I think what you're describing is a need that's filled pretty well today by a master's degree. I don't think the PhD is so much archaic as just overused. It is

I think what you're describing is a need that's filled pretty well today by a master's degree. I don't think the PhD is so much archaic as just overused. It is intended to signify that a person has demonstrated that they can contribute significant new knowledge to a field of study, and incidentally, that they can teach (graduate) university courses. Society probably needs far less of both those traits than it can supply people who want to do them.