Although Kate’s a professor in the Humanities and as such adds to the archive of material addressing Why Get a PhD in the Humanities?, she also opens up the question to PhD or No PhD? In response to her excellent post, I desire to take the opportunity to extend a call more broadly to faculty across higher education to share their reflections on the topic by leaving a comment/reflection below or by contributing a post of their own. To learn more about posting on the blog, click here. Note: if you are a student who has a significant faculty mentor who you desire to recommend as a contributor, please email me. Thank-you. — Thomas B. Grosh IV, Editor
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Every year, as a new crop of seniors realizes that the end (of college) is in sight, there are those who consider going straight on to a PhD. For some of them, college has been a time of growth through exposure to new ideas. They may have conducted independent research or joined honor societies or attended conferences where they had deep conversations with intelligent people who shared their interests. They don’t want to lose that. I don’t blame them! Others, perhaps, don’t know what to do with their lives, but figure they’re pretty good at school, so they may as well continue. For others, there are simply no job opportunities in sight, and further education lets them defer student loans.
There’s no consensus among faculty whether to encourage or discourage these often idealistic dreamers in their quest for higher learning. It’s popular these days to discourage them, pointing to their (often) unrealistic expectations, the inadequate funding of higher education, and the poor job market. By encouraging them, are we setting them up to fail? I’ve encountered the argument that, given the limited resources for higher education, it should go to only the very best, who will advance the discipline. And even they aren’t guaranteed employment.
But there’s also pressure to encourage our students to pursue PhDs. At my university, we have an entire office devoted to helping students apply for prestigious fellowships. If our students get into recognized graduate programs, our rankings go up. Our department looks good if our recent graduates are pursuing PhDs. It certainly beats the alternative, which may be moving back home and working at Starbucks.
But frankly, as a Christian, I believe in higher education. [Read more…] about PhD or No PhD. That is the Question.