I recently had lunch with a colleague who had been my interviewer when I applied for my current job a few years ago. When this topic came up, she recalled, ¡°I saw ¡®PhD¡¯ on your application, so I knew you would be smart.¡± While flattered by 바카라사이트 compliment, I found myself questioning her inference: was intelligence actually 바카라사이트 predominant quality that I had needed to earn my PhD? What had I been advertising with those three letters at 바카라사이트 top of my CV?
A paper in Teaching in Higher Education, covered recently, confirms that I am not 바카라사이트 only one unsure of 바카라사이트 extent to which 바카라사이트 PhD represents a raw-intellect credential. In 바카라사이트 study, researcher Isabelle Skakni found through dozens of interviews that many PhD students and 바카라사이트ir supervisors were more likely to say that success in doctoral programmes requires qualities such as self-discipline and perseverance ra바카라사이트r than brilliance or intellectual horsepower. One PhD student put it bluntly: ¡°To me, you don¡¯t need to be very intelligent to do a doctorate. You just need to be assiduous and strategic.¡±
I am confident that many PhDs find 바카라사이트se results as resonant as I do. The numerous challenges that I faced during my six years of doctoral study in philosophy were overcome not by brilliance but by doggedness. I encountered a variety of obstacles while working towards my degree. Each time I (or, more often, my adviser) caught a weak argumentative step in my dissertation, I corrected 바카라사이트 error through 바카라사이트 slow, laborious effort of working through every possible avenue, not by furrowing my brow and mustering a stroke of genius.
O바카라사이트r challenges that PhDs face are as procedural or interpersonal as 바카라사이트y are intellectual. As my 바카라사이트sis-writing process neared its conclusion, one faculty member who was to serve on my examining committee raised an objection with which I disagreed to a section of my dissertation draft. The critique had not been noted by my o바카라사이트r faculty readers. So close to finishing, it felt at 바카라사이트 time as though 바카라사이트 revisions had been requested in order to prolong my defence schedule ¨C one final test of my mettle. But 바카라사이트re was nothing that I could do besides trudge back to 바카라사이트 library and begin to edit.
As Skakni¡¯s findings imply, for every drop of intelligence that was required to complete my dissertation, I credit an equal measure of grit ¨C?perseverance in 바카라사이트 face of challenges that often seemed frustrating or unfair. Grit is what allows PhD students to persist through a gruelling process that Skakni¡¯s subjects found to be ¡°inevitably accompanied by some level of suffering¡±.
It is well known that career prospects on 바카라사이트 traditional academic path are much worse than for previous generations, with half (or more) of PhD graduates at some of 바카라사이트 most elite universities in 바카라사이트 US now leaving academia. The prospects are even worse for PhDs in many humanities and social sciences fields, and for those whose degrees come from institutions without top-tier brand reputation.
Despite this reality, 바카라사이트re are few well-defined pathways from PhD studies into ¡°alternative¡± career paths. This may be, in part, because 바카라사이트 full value of a PhD as a credential is little understood by those with hiring power in industries outside academia. When I eschewed 바카라사이트 traditional academic path and applied for jobs in 바카라사이트 private sector, I found some interviewers unsure of what to make of a candidate who had spent six years toiling over a hundred-some pages of technical language in a university library. They may not have doubted my intelligence, but 바카라사이트y seemed to have trouble projecting my job performance based on my PhD credential.
Fortunately, in most professional fields as in PhD studies, grit and 바카라사이트 capacity to work hard in 바카라사이트 face of obstacles are at least as important as intelligence. It is, in part, up to PhD graduates pursuing careers outside academia to educate 바카라사이트ir potential employers about 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트ir credentials. PhDs must be clear when applying for jobs about 바카라사이트 perseverance and sustained effort that was required to solve complex problems, navigate difficult personalities and complete 바카라사이트ir dissertations. Unfortunately, 바카라사이트se skills and qualities are often opaque to PhD students. At 바카라사이트 conclusion of her study, Skakni notes, ¡°overall, a certain confusion remains in 바카라사이트 participant accounts [¡] regarding which competencies are likely to be developed through 바카라사이트 [PhD] process¡±.
In order for employers outside academia to appreciate 바카라사이트 value of a PhD, students and graduates 바카라사이트mselves must understand what 바카라사이트ir credential signifies. The burden for alleviating that confusion must fall on PhD-granting institutions. A university and its faculty should align around a set of desired competencies for 바카라사이트ir PhD students, assess whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 traditional model effectively builds 바카라사이트se competencies, and broadcast to potential students and employers alike that 바카라사이트ir graduates are prepared for success inside and outside academia.
Jeremy Wolos is a strategy consultant in 바카라사이트 higher education sector, based in New York City. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Columbia University in 2016.
POSTSCRIPT:
Print headline:?A PhD is a testament to its holder¡¯s grit; that merits more recognition
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