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> yes? No. The trope you're repeating here has some truth in the humanities and some natural sciences, but it's not true in CS. Industry has a veracious appet
by throwawaygh 5y ago
> yes?
No. The trope you're repeating here has some truth in the humanities and some natural sciences, but it's not true in CS.
Industry has a veracious appetite for CS PhDs. Only 40% of PhDS stay in academia, and of those only a fraction take jobs at universities that grant PhDs. Tenured CS professors somewhat leave for industry at much higher rates than other fields.
Meanwhile, undergraduate enrollments have surged without a corresponding increase in PhD enrollment.
Multiple sources of demand are surging, but supply is waning.
From a CRA report on the subject:
The demand for PhD’s in computer science (CS) in the US continues to outpace the supply. Both industry and academia struggle to fill positions. Since 2014, approximately 2000 CS PhDs have been awarded annually and about 60% of new PhD graduates take jobs in industry [ZwBi19]. The rapid growth in undergraduate CS enrollments during the last decade has significantly increased the number of open faculty positions at academic institutions, but has so far not led to an increase in the number of PhDs graduated.
Historically, US PhD programs have relied heavily on international students. Figure 1 shows the number
of CS PhDs awarded annually to domestic and international students since 1985. The percentage of
domestic PhD students graduating decreased from 69% in 1985 to 37% in 2018.
The reliance on international students to drive innovation and leadership in computing research in the US
has become unstable as international students increasingly face obstacles or disincentives to study in the
US, and an increasing number return home to attractive opportunities after graduation from a US
university. Moreover, some areas of computing have security implications that make positions in those
areas inaccessible to non-US nationals. The continuing demand for PhDs in computer science combined
with this instability of international student participation requires bold action to increase the number
of domestic students completing a PhD in computer science.
https://cra.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Addressing-National-Need-for-Increasing-Domestic-PhD-Yield-in-CS.pdf https://cra.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Addressing-Nation...
- labcomputer 5y agoSo... Why don't CS PhD's get together to do what medical doctors do and form a cartel to further limit the number of PhDs that are granted each year? The current supply/demand imbalance sounds like the perfect leverage to get the ball rolling. Institutions that don't play ball could be boycotted. A good number of specialties in medicine have a median income in the upper two thirds of the six digit range. It seems like limiting production of CS PhDs could be equally lucrative.
- throwawaygh 5y ago> A good number of specialties in medicine have a median income in the upper two thirds of the six digit range. It seems like limiting production of CS PhDs could be equally lucrative. Probably not. Industry would route around the PhD system. Academia would just hire folks with masters degrees as ad juncts. In order for such a scheme to work, you need a licensing regime. If anyone could practice medicine at any hospital by passing an on-site interview, the AMA would have substantially less power.