Does obtaining a Ph.D in your field matter?
 

I've often thought about whether or not get my Ph.d in Information Systems later on ,or just stop and get my Master's. I have a friend who is a Ph.D candidate,and she tells me that it's quite difficult,but worth it. Naturally,if you have a Ph.d...the assumption is that you're a college professor,but it all depends on what your field is. Since my field is technology,I can do pretty much what I want.

What do you think? Does obtaining a Doctoral degree really matter?

It depends on what you want to do with it. You have to be honest with yourself.

I am a chemist, and straight out of undergrad I entered a PhD program, intent on getting my PhD in chemistry and eventually becoming a professor. Hated it, wasn't ready, left with a MS and got a job.

At my first professional conference, I spoke to a PhD chemist who had 30+ years in the industry, and I explained to him my dilemma about finishing the PhD or staying industry.

His advice was "Figure out what you really want your career to be about. If you want to be a technical expert and stay on the technical track, get the PhD. If you want to move up in management, get an MBA instead."

Talk to some folks in your field, I'm sure they can give you good perspective.

Do you regret not getting your PhD? Since I'm in the technology field,my specialty will be in information security and networks. I want my research to be used for business and government purposes.

Sounds like you need a PhD to me. If you want to do research and have your findings be used to determine public policy, you need those important letters behind your name. If you wanted to just go out and get any old job in your field, the PhD would probably be overkill. Of course, the advanced degree in my field (MD) is absolutely necessary!

I also believe that the path to a PhD requires a lot of strength,discipline and money. If I'm lucky,I can get my future employers to pay for it. I also have another question...should you obtain your grad degrees online or in person? Because I know that my schedule will be quite hectic...I'll get my degrees online.

So,in your field,it would depend on your area of interest. But you could still get it anyway,and not be a professor,right?

I would imagine that it wouldn't be worth the money to do it online - if you're going to do it, do it in person.

A PhD is a LOT of work - you're going to have to either make the time to get the PhD, or pursue other avenues.

I'm not trying to be rude, but in most cases, the online degree is a shortcut that won't prepare you sufficiently.

ETA: As far as whether it's worth it, you have to look at your field, your career goals, and make the decision. You may want to talk to some of your college professors to get some perspective.

I have my PhD in molecular genetics. And I was attempting to go for the professor track, but due to several personal setbacks, I left my field altogether and am doing something wholly different.

A Ph.D. in any field teaches you some basics, what the current literature is of your interest, understanding it, defending your thoughts, and writing about it for publications. Afterward, you have to write grants, etc. to stay in the field. You have to interact with your field's experts, etc by making presentations, etc.

IMHO, you don't need a Ph.D. if you want to get paid and have the oooolala job.

But those letters behind your name make you the expert in the field of which you speak, without having really to publish in that area. Especially if you KNOW it.

The only difference is, you can NOT a physician, and laypeople often are confused.

Think about it this way, in the United Kingdom, they view the Philosophy of Doctorate higher than they do physician... Probably, long ago, a physician was also the undertaker and graver...

If higher ed is your career goal, then do not get an online degree. We routinely eliminate people from candidate pools who have an online degree.

Why does it matter if they have an online degree? Is it accreditation?

Among other things.

Don't get me started on online MBAs...

Do you mean the "University of Phoenix" type, or the "University of Texas Online MBA" type? Or are both lacking?

I can think of a couple of legitimate online advanced degree programs...UConn Law does an LLM in insurance program that's done online, and I think a couple of other law schools have online LLM programs. (For those who don't know, and LLM is a Master in Laws, usually held by someone who specializes in a field like insurance law or tax). Of course, those people already have jobs, and they're looking for more experience in their specialty.

I don't know enough about the U of Texas online MBA, but I think it's more likely than not that you'll find online programs to be duds. That could be for a variety of reasons - some aren't accredited and have lackluster faculty, some aren't well organized, whatever. Some, you essentially just have to show up and pay the fee and you get the degree.

