On line Ph D
On line Ph D : Distance Learning Takes On Doctoral Study
Most people who have followed the evolution of distance-education, and the incredible opportunities for expansion of it offered by the Internet have known for quite a while that on line Ph D study would be inevitable. And in the past few years, those people have been proven to be correct in their predictions.
What does doctoral study availability online mean, though? How does it change the job market, employer expectations, and academia?
The Jury’s Still Out
No one really knows yet. It’s hard to judge what effect distance learning doctoral study is having on the job market, as the job market is going through some pretty tough times for a variety of other reasons. Academics are still somewhat distrustful of Internet based PhD study–although that’s an outmoded tendency and fading fast. And there just aren’t enough Ph Ds who got their degrees through online Ph D programs yet to see what sort of long term effects we might have.
Do I Need to Get an On line Ph D to Keep Viable in the Job Market?
I do think this is one rather dismal prediction we can dismiss. No one is going to have their job endangered by a sudden influx of post-graduate degree holders. First, because getting a Ph D isn’t easy. Completion rates for online programs aren’t significantly higher than for traditional programs, and that’s not likely to change. But perhaps you’re thinking that it’s not the completion rate that matters–after all, if there are hundreds of additional candidates, or even thousands, it won’t matter if only 10 or 15 finish, right?
Well, that’s an unlikely scenario. Having on line Ph D programs available doesn’t change the fact that Ph D study is research oriented and only required for a few types of careers–and they’re often hardly the highest paying or most desirable to those who don’t have an overwhelming passion for their field.
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