How Many Ph.D.'s Actually Get to Become College Professors?

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by SteveFoerster, Mar 3, 2013.

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  1. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    The data is interesting to see but my main objection is with the idea that a professorship is the pinnacle or somehow the most desirable of employment positions. It's a flawed premise.
     
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Agreed. The article also doesn't say whether taking on an adjunct position counts as success or not, and as we've noted, many people study for a doctorate for that purpose.
     
  4. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    The article states "At the time 53 percent of all Ph.D.'s said they had intended to become professors. ......only about half of that group had obtained tenure within ten-to-fourteen years, while 33 percent weren't in academia at all."

    It takes into consideration desire to become a full professor. This means that if you want to become a professor, you only have about 50% chances of becoming professor in 10 o 14 years.

    The article doesn't talk about people with DL PhDs but if 50% is for traditional degree holders, I would assume that the 50% might go to 20 or even as low as 10% for DL PhD holders that completed their programs while working full time and did not have the time to publish or network by attending conferences, etc.

    So if you take into consideration that only 50% of the people that enrolled in a PhD graduate and only 50% get a full time professor job of the people that want to become professors, you only have about 25% chances of becoming a professor since the time your enroll and probably a lot less if your PhD is DL.

    As Kizmet mentioned, getting a DL PhD with the intention to become a professor is like going to the Casino with the intention of becoming rich over night.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 3, 2013
  5. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    Not all PHDs want to go into academia. Over 50% have found positions in academia off the bat. The over 50% placement have not changed since 1991. From 1991 to present the number of people earning PhDs have increase considerably. Someone help me, deductive or inductive reasoning, more people are finding academic positions now than in 1991: - 50% of a lower number in 1991 versus 50% of a higher number in 2011. Isn't depressing when others project their failures on others? Such as, I did a PhDs and is now struggling so you shouldn't do a PhD because you will suffer the same fate.
     
  6. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I don't know in the US but in Canada you have about 50% chances of finding a full time permanent academic job after graduation. This is an average, your chances are lower if you are in sciences, engineering, arts but increase if you are in business, medicine, law, etc.

    I don't know about other schools, but my school offers a training about non academic careers for PhDs that basically show you your options if you don't get an academic job. Some career paths include tax consultant for research projects, research scientist, technical writing, management consulting, etc.

    I went for such a training a while ago, the trainer mentioned that 50% is over a span of 10 to 15 years so many just give up.

    I think people interested in Academia should have a plan B, you should also negotiate a post doc position in the case you don't find something.

    Getting a full time academic position is not easy. First, admission rates at good doctoral programs in Canada is competitive at most only admit 5 to 10% of the applicants. Only about 50% complete the program. Then, you only have 50% chances of finding academic employment and then about 70% of actually getting tenure (depending on the school).

    If you calculate the probability of making it to become tenured professor from the beginning to end is (0.07)(0.5)(0.5)(0.7). This is a bit more than 1%. This assuming that you are applying to prestigious programs, if you decide to take the DL route from a little known school chances decrease for sure.
     
  7. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    So many numbers. Maybe you have backup citations?
     
  9. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Really, really, really agree. I don't know the percentages of PhDs that go into practice instead of academia, but the salaries are far better and the career opportunities are much more diverse.
     
  10. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Kizmet,

    If this was a journal article, I wouldn't mind spending the time looking for these stats. But for a discussion board I am sorry if I don't give it more than few minutes, If someone has the time, the articles that normally refer to stats for placement, graduation, etc, for PhDs are included in the journal of university affairs. The journal is online here:

    Canadian Higher Education News, Jobs, Opinion | University Affairs
     
  11. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Yes, there is a shortage now. Any PhD in Accounting from an AACSB accredited is gold now and can lead to a tenure track with almost no risk.

    Sorry if I don't have the stats to back up this now, all I know is that people are switching from PhDs in Engineering to Accounting at my University because of this shortage.

    Starting salaries are also very good, most starting salaries are in the 150K range.
     
  12. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    I just got an organizational announcement at my very large company which announced that a new division was being created with a Dr. at its helm. It covered his professional and educational qualifications. I thought it was encouraging to see a PhD running a whole new unit.
     
  13. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

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