Re: Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future

elephantcelebes@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

<snip>

Emperically speaking -if it can be published in a major journal it
would represent significant work.



I knew it. You just flunked me. My thesis was refused by the major
journal, and had to be resubmitted as a rapid communication. It led to
major work by others, but I did not participate in that work, as I had
already gone to industry. The incentive of a virtually guaranteed PhD
as a reward for finishing my project was necessary in order to get this
work done, because I was the only guy with the skills to do it.

If Ph. D.s were granted solely on the basis of representing "significant work", the universities would have far fewer professors. If journals only published such material, many publishers would go out of business.

A lot of signficant research is never published because of restrictions, either due to company policy or security reasons. Over twenty years ago, I had some test devices that ran far longer than what a group of investigators wrote about in a paper and yet, I was prohibited from publishing my findings.


But if journal publications are an indication of a significant
breakthrough, and if employers care, then we already have your system
in place. Anybody could have looked at my resume, seen the sparse
publication list, and thrown it in the trash. Since then, my
publication list has grown to include some patents, so it's a different
ball game.

But how many people have actually read your publications or looked at your patent, let alone understand what you wrote?


At the same time, getting a PhD requires the approval of a committee of
scientists, and the peer review process for journals simply involves a
different committee. What's the difference?

And you still don't address the fact that there is no such thing as a
job requiring a PhD. Had you kicked me out of grad school, you would
still be competing with me for the same jobs. What's more, after three
years on my first industry job, my "industry experience" would trump
practically any PhD.

A lot of the work I did as an engineer could have been done by someone without a degree.


Until you figure out what a PhD is good for, limiting the supply to
increase wages is futile. There is no demand curve for PhD's.

.

Relevant Pages

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    ... already gone to industry. ... The incentive of a virtually guaranteed PhD ... and the peer review process for journals simply involves a ... different committee. ...
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  • Re: Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Futur
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    (sci.research.careers)
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