Some advice to those considering a Ph.D.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north427.html

 

Wow! Interesting. Accurate. Depressing.

 

If I could do things over, I probably would not have started a PhD program.

 

Merde de boeuf. (Literally translated, campers, that means "feces of beef.")

As the politically astute will recognize, this article was written by Gary North, a prominent figure in the "Reconstructionist"* movement. In other words, he's a conservative whack job. (I have nothing against conservatives, just conservative whack jobs.)

The article is very out of date, and as is typical of North and his compatriots, very biased. It's an interesting read, but I wouldn't place too much credibility in it, kids . . .
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* This refers to the conservative Christian Reconstruction movement identified with Rushdoony, et al., not Jewish Reconstructionism, which is a more liberal and humanist movement.

 

I took the time to read it. Even though I've heard almost all of it before, I thought I would share my thoughts.

I wonder what Mr. North means by "inexpensive instructors"? Are these the recently dismissed assistant professors, or are they individuals holding something less than a PhD? If its the latter, something Tony Piña wrote in this forum led me to believe that this doesn't happen -- i.e. that universities would hire someone as a non-tenure tracked instructor just to save money. I may be extrapolating what he said too far, but its hard for me to imagine that universities wouldn't want to save a buck or two when hiring instructors. Especially adjuncts or instructors which by their very nature do not add to the "prestige" of the university.

This may be tangential, but on my way to my BS I took a few courses from Saint Petersburg College which until recently was Saint Petersburg Junior College (I think their name changed after they started offering bachelors degrees.) My night classes were mixed with adults who were there to learn for the fun of it (they weren't pursuing a degree or already had degrees) and with some tired (or not so tired) adults like me. The rest (33-67%) was composed of young adults who had recently graduated from high school, but needed to work in the day or who couldn't otherwise schedule the class during the day. All the professors I had were encouraging and optimistic. Perhaps this wasn't their dream gig, but that didn't keep them from offering up some quality instruction. I guess I sort of resent Mr. North's assertion here (even if it is true.)

Yes, we all know what fields those are. However, many of us have our goals set on an MBA or like myself, an MS degree in Computer Science. I think these degrees (as well as science and engineering) offer a good cost benefit to anyone pursuing them. However, anyone looking past those degrees to a PhD probably needs to consider the author's words. If you are looking for status, then perhaps a PhD or doctorate from the schools that are most often discussed here are a worthy past-time. If you are in a field where industry actually hires researchers (like science and engineering) then a PhD might even be desireable. However, the odds against anyone with a non-traditional PhD breaking into academia with some amount of success are staggeringly high. So, if you are getting a PhD to advance your career in industry or even just for a chance at a little more status, may the wind fill your sails. Anyone spending that kind of effort with their goals set on academia are, as the author points out, playing a large and almost certainly fruitless gamble.

With all that being said, recently I've been looking much more seriously at pursuing a PhD in CIS or CS from Nova Southeastern once I've completed my MS degree. I know I've been toying with the idea of pursuing an MBA or some other management-oriented degree and I may still yet do so. However, since I've recently assumed more project management responsibilities and have to play a larger management role, I'm starting to wonder if the management skills I need are something I can learn outside of a degree.

Why do a want a PhD? Of course the status would be nice. I'm sure it would make my mom proud. But mostly because I want to be able to build my credibility so that one day I will be able to play more of a strategic role planning out the technical directions of Sage Software. Beyond my retirement sometime 20 years or so down the road, I might like to donate my time (free of charge) to teach tired adults at the local junior college or high school. Having a PhD would probably help me give back to my community.

 

This guy has a Ph.D. in history. What you are hearing appears to be sour grapes and does not apply to the disciplines that most of the individuals on this board are focused on.

The problem he outlines is a simple one. People are and have been pursuing Ph.D.s in areas where supply is far greater than demand. That was the case in his discipline in the late 60s and 70s and is the case today. All of what he said is true for much of the liberal arts. But it applies less to the hard sciences and doesn't necessarily apply at all to professional Ph.D.s such as business, engineering, and information systems. As a business Ph.D., I often hear complaints about how I am "grossly overpaid" relative to my liberal arts colleagues. I respond by pointing out that business professors made almost twice what history professors made at the time the history professors CHOSE their discipline.
If one gets a Ph.D. in an area where supply exceeds demand and is expected to do so for the forseeable future, I would hope that they went through the process solely for personal satisfaction and the achievement of personal goals.

