Overvalued PhDs

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A nomination for the modern qualification of today’s more-money-than-sense cunt, the Ph.D.

I was reading an article in The Economist about the oversupply of PhD students in America. 100,000 awarded each year for 16,000 academic positions. Not only that, but the financial benefits relative to a masters are almost none; you’ll spend a good 3-5 years longer researching but pay is only 2% higher.

Also, average pay of postdoctoral researchers in the UK is only £31k a year,, lower than most skilled tradesmen in their 20s who left school at 16.
This average includes those in fields like engineering and medical science. Many PhDs are used like temps to teach undergraduates for less than than a senior lecturer. There is no guarantee that those who manage to get their PhD are necessarily the brighest candidate; many are forced to drop out due to financial and family reasons . Those with a bit more initiative and savvy may take a job, realising their program isnt worth the time. Some are lumbered with poor supervisors.

There are are simply far too many overqualified people in the UK, US and Canada for the current jobs market and many are actually less productive in their jobs than those who hold lesser qualifications because they are dissatified with their lowly positions.

Another problem is PhDs are now increasingly specialised to the point of overspecialisation so there is no market for that knowledge, even in academia.

As Robert Heinlein once wrote, ‘specialisation is for insects’

Nominated by: Cuntamus Prime 

63 thoughts on “Overvalued PhDs”

  1. They’re great in workers McDonald’s though, really enthusiastic and not bitter at all.

      • Starved of attention?

        On the subject of dullness….you could discover life on another planet, give a television interview about it and people would still see what else is on.

        Zzzzzzzz

  2. I’ve worked with a few PhDs when I was gainfully employed in engineering. Fucking useless. Only thing worse were entitled Cambridge graduates.

  4. Who listens to PhD graduates anyway, some incel on YouTube knows better…..

  5. I just googled Ph.D and the first thing to come up was: ‘Mohammad Abdollahi is a 35-year-old Iranian student studying a PhD in Operational Research at the University of Essex. He was delighted when he found out he’d been awarded a Postgrad Solutions Study Bursary worth £500. As an international student coming to the UK with his wife and two children, it has proved to be an invaluable funding resource as he explains. “It was good news and exciting – I was overwhelmed with joy!”’

    Wish I could say the same.

  6. I remember watching a few reports from Japan in the late 70’s about how degree educated youngsters were sweeping car factory floors because of the glut of degree educated people compared to the jobs available for them, it was a contributing factor to the high male suicide rates. Currently in the U.K. a masters is the preferred academic qualification, a standard degree is not very attractive to employers apparently.

    In the IT industry a lot of openings now seem to require graduates, odd because most of the people I’ve worked with over the years excluding senior management had never seen the inside of a university.

    • Hey 6DV –

      The preference of a degree for IT jobs has been a thing for a very long time. It may not be the be all and end all as far as qualifications go, but I for one can tell the difference between someone who has had formal IT education and someone who hasn’t, especially at a younger age.

      Following a structured IT education programme does 2 major things. First, it exposes you to many aspects of IT which helps the student to decide where they’d like to specialise. Second, it trains the brain to think in a certain way – to be very analytical, logical and literal. That way of thinking can be acquired with years of experience, but an IT related degree course speeds that process up considerably.

      That way of thinking is what separates IT people from normal people. I should know because I’m an IT person and far from normal. Just ask Mrs Yank!

      Cheers – IY.

      • I don’t know if I totally agree, I’ve got twenty years in the industry behind me. The best I’ve worked with have a passion for tech and an understanding of the reality of the working world. I’ve worked with a lot of degree educated people in the industry but none of them held degrees in IT. One of the best held a degree in biochemistry but never pursued a career in anyway related to his degree. Among his various jobs before IT were roofer and roadie for a big name Irish rock band. I’ve worked with at least 3 former teachers along the way. I’ve nothing against degrees but in my experience having a degree doesn’t necessarily mean a person has the required common sense to deliver solutions that function in the field. As you’ll well know IT roles are numerous and vary wildly. Developers and technical delivery staff are two different beasts entirely.

      • Yep, agree with having a degree doesn’t necessarily translate into having common sense. Your passion point is also well made. I’m very lucky in that I really like what I do and I’d like to think I’m quite good at it. I should be after nearly 30 years!

