so far that there are often only a handful of others worldwide in the same speciality, and having done a literature search and attended a few conferences our budding PhD should really be in a position where they know and have met most of these others or at least corresponded with them by email.

Mind you, this may vary by discipline, and commercial applicability and confidentiality may have a bearing respectively on numbers of researchers and their openness in things like medicine or technology. But in maths and physics, for example, and theoretical computer science, I think the above is broadly true.

For example, I seem to recall Lubos Motl estimating that there are currently about 1000 cutting edge string theorists. So with presumably a dozen or more specialities within string theory a would-be PhD's "colleagues" (or competitors!) number less than a hundred.

I recall that she was pretty surprised herself. She was a lecturer and told us this story about herself at a college outing to explain a rumour going round that she was a bit unstable. I think the problem may have been her tutor, who didn't keep an eye on the other researchers. She fought her case, but ultimately lost. It was a long time ago as well, so I guess the communications wouldn't have been as good as today.

[Andyw]

I have a PhD: stories like the above abound, but nowadays getting a phd is not such a big thing - even the originality requirement has been watered down. Today, you have to submit something commensurate with 3 years of research work; a lot of theses are just glorified literature surveys.

Dr Jabberwocky seems to lack that certain.......

[Jabberwocky]

Only those of phd calibre may respond to my posts.

[Andyw]

Only those of phd calibre may respond to my posts.

that'll be me then !

[BlasterBates]

Another true story:

Whilst doing an Msc dissertation on mushrooms a student noticed that mushrooms didn't grow at a constant rate but that they grew in spurts. He then made it into a PhD topic and spent 3 years monitoring mushroom growth. The main argument was that mushrooms grew faster at various times during the day, against conventional wisdom.

During the viva the examiner asked the student whether he had taken into account the switching on and off of the central heating, after which there was an embarassed silence, and then a mutual decision to postpone it until the student had done this.

Unfortunately after a further experiment the student found out that he had spent 3 years monitoring the effects of central heating on mushroom growth.

[wendigo100]