Posted on 08/18/2005 5:04:35 PM PDT by bloggodocio
The number of Americans earning doctoral degrees has declined in recent years, renewing worries that the United States is losing its dominance in Ph.D.-level education to rapidly developing nations like China and India.
The National Center for Education Statistics recently reported that 44,160 Ph.D.s were awarded by U.S. universities in 2002, down from the high-water mark of 46,010 doctorates awarded in 1998.
All other education degrees are up dramatically.
The Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans who obtained a bachelor's degree increased from 32 million in 1990, or 20 percent of the population then, to more than 44 million in 2000 _ 24 percent of the population. Master's and professional degrees have also increased significantly.
But only 1 percent of Americans had earned Ph.D.s as of 2000, a figure expected to decline slightly since awarded doctorates are not matching population growth.
Census officials reported that there were slightly more than 1.7 million Americans with Ph.D.s as of 2000.
Meanwhile, other nations are ratcheting up their doctoral programs. The National Bureau of Economic Research has predicted that by 2010 China will surpass the United States in the number of science and engineering Ph.D.s conferred.
"The numbers I've seen from the National Science Foundation show a trajectory that Asia will, in a very short time, produce more Ph.D.s than the United States," said education researcher Heath Brown. "India has pledged to have a sixfold increase in the number of advanced degrees it awards."
The United States in 1970 produced more than half of the world's Ph.D.s. But if current patterns continue, the United States will be lucky to produce just 15 percent of the world's doctorates by 2010.
"We don't know exactly why this is happening. But we do know that there are financial issues involved, including the increased debt burden that American students are facing," said Debra Stewart, president of the Washington-based Council of Graduate Schools.
The median amount of debt incurred by students seeking doctoral degrees has increased from $11,500 in 1992 to $44,743 in 2003, a more rapid increase than for any other category of college student.
"These debt levels are likely to prove burdensome to many recent doctorate earners and may dissuade some from pursuing careers in academe," said Jacqueline King, director of the American Council on Education's Center for Policy Analysis.
American students may also be discouraged by the increasingly uncertain labor market for Ph.D. recipients.
"Is there really a viable non-academic job market for someone with a doctorate in English? I'm not sure we've done such a wonderful job explaining to students the range of things they can do with a Ph.D.," said Stewart.
She said that many doctoral programs have low completion rates. Only about 40 percent of Ph.D. candidates in the humanities finish, compared with a 75 percent completion rate for doctoral candidates in the biological sciences.
Census officials also found that Americans with doctorates are not evenly distributed throughout the nation. Los Angeles County has the nation's largest concentration of Ph.D.s, with 58,852 , followed by Chicago's Cook County with 33,501 and Middlesex County, Mass., with 32,025.
Those with doctorates account for 1 percent of the adult populations in Los Angeles County and Cook County, but represent nearly 3 percent in Middlesex County, home to most of the academics employed at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other major academic centers.
But the Boston area does not have America's highest population proportion of Ph.D.s, according to Census officials. That honor goes to Los Alamos County, N.M., where 16 percent of the population has a doctorate, due to the more than 2,000 Ph.D.s employed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility conducts research for the nation's nuclear weapons and energy programs.
There are 140 counties in the United States that do not have any doctoral-degree recipients.
The U.S. Department of Education reported that there were 6,967 degrees awarded for education in 2002, the most for any academic field, followed by 5,195 degrees conferred in engineering and 4,489 awarded for biological and life sciences. Advanced degrees for English and literature have been on the decline, dropping to 1,446 recipients in 2002, down from its record of 1,672 recipients in 1976.
It would be a bad thing, but the grad schools were created to populate the ranks of professionals required by the Industrial Revolution. In a sense, industry itself created the schools. If the schools are moving offshore, to China and India, it is only that they are following industry.