        I do stand by my education and training though. My degree taught me how to think in a certain way. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this though. Due to the requirements of my chosen profession, I think in a very analytical, logical and literal way. Here’s the catch though. I can’t turn it off. I experience and interpret everything in the same way I work on IT issues. Drives Mrs Yank bonkers! Everything is black or white, never gray. I can’t cope with gray. I instinctively look for the most efficient way of doing everything, always have a contingency for everything, always worry about the next thing which could go wrong, you know the kind of thing. If I’m awake, my mind is working along those lines, at work or not, makes no difference.

        Impossible to ‘live in the moment’ and have a care-free attitude. Curious, paranoid, anxious, cautious, pessimistic are my default settings. I often wonder if other IT folks are like that.

  7. You must be wrong, we need highly qualified people for every job in the UK, hence the government’s Welcome to dingy riders and other CUNTS who only serve to enrich our Society and are no drain at all on the Tax Payer whatsoever. Who needs an indigenous population when we are gifted with such CUNTS? Never forget: “Diversity is strength”.

  8. Not specially about PhDs per se, but it has always tickled me how people who poo-poo degrees always seem to be the ones who don’t have one. Jealous much?

    I must admit that for many, many years I was an academic snob. I have a degree in Computer Science and felt very strongly that if you didn’t, you should not work in the IT industry. It used to really bother me that cunts with either no computer related education or cunts with irrelevant degrees (e.g. Economics, Geography, etc.) got jobs in IT. Don’t get me started on the cunts who wrote a 10 line program on a Sinclair Spectrum back in the day and think they’re dog’s gift to software development. All computer programmers are cunts anyway, irrespective of their qualifications or lack thereof.

    Whatever happened to Jim Diamond anyway?

    • I remember ‘I Won’t Let You Down’.
      Jim in the video serenading some fit bird.

      He later hit No, 1 with ‘I Should Have Known Better’.
      A good singer.

      • Hi Norm –
        Good singer indeed. Lucky enough to have a distinctive voice so you knew it was him. I looked him up on t’interweb and sadly he passed away in 2015, aged 64. Very sad.

        I think he sang the theme to Boon too, if memory serves.

      • My brother in law has a stutter, he always used to sing I should have known better on karaoke. That and Bowie’s Changes.

        Was a very distinctive singer. Always preferred I Won’t Let You Down to the others though.

    • I don’t think I’ve ever heard people slating degrees but rather the lack of common sense and wisdom displayed by many of the recipients.

      For example, my sister’s best friend was ditzy as fuck with no common sense but was an a* student who is now a university lecturer. I haven’t seen for years but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she still had no common sense.

      • My brother-in-law has a BA and MA and can barely tie his shoes.

        It’s all about bums on seats at universities nowadays, they’re businesses scamming the taxpayer. If my brother-in-law manages to get a job better than stacking shelves in a supermarket or working in a call centre I’ll be amazed. In fact if manages to secure any kind of gainful employment it’ll be a miracle.

  9. An ex of mine who was a college lecturer had a mate who was as snotty and as up herself as fuck. Just because she claimed to have a PHD in English, she let every cunt know that her ‘title’ was ‘Doctor’ and she preferred it if it was used as it showed her the ‘respect’ she thought she was owed. She was also a member of the grammar police. Always picking people up on everything they said and correcting them. A proper cunt.

    Naturally, to me this was a red rag to a bull. I then never used her name, but I did use her ‘title’ and with glee and gutso. Something like,’Oh hello, Doctor. Did you see Doctor Who last night, Doctor? Do you think Peter Davison is good as the Doctor, Doctor? Have you heard the new Thompson Twins record, Doctor? It’s called ‘Doctor Doctor’, Doctor.’

    She got sick of it before I did and one day she exploded into a super tantrum, Millie Tant meets Violet Elizabeth style. The smile on my face lasted for weeks.

    • As ‘Doctor’ Snotty Knickers smouldered like a heap of cack, I simply said to my then girlfriend ‘She wanted me to call her Doctor, so I did. I was only doing as I was asked. I was only showing her the right and proper respect’. And I said this in such a nice way, it couldn’t be argued with. One of my greatest ever victories.

