Was it worth it doing a PhD? Part 1: On essay mills
Very recently, I found myself pondering on whether I felt it was worth doing a PhD and whether or not I should have stopped after the MBA. There were many reasons that brought me to decide to do a PhD, and since this year many of my dear friends are defending their doctoral dissertations, it’s also been sort of enlightening to see the road they took when undertaking their degrees. The vast majority of my dearest friends who have struggled with their PhDs have questioned at one point or another whether it was worth doing it.
There are many elements that need to be analyzed but the first one I thought about has also been touched upon by Darren in a recent entry where he mentions essay mills. Broadly speaking, essay (and degree) mills are respectively online sites that offer to write up your undergraduate paper, Masters or PhD thesis (depending on what you need at the time), or grant you a PhD based on your accumulated years of experience. Both types of mills are in my opinion, illegal. But both seem to be popular as well.
I have conducted independent scholarly research in more fields than just my doctoral dissertation research. I spent years of my life analyzing data, reading the literature, thinking hard about the research questions I wanted to examine. So when I see these essay and degree-granting mills, I can’t help but cringe. What student on his/her right mind would want to buy an undergraduate paper, or even worse, a PhD thesis?
For me, the most gratifying part of having done a PhD is not the credentials themselves, but the methodological, theoretical and empirical rigor that comes with the training. I am interested in good research questions and I am willing to go the distance to answer them. If someone is going to retreat to the simple, easy answer “I’ll buy it on the internet”, I don’t see that it has any value whatsoever. Their educational process is therefore flawed.
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- Was it worth doing a PhD? Part 2: Asking interesting questions
Most things you learn in a traditional school environment, aka University, become obsolete a few years after the course you take. Technology/Science/the Internet are making things evolve so quickly, it is almost better to do things on your own, teach yourself, and do things that make you happy all day everyday. I went to University and also got a Degree in professional web development here in Vancouver.
As a high-school teacher, I’ve noticed the impact that modern technology has had on exam security. The educators are usually NOT on the cutting edge either — the kids are. Cheating results.
What I expect will happen is a movement toward open-book tests, oral examination (1-on-1); in general, much more holistic evaluation.
A few of comments:
Comment the first: You say: “The vast majority of my dearest friends who have struggled with their PhDs have questioned at one point or another whether it was worth doing it.” But, really, doesn’t *everyone* who undertakes a Ph.D. struggle with it at some point? I mean, some of us have more struggles than others, but I haven’t met anyone who didn’t struggle at least somewhat.
Comment the second: Are essay and degree mills really illegal? I mean, clearly they are unethical – plagiarism is a serious form of academic dishonesty – but are they really against the law?
Comment the third: I can’t imagine someone buying a thesis at the undergrad, Masters or PhD level actually getting away with passing it off as their own. I mean, wouldn’t their committee notice that they hadn’t given any updates for four years, then suddenly have all this data and analysis? And how would the person be able to answer all the methodological and theoretical questions they would be asked at their defence? As for anyone who gets their PhD through some shady online institution – I don’t think they would be taken seriously in academia. I mean, everyone looks at where you did your PhD. If I have a PhD from UBC, someone else has one from Cambridge and a third person has theirs from the Hollywood Upstairs Online College… well, I’m sure you see what I mean!
@Air – I give open-book exams. And I tell my students that it’s because (a) in the real world, you will rarely be in a situation where you can’t look something up, and (b) I don’t care if they can memorize and then regurgitate facts – that’s not learning! – I care if they can apply, synthesize and evaluate information. It means more work on my part to create exams and mark them, but I figure that my job is to teach students useful things!
OK, Dr. R., I will stop hijacking your comments section now.
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