This is not the case for many of the disciplines in which individuals on this board would pursue a Ph.D. As a brand new business A.B.D., I made more than several tenured faculty members in my department. If we were to hire someone today, they would likely be hired at more than I make now. The phenonomen is called salary compression. The market dictates salaries for new faculty. If you are in a discipline where demand greatly exceeds supply, salary compression often occurs. If I wanted the market salary for an assistant professor in my discipline, I would have to go on the market and obtain offers from elsewhere.

In addition to business, I would expect to find a similar situation in other technical disciplines such as information systems, engineering and nursing. But I don't believe that salary compression exists in the liberal arts.

In my opinion, this guy describes HIS personal experience and inappropriately generalizes it to all Ph.D.s.

 

Agreed. He laments that scholarship and teaching not a road to wealth, and possibly not status. Moreover, the journey may be fraught with competition and discouragement. All I can say is welcome to life and I wonder how long it took him to realize that everybody deals with the risk of being made irrelevant by competition and the course of events in an industry.

Advice. Ignore this guy and pursue your dreams.

Dave

 

From the article:

Wow!

 

If this be poverty, we should all be poor...

Which is it? Are departments growing or are departments stagnant?

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With regard to the claim that higher education is a low-paying profession, it all comes down to how one defines 'high' and 'low'. The AAUP numbers for 2000-2001 aren't too depressing. If salaries increase 3% per year, then tack on an extra 15% to the numbers to get an more current estimate.

As Steve Foerster points out, there is more to life than teaching at the Ivy League and Big State U. Accrediting agencies require Bachelor-level programs to have at least some classes taught by instructors with PhDs. If you have a PhD in Business Administration, MIS, Criminal Justice, or any other subject that is popular, you are in a very strong position to negotiate a salary that will be the envy of your colleagues who hold MAs in Literature.

Also, you can do more with a PhD than teach. Higher education administration, curriculum development for textbook publishers, consulting, and so on, all pay quite well.

Granted, if you have a PhD in history and are inclined to making pessimistic predictions, your assessment of the situation might be different from mine.

 

A few good men...

A few minutes after I posted my comments above, I found another good reason to go back to school... for some of us, anyway.

 

A recent column at CNN/Money on "Big Jobs that Pay Badly" made some of the same points as Mr. North (though phrased a bit more gently):

Two of the jobs listed in this category are "Assistant Professor, Liberal Arts" and "Academic Research Scientist". The PhD is the normal prerequisite for both fields.

 

Suggest the following additional caveat: Do not go into debt pursuing a PhD. It's one thing to take out student loans for a good undergraduate degree, or for a professional degree. But not for a PhD. You should not accumulate tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a PhD in English that (if you are very lucky) will qualify you for a $40,000 per year salary as an assistant professor. But it happens.

 

I don't think an absolute refusal to go into debt for the doctorate is necessary. But, if you do go into debt, go in with your eyes open. Try to figure the total amount you're likely to borrow and know your interest rate and the number of years you're allowed to take to repay the loan. Get yourself a good freshman text in finance or accounting and learn how to read present value tables so as to be able to calculate what your monthly payments will likely be. And learn basic rules of financial prudence like what the maximum percentage of monthly income is that should be going to debt service. And figure out what salary you are likely to make. And Plan B it. If seven years of grad school, capped off with a dissertation on the Minoan Linear A texts or the Black Death and the economic and demographic decline of late Mediaeval Europe or the Civil War diaries of black women preachers doesn't land you that big $40,000 position as full-time tenure track Assistant Professor of History at The Big Doctoral-Granting University, then maybe if you like history and you like to eat, maybe you can self-publish historical cookbooks, set up booths at Greek festivals and mediaeval faires and Civil War re-enactments selling your books and your culinary delights, and maybe start your own historically themed restaurant some day. In short, debt is not inherently bad, if you are using it wisely, but it can be a bad thing, if you are using it like a money drunk in bad need of his next fix.

 

Mr. North appears to be quite the cynic.
Or perhaps one should say he regrets the choices he made. Howver, for myself, pursuing the doctorate has been a dream for 20 years. If I don't try to get the Ph.D. I will live with regret forever. I'd much rather pursue what I love then spend the rest of my life wishing I had at least made the attempt. Life is too short as they say.

 

I agree, for my situation anyway. My employer pays 4K per year for my grad degree. I take three classes a year and pay $500 plus books out of pocket. pretty good deal for a PhD. The down side - it will take something like 6 years to finish.