We could certainly do without a bunch of PhDs in the liberal arts fields and in other areas, but the drop off in the physical sciences, mathematics, and certain areas of engineering, is something to worry about, especially if you look at corresponding trends in communist China, and several other Asian countries. Professor Rick Smalley of Rice University, a Nobel laureate, noted in a recent briefing that, and I quote: "By 2010, if current trends continue, over 90% of all physical scientists and engineers in the world will be Asians working in Asia." The CHICOMS in particular are putting a big push into forcing more of their military to study the sciences and engineering, and many to pursue PhD degrees. They believe they can eclipse our currently eroding technological lead over them...especially while we're transfixed by the Middle East.
don't laugh, but in a certain history department I am familiar with, there are now 5 "gender studies" scholarships, 1 "Queer studies" scholarship, Numerous minority studies scholarships (pick your cause, black power, indigenious peoples, Latino studies), and the newest is a full program in Arab History, funded by a Saudi.
That's right, if I decide to write a dissertation on how great the Muslims are, a friendly Desert Prince will pay for my books, tuition, and give me a living stipend....
there is one scholarship funded for veterans to continue graduate studies.
That is one scholarship out of at least 30, with the other 29 being essentially lefty only need apply.
Now you know why the department is full of trotskyites!
I don't know why I should be amazed at the nastiness of some academics, but I always am when I hear these stories. What is the purpose??
I've been fortunate that my program is full of decent people who treat the doctoral students decently. I may be the only happy PhD student on the planet, but I truly enjoy my studies and my professors.
PS - I came to academe from a career as a lawyer. Trust me, it's hard for me to be happy or enjoy anything. Perhaps compared to law school and practicing, anything looks like fun. : )
PhD=Personality has Departed
I had been out of school for awhile when I did a masters at Michigan. As a grad student, I expected to spend time in the library, but what surprised me was the number of Asian undergrads, usually in study groups, in the libraries at all hours. These folks were not fooling around.
That said, my son was active in several Asian-oriented clubs on campus and knew a lot of 2nd & 3rd generation kids from a variety of Asian cultures. A good number of them were in majors that their parents told them to take; they weren't choosing majors because they had an interest in them. Now, while an engin major will probably get a better job than a lit major, I'd like to think that engineers, doctors, etc. actually have an interest in and talent for their careers. Coming from Asian cultures, the kids did not go against their parents' wishes, even though they wanted to major in other areas.
This goes to what you said in another post about not doing everything for the money. Many of the parents only looked at the money and pushed the kids in that direction.
hehe, the funnest thing was when I ran into one of our guys, after about a month....he had a mohawk, and had found the tattoo parlor....hehe.
America does that to some young guys
Oh, he was still bustin his butt studying computer science, but you knew his real love was "rock an roll".
I doubt mom and dad would approve, but hey, he was still making straight A's...
He's probably back in China writing software by day, rockin' out by night...
Likewise, a high school diploma used to mean more...
Your point is especially right in certain states that require accreditations to hire. New York, California, and New Jersey are propbaly the worst for this. They use "qualification" as a guise for political compliance, under threat of audit/fines/liability and probably even jail.
I have been told that there is a real glut of PhD prepared students who can't find teaching jobs, and this has been true for many years. Thus we have fewer PhD students.
Ugh, that's just painful. This is how ideological censorship is done, subtly and without direct applied force. The student who takes that money and does what is asked has likely been radicalized for life.
But our National Soccer Team did beat Trinidad and Tobago.
Almost right. I read posts on a website for academics. 200-300 applicants for 1 position. People adjuncting at very low pay for years. BUT, these are generally English majors. Majors in other fields in the humanities face a similar, if not as daunting, market. I'm in a tech-related field and we are hiring. I was just at a conference where a friend had 12 interviews and isn't even finished his doctorate yet. And this in a 'down' market post dotcom boom.
As much enjoyment and respect that I have for English lit and history of all types, I don't think I could recommend that anyone pursue a doctorate in these fields. The schools continue to admit a lot of doctoral students, which I think is a dis-service when there is no market. Plus, while some can transfer their intellectual skills to industry or government, I think many more believe they have to be academics and are crushed when they don't get these jobs and when their dissertation on Jane Austen doesn't get them a job outside academe.
Old time aeronautical engineer from Germany once told me that far too many Americans PHDs were frauds.
Chief Moose, remember him??? Well he has a PHD.
IN 1998-2000, the job market was very hot...
It takes 4-6 years to get a PhD.
Conclusion, some of the decline may be attributable to students choosing jobs instead of school.
There IS a problem in that 50% of science and engineering PhD s are imported from overseas anyway... but that's another story.
