Doctor of Philosophy Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Value and criticism == A career in academia generally requires a PhD, although in some countries it is possible to reach relatively high positions without a doctorate. In North America, professors are increasingly being required to have a PhD, and the percentage of faculty with a PhD may be used as a university ratings measure.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2009 FT rankings table and criteria list |url=http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-rankings/pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408012200/http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-rankings/pdf |archive-date=8 April 2009 |access-date=8 May 2017}}</ref> The motivation may also include increased [[salary]], but in many cases, this is not the result. Research by Bernard H. Casey of the University of Warwick, U.K, suggests that, over all subjects, PhDs provide an earnings premium of 26% over non-accredited graduates, but notes that master's degrees already provide a premium of 23% and a bachelor's 14%. While this is a small return to the individual (or even an overall deficit when tuition and lost earnings during training are accounted for), he claims there are significant benefits to society for the extra research training.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a912992314 |title=The economic contribution of Ph.D.s |year=2009 |volume=31 |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109184245/https://taylorandfrancis.com/ |archive-date=9 January 2022 |url-status=live |issue=3 |work=Journal of Higher Education Management and Policy}}</ref> However, some research suggests that overqualified workers are often less satisfied and less productive at their jobs.<ref name="Economist" /> These difficulties are increasingly being felt by graduates of professional degrees, such as law school, looking to find employment. PhD students may need to take on debt to undertake their degree.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-06 |title=From Graduate School to Welfare |work=The Chronicle of Higher Education |url=http://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/ |url-status=live |access-date=2017-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112131750/http://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/ |archive-date=12 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Even A PhD Couldn't Keep This Man Off Food Stamps |work=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/this-mans-phd-hasnt-kept-him-off-food-stamps-or-the-unemployment-line-2012-5 |url-status=live |access-date=2017-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820030002/http://www.businessinsider.com/this-mans-phd-hasnt-kept-him-off-food-stamps-or-the-unemployment-line-2012-5 |archive-date=20 August 2017}}</ref> A PhD is also required in some positions outside academia, such as research jobs in major international agencies. In some cases, the Executive Directors of some types of foundations may be expected to hold a PhD{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}. A PhD is sometimes felt to be a necessary qualification in certain areas of employment, such as in foreign policy think-tanks: ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' wrote in 2013 that "[i]f having a master's degree at the minimum is ''de rigueur'' in Washington's foreign policy world, it is no wonder many are starting to feel that the PhD is a necessary escalation, another case of costly [[Signalling (economics)|signaling]] to potential employers".<ref name="Alikhan">{{Cite news |last=Alikhan |first=Faris |date=2 October 2013 |title=The Peril of Credential Creep in Foreign Policy |work=U.S. News |url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/10/02/the-peril-of-credential-creep-in-foreign-policy |url-status=live |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011095649/https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/10/02/the-peril-of-credential-creep-in-foreign-policy |archive-date=11 October 2017}}]</ref> Similarly, an article on the Australian public service states that "[[Educational inflation|credentialism]] in the public service is seeing a dramatic increase in the number of graduate positions going to PhDs and masters degrees becoming the base entry level qualification".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hare |first=Julie |date=3 April 2014 |title=More PhDs enter public service |work=The Australian |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/more-phds-enter-public-service/story-e6frgcjx-1226872615004}}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'' published an article in 2010 citing various criticisms against the state of PhDs. These included a prediction by economist [[Richard B. Freeman]] that, based on pre-2000 data, only 20% of life science PhD students would gain a faculty job in the U.S., and that in Canada 80% of [[Postdoctoral researcher|postdoctoral research]] fellows earned less than or equal to an average construction worker ($38,600 a year). According to the article, only the fastest developing countries (e.g. China or Brazil) have a shortage of PhDs.<ref name="Economist">{{Cite news |date=2010-12-18 |title=Doctoral degrees: The disposable academic |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/node/17723223 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=25 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227202207/http://www.economist.com/node/17723223 |archive-date=27 December 2012}}</ref> In 2022, ''Nature'' reported that PhD students' wages in biological sciences in the US do not cover living costs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woolston |first=Chris |date=2022-05-23 |title=PhD students face cash crisis with wages that don't cover living costs |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=605 |issue=7911 |pages=775β777 |doi=10.1038/d41586-022-01392-w|pmid=35606521 |bibcode=2022Natur.605..775W |s2cid=249015161 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The U.S. higher education system often offers little incentive to move students through PhD programs quickly and may even provide incentive to slow them down. To counter this problem, the United States introduced the [[Doctor of Arts]] degree in 1970 with seed money from the [[Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching]]. The aim of the Doctor of Arts degree was to shorten the time needed to complete the degree by focusing on pedagogy over research, although the Doctor of Arts still contains a significant research component. Germany is one of the few nations engaging these issues, and it has been doing so by reconceptualising PhD programs to be training for careers, outside academia, but still at high-level positions. This development can be seen in the extensive number of PhD holders, typically from the fields of law, engineering, and economics, at the very top corporate and administrative positions. To a lesser extent, the UK research councils have tackled the issue by introducing, since 1992, the [[Doctor of Engineering|EngD]].{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the Paragraph|date=January 2017}}{{clarify|reason=Appears to be conflating time to move through degrees in the U.S. and issues of training within PhDs in Germany and the U.K.|date=January 2017}} [[Mark C. Taylor (philosopher)|Mark C. Taylor]] opined in 2011 in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' that total reform of PhD programs in almost every field is necessary in the U.S. and that pressure to make the necessary changes will need to come from many sources (students, administrators, public and private sectors, etc.).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=M. |title=Reform the PhD system or close it down |year=2011 |volume=472 |pages=261 |bibcode=2011Natur.472..261T |doi=10.1038/472261a |pmid=21512530 |doi-access=free |issue=7343 |journal=Nature}}</ref> Other articles in ''Nature'' have also examined the issue of PhD reform.<ref name="doi10.1038/nj7343-381a">{{Cite journal |last=Fiske |first=P. |title=What is a PhD really worth? |year=2011 |volume=472 |pages=381 |doi=10.1038/nj7343-381a |doi-access=free |issue=7343 |journal=Nature}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anon |title=Fix the PhD: No longer a guaranteed ticket to an academic career, the PhD system needs a serious rethink |year=2011 |volume=472 |pages=259β260 |bibcode=2011Natur.472R.259. |doi=10.1038/472259b |pmid=21512527 |issue=7343 |journal=Nature |s2cid=205063761|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cyranoski |first1=D. |title=Education: The PhD factory |last2=Gilbert |first2=N. |last3=Ledford |first3=H. |last4=Nayar |first4=A. |last5=Yahia |first5=M. |year=2011 |volume=472 |pages=276β279 |bibcode=2011Natur.472..276C |doi=10.1038/472276a |pmid=21512548 |doi-access=free |issue=7343 |journal=Nature}}</ref> [[Freeman Dyson]], professor emeritus at the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], was opposed to the PhD system and did not have a PhD degree.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lin |first=Thomas |date=26 March 2014 |title=A 'Rebel' Without a Ph.D. |work=Quanta Magazine |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-math-puzzle-worthy-of-freeman-dyson-20140326/ |url-status=live |access-date=2017-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112185340/https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-math-puzzle-worthy-of-freeman-dyson-20140326/ |archive-date=12 November 2017}}</ref> On the other hand, it was understood by all his peers that he was a world leading scientist with many accomplishments already under his belt during his graduate study years and he was eligible to gain the degree at any given moment.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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