I didn't mean UT specifically; I meant an MBA program from a "real" (for lack of a better term) school that just happens to be online. I'm planning on going for my MBA soon, and several good schools have online programs. Of course, I'd prefer going through the actual on-campus program, but I'm not sure if I want to move to another college town anytime soon.

I think that the key to finding out whether or not a online university is legit is to travel to the school itself. Online scams occur everyday,and it's also important to check the school's accreditation. Also,most people attend online universities because it's more easier for those who have hectic professional and personal lives. But if you only have a hectic professional life,then go to grad school in person.

I don't think it's so much an issue of scammary or not. I think there's just a basic assumption that an online program is not likely to be as rigorous, balanced or thorough as a traditional program. Lots of the learning comes from classroom discussions and personal interactions with other students and with faculty. An online degree just sounds too much like a correspondence course. That may be changing, I know, and probably will continue to change, but I think that the correspondence-school connotation is still wide-spread, and not without reason.

Perhaps I'm biased, but to be blunt, I probably wouldn't think of on online PhD as a "real" PhD. And I sure wouldn't consider a PhD from a school that's only online to be comparable to a PhD from a brick and morter institution. May not be fair, but that's how I see it.

Both, really. I don't consider U of P a real MBA program, since it's not accredited by a major governing body. Honestly, it seems like a joke to me.

UT actually doesn't have an online MBA; you'll find that most business schools in the top 20-50 won't even bother with an online MBA. Some may or may not offer individual classes online, but since I didn't consider online MBAs, I don't really know.

So much about getting an MBA is about networking and collaborating with your cohort. Most people I know who did traditional full-time, executive, and evening MBAs say that the interaction with your professors, classmates, and guest lecturers was the single most important thing about their educations. Part of the reason you pursue higher education is access--to more money, to different perspectives, you name it. I don't exactly know what you're accessing if all you're doing is logging on.

These pretty much sum up my feelings. Any graduate degree you receive, whether it be a masters, JD, MBA, or MD, whatever, has to do with that access issue. It's the face-to-face interaction with your professors and fellow students that makes the experience, and how you can parlay that into your future career goals. It's very hard, if not impossible, to get that same experience out of an online program.

I've known a few people who have done the online thing, and for the most part, it seemed like they just wanted the letters after their name, not the extra knowledge and hard work that went with it. That may be generalizing, but that's been my experience.

And, I think this is the opinion of anyone who is in a position to hire people at this level. All advanced degrees are NOT equal! It may not be fair, but it's a reality. It's about the equivalent of going to the Caribbean for Med school or a DO program. When we chose residents for our radiology program, those candidates went to the very bottom of the pile despite grades and test scores. The experience with graduates from these programs is generally not equivalent to MD programs for us so this colors our subsequent evaluation of future applicants.

The timing is kind of funny, but The National Jurist, a magazine for law students, had an article this month about online law schools. Maybe I'm being hardheaded, but I just don't see how you can get the same type of education in an online program as those of us who go the brick and mortar route (whether in a day or evening program).

You probably can't, and the law schools know it. I think it comes down to the issue of some graduate degrees being "cash cows" for the Universities. Clearly, the school pays far less for an online student than for a traditional student, but there's usually not that big a difference in tuition; many online programs do not offer scholarships or fellowships like brick and mortar institutions do.

They talked about the cost issue a lot in the article, how it allowed "non-traditional" students to get law degrees.

The thing is, though, that there are a lot of "non-traditional" students in my program, at a pretty solid state school. The evening program is a lot of work if you're working full time - but, then again, a law degree (or any graduate degree, for that matter) is supposed to be a lot of work.

I feel like part of it is that it's sold as some sort of shortcut to a graduate degree. There shouldn't be any shortcut.

At my old work I knew three different girls who'd independently decided they wanted to go to an online school. They were each the kind to cut corners and look for any shortcut they could find, even if it meant cheating a little bit. I didn't have much respect for them.

Makes it hard for me to take online schools.