The Doctorate

I found it fascinating to research the origins of the term “PhD” – or, Doctor of Philosophy. And I thought I’d share it.

Very Short History/Herstory Indeed

First of all, did you know that the first doctorate was not awarded in the UK until early in the 20th Century? Yep, and only because too many Masters students were leaving the UK for America or Germany to get the degree. In other words, Jolly Old England needed to market a competing product, and so they did in 1901 (the same year that Canada debuted their PhD).  Turns out, however, that this involved no research training, and therefore did not have the desired effect of attracting foreign research students. Finally in 1917 the current degree of Ph.D. was introduced, along the lines of the American and German model, and quickly became popular with both British and foreign students.The first PhD was awarded in the USA in the middle of the 19th Century at Yale. The first American doctor was Eugene Schuyler who was also the first person to translate the work of Leo Tolstoy.

The word “Philosophy” is based on the Greek word for love of wisdom and thus it was fitting that one could earn a doctorate simply because one loved to learn. That is, of course, my reason for having pursued the degree.

In Germany, the national government had funded the universities and the research programs of the leading professors. It was impossible for professors who were not approved by Berlin to train graduate students. In the United States, by contrast, private universities and state universities alike were independent of the federal government. Independence was high, but funding was low. The breakthrough came from private foundations, which began regularly supporting research in science and history; large corporations sometimes supported engineering programs. The postdoctoral fellowship was established by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1919. Meanwhile, the leading universities, in cooperation with the learned societies, set up a network of scholarly journals. “Publish or perish” became the formula for faculty advancement in the research universities. After World War II, state universities across the country expanded greatly in undergraduate enrollment, and eagerly added research programs leading to masters or doctorate degrees. Their graduate faculties had to have a suitable record of publication and research grants. Late in the 20th century, “publish or perish” became increasingly important in colleges and smaller universities.

I thought that was an interesting distinction between America and the rest of the world – namely, that the Universities were independent and that corporations were responsible for furthering research that led to a doctorate. There’s that nasty word again – corporation – so reviled by the Left in my country. Turns out, not one of the “doctors” on the Left would have their wonderful jobs were it not for corporations coming through and spending their profit (another four letter word to the Left) on furthering knowledge. I am proud of that heritage, the Left be damned.

Original Research

A PhD candidate must submit a project, thesis or dissertation often consisting of a body of original academic research, which is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.  In the USA a candidate must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university. Universities award other types of doctorates besides the PhD, such as the Doctor of Musical Arts(DMA), a degree for music performers and the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), a degree for professional educators. In my case, the original research is entitled “Help-Seeking Behavior in a Facebook World” and is focused on broadening our understanding of what persuades or dissuades help-seekers from making initial contact with a therapist found through a Web search. My work has been defended before my committee in Reno.  That was perhaps the most stressful thing I have gone through in past couple of decades.

So there you have it – a short review of the degree. Damn, I am proud of the thing.