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Comment by palimpsests | Hacker News Reader

I find it fairly surprising how certain the author seems to feel that getting a doctorate would somehow equate to higher income and job stability -- English Ph.Ds aren't exactly a credential in high demand. In fact, reality indicates the opposite is true.

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People get stuck in bubbles. In the academia bubble, the only people making a living are professors and to become a professor you need a Ph.D. So they are the example people follow. They don't realize that becoming, say, an accountant might be a better move because there aren't any accountants in the academia bubble.

People who get into PhD programs should have the general intelligence to realize that every PhD candidate can not become a professor. It doesn't add up in any hierarchical organization like that.

Incorrect. There are many professors at colleges that do not have PhD programs.

If you understood how people actually think, in a cognitive-science sense, you would understand why "X should have the general intelligence to realize Y" is a complete load in almost all cases.

I'm sorry. Clearly some of the self-appointed smart people of HN were offended by my naive remark, uninformed by any research in cognitive science or other relevant discipline.

I was curious what an English (literature) Ph.D might entail, still am, but Birimingham.ac.uk website had this:

>"Over the past five years, over 90% of English Literature postgraduates were in work and/or further study six months after graduation. " //

Against an unemployment rate of ~20% for 16-24 year olds, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/unemployment-four-ten-uk-graduates-..., that seems quite good. I'm sure there are some damn lies in there though.

More on stats for UK graduate employment, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29327590.

By the time you've completed a PhD you aren't 16-24. Roughly speaking, Bachelor degree will take 3 years, PhD will take at least 4, so you'll be at least 25.

That's also 90% from a relatively reputable university - http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/International/impact/global-rank... claims top 100 in the world.

The University of Nevada in comparison is apparently the 113th best college in the US for English: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/... - so much further down the rankings.

I'm not really interested enough to hunt it down but presumably UNLV's employment figures for those who've taken post-graduate degrees are a matter of record too?

I'm surprised to some extent that the 113th best college for English offers a postgrad program in English.

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