      Truth is, my bird secretly agreed and told she thought it was funny and that her mate needed bringing down a peg or two hundred.

    • Norm-you sound nearly as bad as me. I thought I was unique in my levels of sarcasm towards cunts.
      Bravo👏🏻

  10. I’ve got a PhD in Engineering. I saw some right thick cunts get theirs, took the shine off mine. It was fun, done for no other reason that I could and I was really interested and the pay was actually quite good. Paid my own way. I came up with an improvement on something you all use, got a few citations. I retrained – bored office monkey, went with an interest. Down side was stress was bad, hurt me long term (and is). First job in engineering – machine shop making intricate parts for a new product in a new startup. Loved it – sweat and callouses for a good year+, not some pussy CV-stuffing 5 day job. Helped start a new division of the company, its most profitable, kept it all going for the “core” business to finally get off the ground, eventually. Left because all I had were shit managers who told me how to research (me, the only one with a research qualification) or kept telling me “Oh I could have got a PhD” – well you fucking didn’t! Never got offered the management as I’d worked in the machine shop and they knew I didn’t want it! Never asked me. You don’t apply, they give. Cunts.

    TL;DR we’re not all cunts – I could probably out think and out manual a few of you!

    Sorry – raw nerve and too much Leffe, long time listener first time caller etc.

      • Leffe?

        https://leffe.com/en/

        What real ale fans fall to when diagnosed with a problem with real beer (yeast) that hurts more than it gratifies. Ale crucifies me, along with potatoes, bread etc. Fucking hell on earth – shitting yourself silly for a few pints. Wine – give me a break, I’m from Yorkshire ffs.

      • Bloke I know reckons he caught a PHD off a public toilet seat?
        His missus didnt believe him.
        Kicked him out.
        Don’t know why people brag about it?
        I caught crabs in Rhyl but kept me mouth shut about it….

    • PhD in Engineering. Respect. Proper subject. Obviously good with your hands AND your brain. Jealous. I have the brain part down, but I’m fucking useless with mending things, DIY, etc. I’ve always been impressed with people’s ability to diagnose and fix mechanical things. My best mate used to be a mechanic. Not a sniff of an O’Level and he’s never the smartest guy in the room, but heart of gold, super fun and can mend anything. What a skill to have!

      I’d imagine a PhD takes more of something I don’t have. Patience. When I graduated, I flirted with the idea of going for an MSc. That was a fun 5 minutes. Getting my BSc. nearly killed me. 30 years on, I don’t actually think a higher degree would have made any difference to my career. I’ve stayed technical aside from one job where I was the team manager. I didn’t like it. Next job – back to hands on technical. That’s what I’m good at and pays more than enough. Why be in management?

      • My dad left school at 14, couldn’t hardly read or write – my mum sorted him out. Did WWII as an RAF engine mechanic, India (now Pakistan), Eygyt and Libya etc., pistons. His 100th birth anniversary was a fortnight ago. Dead a long while, RIP. Taught me doing stuff was where it was at. Changed my first full engine at 14 (solo), was helping him doing clutches/top ends/bottom ends on Escort Mk1s long before. Just wasn’t quite happy not knowing as well. TBH I wish I was a bit less “academic” – I’d have been happier charging more knowing less. Cunting fuckwits nowadays… I don’t use a title, seems wrong, everyone calls me by my nickname, it’s all I use. I think the young uns sneer at that/me. Cunts haven’t got a clue!

      • Manager is where it’s at – twice my salary/half my qualifictions/ability. GB is fucked unless it kills this management-centric culture. I’ve been campaigning for ever on this. I hope my few proteges carry this message on – my legacy fwiw. I’m retired now (early :)), but UK is fucked if we continue down this path. I hope Vernon Fox has a go, or someone similar. I despair for the world my kids will inherit.

      • I enjoyed reading that, What??

        I do think it’s really, really clever to be able to listen to an engine and know what’s wrong with it and then be able to fix it. I don’t know – always been impressed by that.

        You’re right about the management thing. I’ve seen this consistently over the course of my 30 year career. In all that time, I’ve worked for dozens of managers (full time and as a consultant) and there are only 2 who were any good. The rest were either ‘management types’ or had been promoted beyond their level of competence. Useless cunts.

