Another possibly useful data point in this discussion: I spent 6 years working on my PhD before dropping out. On my resume I mention that I worked on a PhD but didn’t receive it (to explain what I was doing for all those years of my life). Multiple things happen as a result of this:
some people don’t read carefully and just think I have a PhD
some people are excited that I dropped out of one (that’s a common Bay Area reaction)
some people ignore everything under “Education” and only look at work experience
I suspect that having a repossessed PhD would receive similar sorts of reactions to having dropped out before graduation.
Another possibly useful data point in this discussion: I spent 6 years working on my PhD before dropping out. On my resume I mention that I worked on a PhD but didn’t receive it (to explain what I was doing for all those years of my life). Multiple things happen as a result of this:
some people don’t read carefully and just think I have a PhD
some people are excited that I dropped out of one (that’s a common Bay Area reaction)
some people ignore everything under “Education” and only look at work experience
I suspect that having a repossessed PhD would receive similar sorts of reactions to having dropped out before graduation.