What do you think of those with PhD?

[whyyyyyisitmonddayy]

Particularly those in non-stem fields. Just curious!

Depends on the university to some degree BUT broadly speaking they require dedication and intelligence that is applicable beyond just the narrow subject area, so on the whole I think kudos to them.

I am impressed that they could be bothered as I am far too lazy. Otherwise I don't care.

And yet anyone who has ever studied at any university has done so in order to be taught by people with PhDs, precisely because they’re leaders in advanced research in that subject.

Q - How do you know when someone has a PhD?

A - They'll tell you.

😎

I actually am working full time and while working towards my Professional Doctorate (another name for a PhD). I do have the emotional support though from my husband.

And what qualifications do you think people need in order to be able to educate, or educate the educators?

I think the vast majority start them with the aim of using them for further research or teaching. Unfortunately the opportunities beyond the PhD are limited and precarious. The life of an early career academic is not an easy one, and many PhDs will end up in roles where they’re not needed. That doesn’t make them vanity projects though.

God, these threads really bring out the people who are threatened by postgraduate degrees.

@Ponderingwindow just curious, what is quasi-academia?

What does that have to do with PhDs?

I completed a PhD while working full time and caring for my MIL. I self-funded and did it part-time and was nearing retirement when I began it, so did it for myself rather than for promotion reasons. I wanted the structure, support and discipline to interrogate something that was important to me personally. I'm glad I did it. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the graduation ceremony because my mother was dying at the time.

It is actually PhDs who are the orginal title of Dr and maintain the title in retirement. Medical Dr is an honorary title only. If you are not practicing medicine or retire you can no longer use the title. Although some medical doctors do gain PhDs in thier chosen area of research.

Nothing.

I mean, I absorb the fact they have a PhD but beyond that I have no thoughts about them at all.

DH has a STEM PhD, he did it in his 20s and was paid to do it. He's very clever, very scientifically minded, and he has a well paid job directly linked to his field of research that he absolutely loves. He never mentions the PhD out of context though, it's not like he goes around telling people about it or demanding to be called Dr Surname, he's a normal, down to earth person, if asked he says it just means he knows a lot about a very specific subject. He uses the Dr title professionally and on official paperwork and stuff but not in everyday life. I don't have a PhD but as a qualified vet I can also use the Dr title - I also do professionally but not in everyday life.

I wonder how many of the people on here sneering about how doing a PhD is a vanity project, how it's not that hard and how it doesn't mean you're any cleverer than anyone else, how people with them often have peculiar personality traits etc, have actually got a PhD themselves? I'd take a guess at zero.
If it's that easy and anyone can do one it's strange how, at the 9 graduation ceremonies I've attended, there are reams of BAs and BScs, some Masters and just a handful of PHDs.

My daughter has one and it took years of dedication to get it.

My guess is also zero.

And yet, ironically, the medical "Dr" is a lower qualification so if there is any cringe factor, (and I'm not saying there should be), it is the use of it by a medical doctor that might be said to provoke it.

FWIW, medical specialists tend to discard it to show they have done more than the basic medical degree that takes it, so in a medical context it is a "lower rung" title. (Again, I'm not dissing medical doctors, just contextualising @parkezvous ' comment: any academic achievement is something to be proud of.)

I probably wouldn’t even know. I haven’t a clue if my friends have one, there are some I don’t even know if they went to uni. I’ve never asked colleagues and nobody ever discusses anything about their education. It’s only on here people bang on about degrees. Surely once you’re past your first job they’re pretty irrelevant

Do you cringe if a medic uses the term doctor?

I'm in awe of how hard they worked academically.

I work hard and am fairly intelligent but am much more practical than academic.

I think they're hard-working and determined, you need to be. I dropped out of a PhD as it was just too intense and I didn't get on with my supervisor.

This is quite a good example of how wrong people can be about PhDs- it’s kind of an apprenticeship in research, so still very junior in research field, really need to get up the research ladder … it isn’t case of getting it and testing on your laurels

The poster literally said 'if you’re non medical'.

I agree. For me, Dr is...well, a Doctor. Someone medical. Hearing someone 'just' academic use it (or insist on it) instantly slides them in my mind into someone who's just a bit...well, cringe.

It's like that bit in friends when Ross introduces himself as Dr Geller and Rachel says 'Ross please, this is a hospital, that word actually means something here!' 😂

Well, no, not if you need multiple postgraduate degrees for that first job. I mean, everyone in your field will have a doctorate, and while it’s not that you sit around discussing them , you’d probably be aware of what institution they did theirs at, as you might well know their supervisor/research team etc.

That I’m jealous they had something they were that passionate about and a sense of purpose.