Is Anyone Here a Doctor? : An Overview of Postgraduate Studies and Academia
Most of us grew up with the idea that anyone hailed as a doctor would be the type who has stethoscopes around their necks and attends to…
Most of us grew up with the idea that anyone hailed as a doctor would be the type who has stethoscopes around their necks and attends to ailments big or small. However, as the meme above suggests, there are other kinds of ‘doctors’.
The word ‘doctor’ actually comes from the latin word ‘decere’, meaning to teach. Many of us are likely accustomed to medical doctors (MD), or ‘teachers of medicine’. It is a postgraduate qualification which can be obtained through going through a course of medical school. It is also necessary in many countries for anyone who wants to practise medicine to have this qualification.
However, another type of doctor includes Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), or ‘teachers of philosophy’; with the word philosophy from Greek, meaning ‘love of knowledge’. I’d like to think of them as philosophers of the modern day. As the name suggests, they do teach, but they don’t necessarily teach philosophy. PhD graduates specialise in one very particular field, in which they carry out research. PhDs are also often requirements for educators in universities.
Traditionally, most postgraduate doctorate degrees are called PhDs, but recently there have been a wider variety of titles including Doctor of Engineering (DEng), Doctor of Music (DMus), Doctor of Architecture (D.Arch) etc. Usually, the title Dr will be included in their greeting or their respective title will be appended to the end of their name after a comma i.e. John Doe, PhD.
The Process of Getting a PhD
Most PhD courses require prerequisites, including a relevant Master’s degree, or even an undergraduate degree with sufficient research experience such as an honour’s thesis. Universities require this as they want PhD candidates to have prior research experience and knowledge.
The next step would be to find a supervisor from the desired institution. Supervisors should have relevant expertise in the specific field of research and would support candidates throughout their PhD. A research proposal is also required to apply for a PhD, informing the institution what kind of research the candidates would perform in their studies.
After successfully applying and getting through an interview, PhD students will conduct their research and gather data to write a thesis. At the end of a PhD programme, PhD students will go through a ‘viva voce’, Latin for ‘live voice’. It is essentially an oral presentation of their thesis to a panel of experts in the field. This is to ensure that the data gathered and presented is sound and is a significant enough contribution to the field. Passing this, candidates graduate, obtaining their PhDs.
Personally, I am not a PhD holder, so let’s hear from those who are or are in the process of doing one.
The first interview is with Dr Ong Kian Ming. He has a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master’s degree in Economics from Cambridge University and holds a PhD in political science from Duke University, USA. He is also the former deputy minister for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Why did you pursue this field?
After finishing master’s, I worked for a while and decided I wanted to pursue a PhD programme. At the time I was interested to contribute to the political science arena in Malaysia on the policy side of things. I also really wanted to go to the US, so I applied to go to the US and received a scholarship to do my PhD in political science.
What did you hope to achieve when you started pursuing your further studies?
I think the process of doing a PhD is one that is supposed to change the way you think and look at the world. That certainly was the case for me in the US where I was exposed to a level of critical thinking that was beyond the level of my undergrad and even my master’s degree. It allowed me to look at the different problems in the world in a more comprehensive way and be able to apply that thinking and find solutions to different problems in the world.
What do you do as a PhD student in statistics?
One area of research would be to look at voting trends in Malaysia. The most recent elections that were held last year, I collected a very extensive data set that allowed me to look at things like turnout, patterns according to different age groups and voting patterns according to different racial groups in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc.) and allows me to see how different groups in Malaysia voted in the last election.
One thing you enjoyed most in your PhD journey?
Attending various talks by very distinguished academics who presented their ideas on different areas of political science. It was interesting because these were people who were leading thinkers in their respective fields. I was also given the opportunity to ask them challenging questions about their own research, so that was something quite eye-opening to me.
One thing that you despised?
One of the biggest challenges was the actual process of writing the PhD, because you will never have the arguments and data down 100%, there will always be gaps you will have to address so in my attempts to address the gaps, there were certain mental hurdles I had to overcome so that I could complete my PhD in the time due.
Do you have anything you want to say to like-minded people who are interested in your field and want to further pursue it?
