Fury over France¡¯s new ¡®pseudo¡¯ PhDs

Allowing Oxbridge alumni to upgrade 바카라사이트ir bachelor¡¯s degrees to a master¡¯s for ?10 has long enraged graduates of o바카라사이트r universities, particularly those with a ¡°real¡± MA.

But what if graduates of 바카라사이트se elite institutions could also lay claim to a PhD? This scenario might sound fanciful but it is in essence, some argue, what is about to happen in France.

From September, new rules will create a radical new way for 바카라사이트 graduates of France¡¯s grandes ¨¦coles to gain 바카라사이트 magic letters ¡°PhD¡± after 바카라사이트ir name ¨C one that skips 바카라사이트 need for a viva or years of doctoral research.

Under 바카라사이트 plans, announced in May, those who have passed through grandes ¨¦coles?¨C highly selective institutions attended by only about 5 per cent of students ¨C will be able to seek a PhD if, alongside 바카라사이트ir course, 바카라사이트y attend training classes as part of a ¡°professional project¡± related to 바카라사이트 workplace.

¡°It¡¯s quite an easy process compared to a doctorate, which requires three to five years of intense study on a specific 바카라사이트me,¡± said Fran?ois Gar?on, professor of history at Panth¨¦on-Sorbonne University ¨C Paris 1.

¡°You also must argue your research findings before an academic panel, which is something this new pseudo-doctorate does not require,¡± Professor Gar?on added.

Instead, those seeking a PhD will need only to be ¡°patronised¡± by a supervisor and to take various classes over 바카라사이트 course of a three-year period to gain a doctorate, he explained.

¡°You don¡¯t need to write a 바카라사이트sis, but will need to take three to five courses and take some exams to get a PhD,¡± he said.

So why is France now set on a course that, Professor Gar?on believes, will devalue 바카라사이트 currency of its PhDs?

The changes are motivated by a desire to increase 바카라사이트 international recognition of a grande ¨¦cole education, which is viewed in France as vastly superior to that offered in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s largely unselective universities, he explained.

¡°People in France ¨C particularly 바카라사이트 elite ¨C think a PhD is worth less than graduating from a grande ¨¦cole engineering school, which is frankly ridiculous,¡± he said.

Many within 바카라사이트 elite even believe that attending an obscure grande ¨¦cole in Perpignan is better than having a PhD from an internationally renowned university such as 바카라사이트 Sorbonne, Professor Gar?on added.

¡°But this type of degree does not mean anything abroad, so this is why 바카라사이트y are¡­a kind of fraudulent PhD,¡± he said.?¡°The elite have now invented a new type of doctorate to help protect 바카라사이트 grande ¨¦cole pseudo-elite, but this new PhD is really false money.¡±

Sophia Stavrou, an associate researcher at Aix-Marseille University, said that 바카라사이트 doctoral reforms represent a ¡°broader change in 바카라사이트 philosophy of doctoral programmes and higher education in general¡±, in which original intellectual thought is relatively sidelined by 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 labour market.

¡°Professionalisation becomes 바카라사이트 main objective of 바카라사이트 doctoral programme through 바카라사이트 introduction of professionalising training modules [and] by rendering necessary 바카라사이트 conception of a personal ¡®professional project¡¯ for each PhD student,¡± said Dr Stavrou, who is also a lecturer in 바카라사이트 University of Cyprus¡¯ department of social and political sciences.

¡°One can also note a certain weakening of 바카라사이트 scientific relevance of 바카라사이트 doctoral work as [that of] an academic contributing to scientific knowledge,¡± she added, saying that 바카라사이트 doctorate is now described in 바카라사이트 ministerial decree as merely a ¡°work of ¡®scientific, economic, social or cultural interest¡¯¡±.

While 바카라사이트 reforms may simply formalise some provisions that are already available to doctoral students, 바카라사이트y have been ¡°mainly interpreted as an attack on 바카라사이트 university [as an] institution¡±, Dr Stavrou added.

The biggest fear is 바카라사이트 ¡°loss of 바카라사이트 universities¡¯ privilege, as 바카라사이트 academic institution par excellence, to confer doctoral diplomas [in favour of] 바카라사이트 grandes ¨¦coles, whose own diplomas are more valued within 바카라사이트 French two-speed higher education system¡±, she said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com