I don’t think a PhD is necessary for ground breaking math. A more plausible explanation (or so I think) is that academia is a preferable work environment, compared to being by yourself. Even for an introvert, being part of academia will be more convenient. Therefore, everyone who want to do math research will try to find a job in academia, and everyone who is smart/competent enough to do groundbreaking research is also more than smart/competent enough to get a PhD.
I have to say that I also expected some of the work to be done by non-PhDs. But given the result I think that the correlation has at least as much to do with common cause, as with causality from PhD → research.
On the other hand, it could be the other way around? Did you check if they got their PhD before or after that result. If you do a ground breaking research, you can just write it up as a thesis and get a PhD.
I agree that a math PhD is probably mostly for the sake of convenience and companionship and mentorship.
Some of the math discoveries seem to have been the PhD work. Others were produced many years after the discoverer completed their PhD. It’s a mix.
I did this research as much to find out whether I should see a PhD as attractive, as much as whether it’s necessary. I hear lots of people bemoaning their PhD or criticizing the system as a gatekeeping tool. My conclusion is that yes, the PhD system is gatekeeping and yes, it is hard, but that’s because producing new original academic knowledge is hard and the system far from perfect at identifying likely candidates. It’s risky, and many fail, and failure sucks and generates complaints.
The successful ones just continue their work and don’t bother to air their opinions on the system that they’re a part of.
There is also the fact that there are much fewer academic post-doc jobs compared to PhD position. This is probably different in different fields, but my math friend says this is defiantly the case in math. Sure the more successful are more likely to get the next job, but it is more about relative success compared to your competition, than absolute success. I don’t know if the bar to keep going happens to be reasonable in absolute terms.
The way I view a PhD is that it is an entry level research job. If you want to have a research career, you start with an entry level research job, more or less similar to other career path.
I wonder, if you want to do maths research, and don’t do a PhD, what is the alternative? The best thing about a PhD is that you get paid to do research, which is very uncommon every where else, unless you do something very applied.
Do you know of any reasonable alternatives to working in academia for less applied research? Or maybe this is what you mean by gate-keeping, that academia has monopolised funding?
Yeah, I meat “allocating” rather than “gatekeeping.”
I started this project because people complain so much about the PhD system. It makes me think that for the right person, it’s an attractive way to start a research career, but too many PhD students go in treating it like a credential. A way to make more money and impress themselves or other people. A professional degree that guarantees a good job. The only way to contribute to human progress or be a leader.
A PhD is an opportunity to do focused, original research. People should only choose that path if that’s what they really want. It’s underpaid, risky, stressful, and takes a loooong time.
I don’t think a PhD is necessary for ground breaking math. A more plausible explanation (or so I think) is that academia is a preferable work environment, compared to being by yourself. Even for an introvert, being part of academia will be more convenient. Therefore, everyone who want to do math research will try to find a job in academia, and everyone who is smart/competent enough to do groundbreaking research is also more than smart/competent enough to get a PhD.
I have to say that I also expected some of the work to be done by non-PhDs. But given the result I think that the correlation has at least as much to do with common cause, as with causality from PhD → research.
On the other hand, it could be the other way around? Did you check if they got their PhD before or after that result. If you do a ground breaking research, you can just write it up as a thesis and get a PhD.
I agree that a math PhD is probably mostly for the sake of convenience and companionship and mentorship.
Some of the math discoveries seem to have been the PhD work. Others were produced many years after the discoverer completed their PhD. It’s a mix.
I did this research as much to find out whether I should see a PhD as attractive, as much as whether it’s necessary. I hear lots of people bemoaning their PhD or criticizing the system as a gatekeeping tool. My conclusion is that yes, the PhD system is gatekeeping and yes, it is hard, but that’s because producing new original academic knowledge is hard and the system far from perfect at identifying likely candidates. It’s risky, and many fail, and failure sucks and generates complaints.
The successful ones just continue their work and don’t bother to air their opinions on the system that they’re a part of.
There is also the fact that there are much fewer academic post-doc jobs compared to PhD position. This is probably different in different fields, but my math friend says this is defiantly the case in math. Sure the more successful are more likely to get the next job, but it is more about relative success compared to your competition, than absolute success. I don’t know if the bar to keep going happens to be reasonable in absolute terms.
The way I view a PhD is that it is an entry level research job. If you want to have a research career, you start with an entry level research job, more or less similar to other career path.
I wonder, if you want to do maths research, and don’t do a PhD, what is the alternative? The best thing about a PhD is that you get paid to do research, which is very uncommon every where else, unless you do something very applied.
Do you know of any reasonable alternatives to working in academia for less applied research? Or maybe this is what you mean by gate-keeping, that academia has monopolised funding?
Yeah, I meat “allocating” rather than “gatekeeping.”
I started this project because people complain so much about the PhD system. It makes me think that for the right person, it’s an attractive way to start a research career, but too many PhD students go in treating it like a credential. A way to make more money and impress themselves or other people. A professional degree that guarantees a good job. The only way to contribute to human progress or be a leader.
A PhD is an opportunity to do focused, original research. People should only choose that path if that’s what they really want. It’s underpaid, risky, stressful, and takes a loooong time.
I completely agree. Doing a PhD for credentials is not a good strategy. Doing a PhD for money makes no sense what so ever.