3 ms·
i think PhD programs and advisors did make some implicit or explicit promises to recruit students to work for them, very hard, for years, at very low salaries.
by currymj 2y ago
i think PhD programs and advisors did make some implicit or explicit promises to recruit students to work for them, very hard, for years, at very low salaries.
the PhD is not like a master's program, it's an apprenticeship relationship where you essentially work for a senior professor, and your work directly financially benefits the department as well.
so there is a deal here, but if one end of it is collapsing, the students in some departments might very well feel betrayed -- not by society but by their advisors and programs.
- SoftTalker 2y agoThere's no reason to do a Ph.D. if you don't aspire to an academic position. If you want to be a practitioner, do a Masters.
- ska 2y agoIt's really not that simple. But it's fair to say that while a masters can often be a very straightforward training to get you ready for a particular job, you really shouldn't go into a PhD program without a good idea of a) why and b) where you are aiming for afterward. For STEM I would usually add c) someone else is paying for it
- mistrial9 2y agothe competitive investment world has gotten a flavor of ever-increasing requirements.. it fits with a scarcity model they thrive in
- currymj 2y agothis is true overall, but for the last decade there have been many research-oriented positions at large tech companies for which the PhD degree is a formal job requirement. others don’t make it a formal requirement, but demand research experience which can be gotten most easily as a PhD student.