Permanent Head Damage – PhD
The title of this piece of writing is a bit funny
and weird. Apparently it is a distortion of the coveted PhD degree that now-a-days
every professional is after. The number of people pursuing PhD has skyrocketed
in the recent days. It is an unprecedented phenomenon in the academic and
professional world. Traditionally doctors were the respected people in any
community because of their expertize to cure you and restore your health. With
a tablet, with a few questions, a few taps,
pats and observations they know what is the problem and which pill to take care
of the pain or discomfort. Sure, they are respectable, knowledgeable people who
saves lives. Then came along research and anyone who does much deep independent
work was given the degree Doctor of Philosophy. They also put Dr. as a prefix
confusing the general public. Now when you see Dr. in front of a name board,
you wonder if it is a medical doctor who can help you or not. And of course
quacks who practice medicine also put the same prefix for their names. And the
trend gathered momentum over the years and it is an epidemic everywhere.
In general society, we are almost sure that every
respectable person needs to have a PhD and so we assume that he or she is a Dr.
It is funny that In meetings or conferences, almost everyone who is on the
stage gets addressed by a Dr. prefix. In India, similar to what ‘Sir’ suffix attributes
respect for anyone, ‘Dr.’ prefix attributes knowledge for anyone.
The other day I was part of a panel discussion on
“The PhD journey”. There were few of us who completed the degree while there
were several who are in various stages of their doctoral research. It was meant
to be sharing of the experiences for the benefit of the number of people in the
organization.
Towards the end of the discussion, one of the
panelists asked a question about this slide below which showed the knowledge
circle. The question was simple: Imagine two people who work in the same field.
One completed her PhD two years back and another is working towards his degree.
Who will be more knowledgeable about the current developments in the field? The
one with the degree or the one who is yet to get his? Someone in the audience
replied without much hesitation “The one who is working towards the degree”.
It seemed everyone in the audience agreed.
I was alarmed. Really?
A person who was searching out current
developments and reading all the journal articles couple of years back, is out
of touch now and is deadwood? No more spark of inquisitiveness? No spirit of
inquiry? No curiosity to find out what else others are doing in the field? No
interest to find out who else built up further on your work? All the years of
toil was to reach that final point of rest just like a 100 meter sprint? When
you adorned the “cap and gown”, was it a signal to hang up your thinking cap?
Was the ultimate purpose of four years of slogging, to take a picture of you in
“cap and gown” with your loved ones and display the framed degree on your
office wall?
The presumption is that a person who has got her
PhD has completed a course and she moves on with regular life and there is no
more need to search out new stuff. She knows it all. After all she is a ‘Dr.’, where
as the person who is in pursuit of his degree is studying hard so that he will
pass his examination, and hence will be in touch with the current developments
in the field.
I tried to find out where is the logic coming
from. These were possible reasons I came up with.
·
You primary reason for taking a PhD is because it
is a needed to get promotion and increase in salary
·
Your understanding is that PhD is a degree like
Masters where you complete certain set courses.
·
Just like you did your Masters or Bachelors, you
pass the exams, and that is the end of the degree requirement.
·
You have not heard that most good universities
insist that you need to continue to publish certain number of peer reviewed
journal papers for further career advancement.
·
You did not know that PhD is not required for a
teaching career, but is only needed when you plan to do research and have a
quest for more knowledge.
·
One of the main reason for pursuing a doctoral
degree is to add weight to your name with a Dr. prefix, or a PhD tail.
Additionally the respectability is good to get around social circles including prominent
seats on stage in meetings.
If, one or more of the above are the reasons that
forced you to pursue a doctoral degree then there is a good chance that you
will end up developing an inner phobia for journal articles, you tend to
dismiss research done by others, you cultivate a puffed up and swollen ego that
shows up often in the wrong places. That also means that you have ‘permanent
head damage’. It may be a coincidence that the acronym is the same for ‘doctor
of philosophy’. Since you already have a paper that says that a University has
bestowed on you the degree after completing due processes and assessments, you
can loiter around in any circle of researchers or conferences or meetings. In
fact, if you know how to manipulate the right connections and is smart enough
to be in the good books of the right people, you will gain a lot in life and be
successful too. Because ‘Dr.’ is a good ladder for upward mobility.
When that is the expectation in the environment
where you work, what can you possibly expect for yourself anyway? I am not at
all surprised by the answer in the panel discussion, when the general
perception is for anyone to pursue a doctoral degree for the above reasons.
India is a country with a messed up education
system right from the KG to higher education.
·
You may get interviewed by the playschool
principal if you want admission for your 3 year old child.
·
Government schools are a disgrace to education
since a majority of them have run down physical infrastructure, empty
classrooms, but overcrowded staff rooms. The staff are permanent staff whose
have secure jobs with assured pension for life on retirement. There is no
accountability and the staff come and go as they like. Most of the children of
the teachers of government schools study in well organized English medium
schools run by private organizations where the teachers may not have any job
security but are under strict monitoring to keep standards.
·
You can get into professional colleges that offer
medical degrees by paying hefty under-the-table-fees because every parent want
their child to become a doctor. It is a business where anyone can get admission
if you have enough money to pay as capitation fees. Aptitude or quality has no
place.
·
People can go to any extend to manipulate to get
their degree. An article that appeared in Times of India in February 2018 reveals
that 75% of the doctorates in one of India’s respectable, old, public
University have flouted procedures and norms. A well-oiled machinery is at work
in University of Madras to award PhDs easily to those who pay or know the right
people. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/75-of-madras-university-phd-theses-violated-procedures/articleshow/63061749.cms
So academic institutions are getting filled with
PhDs most of which had any rigor or oversight of standards. It is a decorative
title. So what happens if there is a group of ‘damaged heads’ in an
organization and you are one of them?
·
You have a laid back attitude since you have
reached the pinnacle and there is no place else to go but stay there. You are
at the top of the knowledge mountain.
·
Your ego is so bloated that you stop listening to
anyone else.
·
You tend to throw your weight around everywhere
and insists that everyone listens to you
·
You have a sense of entitlement and will grumble,
scream and block others’ paths, if they don’t follow your opinion as orders.
·
You look at other colleagues as lesser beings, at
least in your mind. Your attitude raises it’s ugly head at times in meetings,
discussions.
If you are a real PhD who went through the
process to hone your inquisitiveness, and your curiosity is at a higher level
now, you will be a loner. The real effect of pursuing a PhD should be that one
gets to know more in-depth on a topic and have a curiosity that prompts you ask
questions. You ask your questions and want to know more. So you move forward
to formulating studies and conducts them
systematically to find answers. The outcome of the studies brings out more
knowledge and adds to the database of information available for others who will
take it forward with further questions. An organization that has such a group
of PhDs will be alive and kicking. They will advance and contribute to human
progress.
Others will remain permanently damaged, but will
continue to claim scholarships and awards.
