What’s a PhD worth today?

A doctorate says nothing about an individual’s competency to be creative and ability to be innovative.

The Doctor of Philosophy, or PhD as it is commonly known, is the highest level of academic achievement in any discipline. The title Doctor of Philosophy follows the original Greek meaning of wisdom.

A PhD candidate must submit a written thesis, which must be original work that makes a significant contribution to knowledge within a specific discipline and is worthy of a publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

In some countries like Malaysia the work must be defended orally in front of a panel of expert examiners, in what is called a viva. Usually, a PhD candidate will have also published two to four peer reviewed journal papers, prior to their award.

Up into the last few decades, those who undertook a PhD did so because they wanted to pursue a career in research and academia. Those who possessed a PhD were few and far between in society, and were held in high esteem.

Over the last two decades, many pursued PhDs in the business and social sciences. This has made the PhD much more common today. Many graduates have found it very difficult to find work at a level worthy of their qualification.

One of the myths behind a PhD is that it’s a symbol of high intelligence and wisdom. In reality, a PhD is more a measure of hard and systematic work, patience, self-sacrifice, and discipline.

The key issue of any PhD is that a contribution must be made to the existing body of knowledge in a discipline. Certainly, in the sciences, where analytical equipment has become many times more sensitive than equipment a decade ago, this can be the case. However, in business and the social sciences, most advances made by PhD candidates have tended to be contextual and situational, rather than exponential advances in social theory.

PhD candidates now find themselves with an institutionalised academic system, which is geared to pass and graduate them. This is particularly the case in business schools.

In some university faculties, there is bulk PhD production. This devalues the standing of graduates who have been pushed along these types of production lines. In this sense, the PhD has just become another product for business schools to sell. A weakness in this production line model is that candidates are not interrogated enough about their personal motivations for undertaking a PhD.

Many may have been better off undertaking a master’s degree to complement their existing degrees. A dual degree might be another strategy. This personal education strategy may make the candidates much more employable after graduation. Another strategy might be writing a book on a subject. This would allow the person to take a much more general approach to a subject, away from the rigidity the structure of any PhD allows, in researching a singular hypothesis.

For those wishing to teach in higher education, a PhD might be too restrictive. Teaching across a range of subjects in diplomas, BBAs or even MBAs requires generalists rather than specialists. This is relevant to most universities in Malaysia. From the faculty point of view, having more PhD holders as lecturers is an expensive misnomer. This drastically raises faculty costs. Business schools need people who are at the top of their game in pedagogy and content, rather than research. They need that staff flexibility.

Not all PhDs are the same. Those who have completely submersed themselves within a particular domain, will take a much more thorough and deeper learning path, than someone who is undertaking the degree just to obtain the qualification.

In addition, those who undertook their PhD studies prior to 2000 had to undertake much more ‘detective work’ gathering data and knowledge, than candidates today with the internet and all the information they need at their fingertips. PhD holders three decades ago had to spend massive time hunting down reference materials, books and journal articles.

Today, it’s certainly much easier to undertake a PhD than it was in the past. The question here is, is the worth of the PhDs awarded today equal those of yesteryear?

There is a radical change in the corporate world today. Experience is becoming more valued than qualifications. Employers are becoming disappointed with higher degree graduates, who are unable to solve problems, be creative, and bring in innovative solutions to the workplace. A PhD says nothing about an individual’s competency to be creative and ability to be innovative.

AI will create corporate fodder for those who will not be able to add value to problem solving ability of AI in the workplace. This is going to drastically reduce the number of places within the workplace for highly qualified experts.

In the sciences, there is certainly more value in undertaking a PhD, if research and development is a career aspiration. Most of the work done leading to graduation involves laboratory work, engineering fabrication, and/or software development. Supervision in the sciences tends to be much more intense than in business faculties, which see PhDs more as a product, than a means to furthering research.

Many science graduates have places to go to after graduation, while business graduates have much more competition for limited and select elite corporate jobs. For many, their PhD experience was traumatic and it is uncertain whether their experiences will have a positive payback in their career and the institution or corporation that employs them.

With the exception of the sciences, in business and other humanities are many other avenues to take that may lead to more career opportunities.

Originally published in FMT 28th July 2024

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