      • Reminds me of the famous gynaecologist, who upon retirement yearned for his boyhood interest so studied motor mechanics at a tech college. There he got top marks for a flawless overhaul of a BMC C straight six; but what most impressed the examiners was that he did the whole job up the exhaust pipe.

    • Well Engineering is a real subject demanding rigour. Like Imitation Yank, i’m sure a PhD in a STEM field with practical applications has served you well, and if itvwas fun the it’s a bonus.
      My main gripe is the belief held by many naive graduates that a Ph.D in any old toss is the key to a high-paying and fulfilling career, when there just isn’t the market for it.

  11. Their not over-qualified their under qualified. What the fuck use is a Phd in Surfing “Science” – which you can take in Plymouth Uni.

  12. Customer- can I have egg flied lice, please?
    Chinese waiter – it’s fried rice, you plick.

  13. Yeah it’s definitely a problem. As a current Masters student myself though I’m happy just having a job I enjoy – I’m helping to look after a young lad who’s recovering from a brain tumour and it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

  14. This almost feels personal; I couldn’t agree more Cuntamus Prime!

    I attained the “heady heights” of a BA (Hons) Cantab in 1991 as a result of
    a) getting 6 A grade ‘A’ levels in Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths, German and General Studies
    b) getting a Special I in Chemistry and a II in mathematics
    c) interviewing well at the most difficult Cambridge college (at that time) to obtain a place

    I never bothered with the MA on offer (merely for attending a couple of Formal Hall dinners). After a longish period in the wilderness, as a diplomat on the back of my Cambridge undergraduate degree, I obtained (by hard work) professional qualifications (PGDL/BVC) and have never “looked back”.

    Almost personal, Cuntamus, because Venetia is about to embark on a SECOND PhD in CompSci. Although I love her most dearly, and I really do, and I respect her to the stars and back (she has tangible qualities I can only imagine possessing) – my patience with this PhD bollocks is wearing thin. Despite the undisputed fact that I am “the brains¹” in our relationship, Venetia will end up having TWO PhDs whereas I merely have a BA in modern languages.

    Ohh, the irony.

    ¹ she has dyslexia, I have an IQ of 160+. fwiw!

      • Well, Mis, what can one say to that?

        Have you heard about the (fake) firearm raid on a Wilmslow “trainee actor for Peaky Blinders” yet, or is Cheshire Constabulary keeping it quiet still? Or are you still in New Mills and in the Derbyshire loop?

      • Evening CS👍
        No not heard about that.
        Not really in any loop,
        I try and keep myself to myself and under the radar (hard when your big as me!)
        But hear all kinds of stuff off old mates where I grew up in Brinnington.
        A case recently of a woman found in bin bags on Reddish Vale,
        I knew her, and her family.
        Terrible thing.
        You hear about that?

      • No, I didn’t hear about that.

        Sadly, the guy who committed the (fake) firearm offence is mentally ill (and more sadly he is a person I’ve known since his childhood). It can be awkward to represent people you know with equanimity, but I shall certainly try. Pro bono, plainly, but all the same – I think I might go back to some nice, lucrative Chancery work over Summer.

        Love Criminal work, but it is hard psychologically.

        Wagner, Einstürzende Neubauten, my SME V tonearm, and many, many old LPs beckon.

        Martell and pipefuls beckon also.

        zzz

      • CS@

        Your friend? Pro bono?
        Loyalty is the most admirable quality a man can display,
        A man is measured by his loyalty.
        Good for you brother 👍👍👍

    • For you and Venetia, those long, dark, winter nights, must simply fly by….

      😄

      • If she wasn’t in Lewisham right now… too right they do.

        Never thought I’d feel like this again. When she repairs to this place, she will be kept awake.

  15. Go to “Uni” your dumber than 5 year olds. Your in debt for ever. Only a trade gives you freedom, money and the resources to build your own life , and a house.

  17. I repaired a laptop yesterday – had a mess about in BIOS, fiddled about with some software, downloaded some drivers – turned ten quids worth of scrap into a hundred and fifty quids worth of excellent fully working piece of machinery! 😀👍
    I demand a PHD in “messing about with stuff to make it work”!
    The people I employed with professional qualifications coming out of their ears generally never seemed to have any qualifications in turning up on time, not pissing about all day on their phones all day or doing a bit of graft.
    “Universally” rather poor employees, in my professional experience.