USA needs more PhDs. Stay in school and learn.
"Honestly I'm not concerned about the decline in English PhD students. I am more concerned about fields such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, etc. These are the fields that Chinese and Indians are going into and these are the fields that are critical for us to maintain the technical superiority of our military and national security in general."
Well said.
Alas, engineering is one area where there is a decline.
"don't laugh, but in a certain history department I am familiar with, there are now 5 "gender studies" scholarships, 1 "Queer studies" scholarship, Numerous minority studies scholarships (pick your cause, black power, indigenious peoples, Latino studies), and the newest is a full program in Arab History, funded by a Saudi.
That's right, if I decide to write a dissertation on how great the Muslims are, a friendly Desert Prince will pay for my books, tuition, and give me a living stipend....
there is one scholarship funded for veterans to continue graduate studies.
That is one scholarship out of at least 30, with the other 29 being essentially lefty only need apply.
Now you know why the department is full of trotskyites!"
Remember Al Pachino's ranting speech at the end of "The Scent of a Woman"? ....
"They should take a *flamethrower* to this place!"
... seems apropos to that case. What a useless waste of fine wood-panelled university lounges and our education $$$.
that's exactly what it is, but it is so subtle that most students don't realize what is going on...
Conservative groups have yet to fully appreciate how a few dollars directed in a certain area can have a dramatic effect.
Liberal elites realize that $5,000 isn't much to them, but to a young student it can make all the difference, so they fund these programs and scholarships, but they fund them in order to suit their own agenda.
And thus we end up with 90% of the faculty voting democrat....
Another example is the course offerings, lets use a recent example and say there are six seminars offered for Ph.D American history candidates, and you must enroll in three:
1. Civil Rights Movement
2. Environmental History
3. Vietnam War
4. Jacksonian Era
5. Religon and American History
6. Hist. of Southwest Borderlands
Guess which of these classes have a liberal bent, and which are fairly moderate?(None will be conservative, c'mon, were talking grad school here)
Of the 6 seminars I have presented, the Am. Religious History is the most leftist, which will suprise some.
But it's taught by a Athiest/Trotskyite, who has a life mission of attacking religion.
Next come Civil Rights and Environmental Hist., taught by aging boomers who are still fighting the revolution. Both believe that America is inherently evil and racist, and they get paid to show you how...
The remaining courses will all be standard liberal interpretations, capital exploits poor workers, whites/males are the villans, it's standard fare.
But the Vietnam class might suprise some by being fairly honest, in that it is taught by an old Truman Democrat, and thus the most fair-minded member of the faculty.
This is why your kids enter the university and many become brainwashed democrats....
Their teachers consider Hillary! and Barney Frank to be the sensible centrist.
Most (over 95%) of your kids professors held their noses and voted for Kerry.
They held their noses because they thought he was too conservative, but was far better than that neanderthal republican.
A few voted Nader/Green/socialist
Almost right. I read posts on a website for academics. 200-300 applicants for 1 position. People adjuncting at very low pay for years. BUT, these are generally English majors. Majors in other fields in the humanities face a similar, if not as daunting, market. I'm in a tech-related field and we are hiring. I was just at a conference where a friend had 12 interviews and isn't even finished his doctorate yet. And this in a 'down' market post dotcom boom."
Uh, yeah, but the math is obvious... one teacher can have dozens of graduate students and literally teach thousands of undergrads in a career. Thus, by definition, only a fraction of students can become teachers. The problem is that some English PhD need to think of something other than english lit. prof as a career goal.
"As much enjoyment and respect that I have for English lit and history of all types, I don't think I could recommend that anyone pursue a doctorate in these fields. The schools continue to admit a lot of doctoral students, which I think is a dis-service when there is no market. Plus, while some can transfer their intellectual skills to industry or government, I think many more believe they have to be academics and are crushed when they don't get these jobs and when their dissertation on Jane Austen doesn't get them a job outside academe."
Well said.
I can tell you why they let so many people into English lit graduate programs: so they can have a group of cheap labor to teach English composition classes. Use them for 3-5 years in a temporary hire position, then refuse to put them on a tenure track position. Then they have to scramble for another position somewhere else and go through the motions once again. But most large state universities couldn't handle their composition class loads without their work.
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