David Shivak wrote:
In the Science "Future of the PhD" article of 1995, they claim that the
> median time to PhD has crept up to 8 years (post-baccalaureate) in the
>> life sciences. In that time you could be done your PhD and a postdoc.
>> Is the decreased time worth the increased (postdoc) wages sooner?
>
Hi David
It's too difficult to compare. If post-doc salaries were reasonable
then you could argue in favour of a longer PhD. But that assumes that
the shorter PhD produces a less skilled scientist.
However, (and this comment will probably get me into a flame war) my
impression is that despite a long BSc and long PhDs the average PhD in
the US is not as knowledgable or skilled as the average British or New
Zealand PhD. Obviously there are outstanding US PhDs and also
outstanding US PhD programs. Also it is aknowledged by most that the
very short British PhD sometimes leads to a graduate with a narrow range
of knowledge and skills. Nevertheless, if I was hiring a post-doc,
based on my (limited) experience I would be inclined to rank the US PhD
last.
What I think is the problem is that US high schools don't put enough
pressure on students to build a solid body of knowledge before they go
to College. This results in College level classes that are essentially
the equivalent of high school classes. This in turn leads to graduate
student without the necessary background to really start their PhD "at a
run". I don't think all the blame lies with the high schools, I think
there is a real tendancy for College professors to "give up" because
it's not their fault. In addition, the work load at College is
ridiculously low, with simply too few hours spent in lectures and
virtually no lab training at the undergraduate level. The net result is
that US PhDs are playing catch up for the first few years of their PhD.
That is why the US PhD is so much longer NOT because they are learning
more.
So on balance to answer your question, no I don't think a long PhD is
worth it (especially without good salaries afterwards). But I do think
there needs to be a real effort to advance prospective scientists faster
through the US education system, i.e. teach more at high school and
teach much more at College.
cheers
Bart