  18. It’s called lowering the standards. Universities in the USA gain huge amounts of money from students so the chance of failing them is almost non existent. They will do anything to pass them because they can’t afford to lose the money. Quality doesn’t come into it anymore.

    • Uttercunt –
      Agreed. Let us not forget that Yanks “graduate” from everything as well:

      – Kindergarten
      – junior high
      – high school
      – college
      – university

      FFS. Talk about artificial sense of achievement. Cunts. Plus they have 2 year “Associate Degrees” here. Fuck off – that’s a diploma at best. There are no 2 year degrees. Jeez! Aside from the ‘ivy league’ seats of learning (Yale, Harvard, etc.) the standard of Yank university degrees are about our A Level standard, circa mid 1980s.

      As far as I can tell, Yanks have a system of “course credits” or “credits” for short. This involves turning up for a class and physically being present in the room. Doesn’t mean you have to be awake or listen or learn anything, you just have to be there to earn the “credit”. Accumulate enough credits = instant degree. It’s pathetic. Yeah, you might have to download some answers from the t’interweb or write an essay once a year, but enough “credits” gets you a degree. Toilet paper – nothing more.

      The Yank graduating from anything concept pisses me off, but also gives me a chance to have a dig at fucking parents and their fucking kids’ lack of achievement. Some cunt will be spouting off how their kid will be graduating soon which is my lead in with this:

      Me: That’s really great. What is their degree in?
      Thick Yank Parent: No, they’re graduating high school.
      Me: Oh I’m sorry, I’m confused. To be a graduate, you need to have passed your finals on a degree course. Do high schools offer degree courses now?
      Thick Yank Parent: No, no. They’re graduating high school.
      Me: But you have to have a degree to be a graduate.
      Thick Yank Parent:

      Cunts.

      • With the highest respect available to you, Imitation Yank, I think you would be well-advised to avoid these bores, oiks, and would-be parvenu types if at all possible.

        Failing that possibility, I would certainly defend you with vigour in a court of law were you to take more pro-active measures¹

        ¹ eg ejecting the miscreants, or failing that option being available, covertly introducing them to the “joys” of LSD-25, while capturing the ensuing mayhem on very high-definition camera surveillance equipment.

        Harsh perhaps, but they’ll thank you for the original SD cards (if you’re that old school).

      • You missed out elementary school. Also, I think college is just how yanks say “uni”

      • Hi Ajax –
        You’re right of course. Avoidance is best, but the place is crawling with Yanks. It’s time we ended this experiment. They’ve had a good run to be fair, but it’s time for our Empire to rise again. Who’s with me?

      • Yes, TitS – you’re right. Elementary school indeed.

        It’s too easy to have a dig at the Yank education system. Mrs Yank is far from thick, but believe it or not, she managed to navigate her way through the education system without ever studying Physics. To this day, she has no idea about things like how electricity works, magnetism, waves, light (a wave and a particle – ask Ajax he’ll explain it better), force, power, etc. Not a scoobie. I still find that incredible and a travesty that such a fundamental piece of education could have been missed out entirely.

        And yes, the Yanks do refer to university as “college”. I don’t know why. I think “university” has too many syllables for them to cope with. 😉

      • Mutatis mutandis, i trust the extreme weather (engendering worries about warmth, in a nutshell) has now receded into history, Imitation Yank.

        With my very warmest regards from the mother ship, as it were.

  19. Most of the people I’ve met that have a PhD or an MsC are as thick as shit when it comes to common sense.

  20. Ive searched everywhere but it seems no educational establishment offers any kind of course in CUNTOLOGY, never mind a PHD. My entrepreneurial bones are beginning to rattle. Off the top of my head here are a few modules my course in Cuntology would offer (£500 fee for each module plus £100 for a specially printed diploma)
    1) History of Cuntology,the first Ancient Cunts,their early teachings
    2) The development of the Sacred Texts of Cuntology
    3) The spread of Cuntology around the globe
    4) How rulers feared Cuntology and tried to ban it
    5) Great Cunts and their influence on the world
    etc etc.
    Any Cunt interested in investing in this venture,£50,000 will get you 5% of the company.

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