Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!mtune!codas!killer!usl!usl-pc!jpdres10
From: jpdres10@usl-pc.UUCP (Green Eric Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: U.S. Mathematicians dying breed
Message-ID: <516@usl-pc.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 87 00:53:28 GMT
References: <1878@pdn.UUCP> <2424@killer.UUCP> <147@piring.cwi.nl>
Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
Lines: 40
Summary: Degrees aren't that important
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In message <147@piring.cwi.nl>, varol@cwi.nl (Varol Akman) says:
>In article <2424@killer.UUCP> elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) writes:
>>for the MS and, especially, the PhD level. Apparently all us folks get a BS
>>and then ride out upon the winds to gain our fame and fortune :-). Maybe some
>>of these underpaid underemployed BS's will come back for an advanced degree,
>>but it looks pretty doubtful right now. For one thing, someone capable of
>>gaining a MS or PhD isn't very likely to be either underpaid or 
>>underemployed. 
>>
>One last thing ...  A capitalist society is based on the great law
>of economic supply & demand.  When there is enough demand, there'll be a lot
>of people who would like to study for an advanced degree.  Demand
>in the sense that the employers will be willing to give e.g. a lot
>of money, respect, responsibility, what have you.  Until then only people who are

Well, considering that a person with a PhD/CS can get over $50K/year
quite easily, while the numbers for BS/CS hover around 35K/year, it
would seem that there would be more people going for PhDs than there
is. The problem is that pure capitalism does not exist. A little fly
in the ointment called "human nature" intervenes. Most folks who've
just finished 4 years of college feel like they're on top of the
world, that they can do everything, the whole world's out there to
conquer, and why wait for a lousy PhD? 

As for the value of a PhD: Basically, it signifies that the person is
an expert in his particular area. Where that is most significant is in
teaching... I really wouldn't want be at a school with a BS/CS program
where the classes are mostly taught by grad students and other people
who are at the BS level. Yet, because of a variety of factors,
including the limited number of people recieving PhD's, it's becoming
rarer and rarer for a typical BS student at a lower-tier college or
university to see a true-to-life PhD. Especially considering that a
college or university must spend $50k-70k to get top-notch people
(unless they're in a major computer-industry area, where the professor
is expected to supplement his/her salary by consulting).

--
Eric Green  elg@usl.CSNET       P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509
{ihnp4,cbosgd}!killer!elg,      {ut-sally,killer}!usl!elg
  "what exactly is a dream... and what exactly is a joke?"  -- Syd Barrett