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.
My son got a PhD in physics 5 years ago. He hasn't been the same since.
Okay, so it ain't piled higher but it must still be piled deeper.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I didn't have 4 more years to waste in school. I had a kid
and a house payment to make and needed the lucre.
This is a very significant indicator that the USA is in danger of fast decline. The research to develop and design new things and improve old things is going to be done by the Chinese and the Indians.
Therefore, our economic advances will be eclipsed by other countries who are doing more research, etc.
True. Could this work be done by advanced masters students, tho? It's one thing to spend 2 years on a degree you might conceivably use as a stepping stone for something else, but the time and effort for the doctorate are just too much in a field w/o tenured jobs.
Just so you know, any good research school will fund your degree, at least during the classwork phase. In my program, we are all fully funded for about 5 years, long enough in our field to do the dissertation. My son's friend just started a program at Cornell and is funded for 7 years.
I would advise anyone who is serious about their studies only to apply to schools that give a full ride. Anything else and they are just taking your money and/or using you to teach classes.
It's mostly masters degrees who get snookered in by life's needs to become EBD...and never finish the Ph. D. And some Ph.D's who aren't good enough to get tenured. But the system requires it. A dark underbelly to the university system. Math is almost as bad.
If I weren't young and single I'd definately not be in my program. Many of the guys and gals are older, married and with kids coming back to get their Ph.D, and it doesn't make much sense to me.....stay in comfy land and wait until retirement
I made the mistake/learning experience of going into the corporate world right after I graduated, and while it was dreary, it paid fairly well and was about as easy as one could imagine.
I moved to California and got a "grown-up" job.
I sat at a desk in an air-conditioned grey rectangle.
I bought cool "professional" clothes and wasted money on stuff I didn't need.
I drank overpriced coffees.
I felt myself turning into a "metrosexual" and felt dirty...hehe
I looked at my new light olive green Jetta (with white interior) while staring by the waterfountain, wondering why I bought that.
I did about 5 hours of actual work in 40 hours, and I was considered a "real go-getter" and over achiever in my department, the bosses loved me.
I showed up, spoke english, and turned things in on time. I was in line for big things....
Sometimes I got to give a report at a meeting.
I flirted (unsuccessfully) with the young gals.
Occasionally Some VIP would come up with a new project for the next quarter and we'd all say how he was sooo smart, and then we'd go back to our desks and check our fantasy baseball leagues....
Someone would be flirting, someone would be mad at someone, someone was just asking to be fired but no one would ever fire her.....it was like high school with a twice monthly paycheck and we met for drinks on friday at 5:15.
Surrounded by the petty, hoping one day to play my cards right and be the Regional District Vice President of the South Central Market....
I simply couldn't do that for the next 45 years....
I knew I'd jump off the friggin building before I was 35...
So I'd rather be in a field I love and even if I don't get the perfect gig I'm ok with that. I'm content to work at some small school , or gasp! somewhere outside my field for a few years while I wait for the baby boomers to drop off...
I've looked around my department, and they're all from the "Woodstock nation" and clinging on to tenure for dear life. Even with the advances in medical sciences, the hippies can't live forever, and that should open up a ton of jobs in the History department, as well as Art theraphy, English, Psychology, Sociology, Fundementals of basket weaving, Political Science,...
FWIW (apparently not much), I'm working on a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. I have completed all the course work, the language requirements, and the comprehensive exams. Next month I start the dissertation process.
LOL, especially the speaking English part.
I'm content to ... wait for the baby boomers to drop off...
How long can you wait? This boomer isn't going anywhere. As long as the brain cells hold out, I'm holding on. : )
Seriously, what are you doing while you wait for us old folks to die off? Have you been able to find an academic gig?
I know the feeling, man.
Worked for 2 years, did not like where I was going (nowhere), went back to school, then spent 4 years getting PhD.
But I'm in Comp. Sci. I couldnt stand the oppression of political correctness. I knew academia was not where I could be. So I got a 'real' job.
I also used my research skills to make money in the stock market (btw, my advice - short oil).
And instead of a writer, i'm a freeper and blogger (sigh).
Post hole digger
hehe..
I think the bong resin of the 60's had special preservative powers....they just keep going and going...
I'm ok where I am. But there are other gigs out there, if you're willing to move or live in small town America you can find a gig. Or there's the wandering Adjunct act, exciting and fun, unless you're married with kids.
People in history also forget to look at the Archives and Museum angle. I have several friends doing this now and they simply love it. It's like the corporate world, only with really smart, really laid back people.
It actually pays much better than teaching, and if you can get into the government side, Dear Lord! you're set for life.......I've been tempted.
Wait... I've got it! These wacky departments keep pundits and comedians employed, providing entertainment and outrage to the masses. Ward Churchill alone has provided thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of content for our radio shows and newspapers.
Not an issue......our outsourcing and open borders policies will take care of the problem.....
History fell apart after 1970, because the departments had failed to hold students to high standards. The PHD had become a "union card" for teaching in colleges. We need remember, howeever, that befpre WWII, the PHd was not needed for college work.
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