For people who want to do a PhD in general, I would say do it because you are passionate about answering some kind of academic question, don’t do it just because you want to get a PhD or a doctor in front of your name. For those who are really interested in political science, I think it is important that you have sufficient intellectual curiosity so that you can continue exploring different areas of political science beyond even your thesis or project so that you can have a healthy and productive academic career.
What are some ways up-and-coming academics can look after their mental health whilst on their academic journey?
It’s important to have close friends and even family members or your partners that you can talk to on a regular basis to do a ‘mental check’ from time to time to ensure that everything is okay from a mental and physical perspective. It would also be good if you were able to maintain regular exercise so that your mood and also your hormones are in balance.
Why do so many people still want to do a PhD even though the pay gap between a master’s degree and a PhD is not significant?
For people who want to do a PhD, it’s not so much on the financial rewards, it’s more about wanting to see whether you can have a career in academia whereby you can spend time and effort into doing the research and teaching that you are really passionate about. It’s really something that you have a deep passion for before you even contemplate getting it. Besides, there are other ways of getting rich quickly.
Research suggests that people with doctorate degrees are less likely to have their employment impacted by recessions?
If you already have a stable teaching job and tenure in an academic institution, even if there is a recession, there will still be people going to university so you still have a job teaching. Furthermore, let’s say you have tenure in a university, it’s for a lifetime or until you retire. At the same time, if you can’t get a job in academia after you graduate with a PhD, then you may float around doing things and if you lose your job before a recession, you may not be able to find another job in academia in a very timely way. These are some of the risks that academics face.
Do you think by having a PhD, it helped you achieve a better career growth? In comparison to a master’s.
Really depends on what you want in your career. If you want to be in the corporate sector and develop your career in banking, consulting etc, then I don’t think there’s a need for a PhD. If you want to develop your career in academia starting out with a master’s degree and want to go higher up within the academic career path then it is almost necessary you have to do a PhD.
How relevant was your PhD to your time as a minister
The ministry I was in was the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and because my undergraduate and master’s were in economics and my PhD was in political science, there were a lot of things I could apply to my job as a deputy minister based on my educational experience including my PhD programme, but that might not be the case for everyone in politics. It allowed me to perform my job in a more value-added way and gain the recognition of industry players.
Do you have any general comments about academia?
I think Malaysia is still a young country so the field of academia is still being developed. In terms of trying to increase the academic standards in Malaysia from a research and teaching standpoint both in public and private universities, it is an ongoing development process whereby we need good leadership both in government as well as the institutes of higher learning to build up the kind of environment and ecosystem for a better academic output.
The second interview is from an unnamed mathematics lecturer from Taylor’s College, currently pursuing their PhD in Applied Statistics.
Their academic background includes Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics, a Master’s Degree in Applied Statistics and a PhD in Applied Statistics, all of which are obtained from Universiti Malaya.
Why did you want to pursue a PhD?
It’s needed for my industry (Education)
Why did you pursue this field?
Actually, statistics is applied in finance, I want to build statistical models which are useful
What did you hope to achieve when you started pursuing your further studies?
(I want to) finish as soon as possible.
What do you do as a PhD student in statistics?
I build statistical models which forecasts share markets and its trading durations.
One thing you enjoyed most in your PhD journey?
I’m really happy and find it rewarding when I can finally obtain some results from my research.
One thing that you despised?
It is very time-consuming.
Do you have anything you want to say to like-minded people who are interested in your field and want to further pursue it?
Even corporate companies want PhD graduates, not just in the education industry, so it might be useful to continue to further your studies.
What are some ways up-and-coming academics can look after their mental health whilst on their academic journey?
Exercise is very helpful to release stress and keep healthy, there is also no time to do other things.
How much is the pay gap from a master’s degree to a PhD?
It is actually a lot, depending on the country you work with.
Research suggests that people with doctorate degrees are less likely to have their employment impacted by recession, do you know if this is true?
Not really, even having a PhD doesn’t even guarantee a job.
Do you think by having a PhD, it helped you achieve a better career growth? In comparison to a master’s.
Definitely, there are more opportunities that are open to PhD graduates.
[Written by: Teoh Jin. Edited by: Ruby]