Academia cannot be reformed until the PhD has standards again. The degree should be reserved for the relatively few candidates whose dissertations create important new knowledge - not awarded as a certificate of persistence to nearly everyone who remains in a program long enough. A system with meaningful standards must permit meaningful failure. Candidates who are unlikely to make a substantial original contribution should be identified early, given a respectable off-ramp, and allowed to enter the job market years sooner. This would reduce the oversupply of PhDs competing for a tiny number of academic positions and grants. With fewer people trapped in that cutthroat competition, academia would reward fewer of the behaviors produced by desperation and scarcity. Companies accustomed to an abundant supply of PhD applicants would also have to recruit from the larger pool of capable people who left doctoral programs without the degree. The skills would remain valuable; only the credential would become scarce. If the PhD once again signified exceptional scholarly, it would resolve many of academia’s current pathologies.

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