From what I have gathered so far, to be motivated seems to be vital for someone pursuing a PhD qualification. For those rich enough, acquiring a private university in Malaysia to get an honorary PhD followed by professorship seems easier! The easiest is to buy a Penang registered car with letters PHD!
I was forwarded this article from The Economist... quite dreadful for the Christmas season (echoing several others under "Comments") http://www.economist.com/node/17723223
here are some excerpts:
"about shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. The fiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes."
"But universities have discovered that PhD students are cheap, highly motivated and disposable labour. With more PhD students they can do more research, and in some countries more teaching, with less money."
(very true!)
"In Canada 80% of postdocs earn $38,600 or less per year before tax—the average salary of a construction worker." (postdoctoral researchers are PhD graduates without full academic positions, very common nowadays to reflect the PhD "glut")
"Foreign students tend to tolerate poorer working conditions, and the supply of cheap, brilliant, foreign labour also keeps wages down."
"In the humanities, where most students pay for their own PhDs, the figure is 49%. Worse still, whereas in other subject areas students tend to jump ship in the early years, in the humanities they cling like limpets before eventually falling off. And these students started out as the academic cream of the nation. Research at one American university found that those who finish are no cleverer than those who do not. Poor supervision, bad job prospects or lack of money cause them to run out of steam." (sounds rather familiar? ;-))
I guess the take-home message to PhD students is: enjoy the perks (flexible working hours, intellectual discussions, etc.) and keep future job expectations low. *sigh* *sigh*
1 comment:
BTW, what the Phd thing says is pretty true, in "1st world countries". However, there are often options in other parts of the world where there is strong evidence of 'brain drain' (hint hint) that would always welcome people of such calibre.
Example in hand, how much do you think a construction worker in China/Malaysia/Indonesia/Vietnam earns per month?
How much do you think a Head of School/Professor/Dean earns a month?
Further points are that in Malaysia as another example - Colleges are booming every where, but then there is evidence that not many of them have the properly 'qualified' people to take the college a notch further.
Sometimes, options may look dim/unattractive, but always remember one man's meat is another man's poison. Oh, and we're Malaysians. We'll survive well ANYWHERE in the world. Trust me.
BK
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