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I agree that the problems science/engineering PhD's are facing are similar (though not quite as severe) to the problems experienced by PhD's seeking academic po

by geebee 16y ago

I agree that the problems science/engineering PhD's are facing are similar (though not quite as severe) to the problems experienced by PhD's seeking academic positions in humanities and social sciences. There's one big difference, though - the CEOs of Sun Micro, Intel, IBM, and so forth all testified in front of congress that a shortage of science/engineering PhD's endangers US competitiveness, prompting congress to increase supply through visa programs (and PR programs aimed at young Americans). This almost certainly made (and continues to make) the glut worse.

AENGINE 16y ago
Sadly this article goes down the same trap of clubbing all STEM disciplines as one. When SUN,GOOG, Intel and MSFT talk, they are talking about EE,Chem Eng., CS, Physics and other useful fields within Science and Engg. However PhD in Marine Biology isn't going to be of much help.
- geebee 16y ago
  Yeah, it doesn't really make sense to report on "science" PhDs in aggregate. The market for CS PhDs is probably about as closely related to marine bio as it is to poly sci. That said, I still think that even the "useful" STEM fields you mentioned are lagging behind the professions that can take (as the article pointed out) 1/4 to 1/6 of the time to completion, which much higher completion rates (and less rigorous prerequisites to boot). By the way, I remain extremely enthusiastic about majoring in hard science, math, cs, or engineering. These majors set you up really well for entry into the workforce. You can contribute immediately in a high impact way, and I've found this notion that you'll be viewed as "merely a coder" to be greatly overstated. There are all kinds of great directions to go from starting out as a developer (including remaining in development). But PhDs clearly don't pay (not surprisingly, you see a much higher percentage of US citizens in undergrad programs in STEM fields, since this is the economically rational choice - at the grad level, the rational choice is to go to law, medicine, or MBA programs, or just get to work and enjoy a salary).

by geebee 16y ago

AENGINE 16y ago

Sadly this article goes down the same trap of clubbing all STEM disciplines as one. When SUN,GOOG, Intel and MSFT talk, they are talking about EE,Chem Eng., CS, Physics and other useful fields within Science and Engg. However PhD in Marine Biology isn't going to be of much help.

geebee 16y ago
Yeah, it doesn't really make sense to report on "science" PhDs in aggregate. The market for CS PhDs is probably about as closely related to marine bio as it is to poly sci. That said, I still think that even the "useful" STEM fields you mentioned are lagging behind the professions that can take (as the article pointed out) 1/4 to 1/6 of the time to completion, which much higher completion rates (and less rigorous prerequisites to boot). By the way, I remain extremely enthusiastic about majoring in hard science, math, cs, or engineering. These majors set you up really well for entry into the workforce. You can contribute immediately in a high impact way, and I've found this notion that you'll be viewed as "merely a coder" to be greatly overstated. There are all kinds of great directions to go from starting out as a developer (including remaining in development). But PhDs clearly don't pay (not surprisingly, you see a much higher percentage of US citizens in undergrad programs in STEM fields, since this is the economically rational choice - at the grad level, the rational choice is to go to law, medicine, or MBA programs, or just get to work and enjoy a salary).