Okay, so rather than rehearse the "there's not enough jobs or enough funding"
song, I'd like to start a new-old thread.
Many people have pointed out that there is currently no population control for
Ph. D.s. Was it always this way?
Most universities have some sort of candidacy exam (prelim, etc.) which must be
passed. Isn't this supposed to be the 'triage' point? But how many people
have you seen fail? My (mis)perception of the "good old days" was that they
were much less fussy about who they let in, but quite demanding about who they
passed to Ph. D. candidacy.
Going back to something like this could save a lot of people a lot of time,
ensure that the best move on, and still give universities a pool of teaching
assistants. People who fail candidacy could still get a Masters, and then
could get on with their lives sooner than Ph. D. + Post-doc I + Post-doc II.
Seriously, what percentage of people at your institution fail the qualifier?
Peg.
