In his 1945 seminal report, Science The Endless Frontier, presidential science advisor Vannevar Bush laid out the blueprint for R&D in post-war America: “New knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research” conducted in universities and research labs, which is then applied to develop new products by the private sector and new and improved weapons by the defense sector. The report was quite influential and led to the considerable expansion of university research, much of it supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Heath (NIH) and other US federal agencies.
A number of large industrial companies also embraced these recommendations, and launched or expanded corporate research labs, such as ATT’s Bell Labs, GE Research, Xerox PARC and IBM Research. Their job was to push the frontiers of knowledge by conducting both basic and applied research, which would hopefully lead to innovative technologies and products.
A doctoral degree or PhD has long been a key requirement for most research positions, whether in universities, or corporate and government labs. Thus, since the post-war expansion of research, the number of PhDs has been steadily rising. NSF data shows that the number of PhD recipients per year from US universities has more than quintupled, - from under 10,000 in 1958 to almost 55,000 in 2017. Over three quarter of the degrees awarded in 2017 were in STEM disciplines: 23% in Life Sciences, 18% in Engineering, 17% in Social Sciences, 11% in Physical Sciences, and 7% in Math and Computer Sciences. Beyond STEM, 10% of 2017 PhDs were in the Humanities and Arts, 9% in Education, and 5% in various other disciplines.
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the value of a PhD education. According to 2017 BLS data, recipients of doctoral degrees had among the lowest unemployment rates at 1.5%, compared with 2.2% of those with master’s degrees, 2.5% with bachelor degrees and an overall unemployment rate of 3.6%. Holders of doctoral degrees were also among the best paid, with weekly median earnings of $1,743, slightly below holders of professional degrees, - e.g. physicians, dentists, lawyers, - at $1,836, and higher than the $1,401 for master’s degrees and $1,173 for bachelor’s.
Given these positive figures, one would expect near universal agreement on the value of obtaining a PhD. But, in fact, this is not the case. A number of recent articles have been questioning whether a PhD is worth it. Let’s take a closer look at their arguments.
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