According to this morning’s edition of Inside Higher Education, it’s not that easy getting in and once you’re there, be prepared to stay awhile.
Citing a study by the American Historical Association, IHE reports:
History departments in the United States with doctoral programs received an average of 74.1 applications for the fall 2007 term and anticipate enrolling an average of 9.1 students. Those departments report currently having an average of 54.7 students, 62 percent of whom are receiving financial aid and 33 percent of whom are working as teaching assistants.
How long to finish and what is ‘normative progress?’ This is a constant struggle in our department because our department handbook was written primarily with Americanists in mind and assumes five years to be a normative time to attain a PhD. Obviously for Asianists, Africanists or anybody working in what our US history colleagues like to call “weird languages,” it takes a bit longer. The good news, according to the AHA study at least, is that we are not alone.
Of the students who entered graduate school five years ago, only 24% had completed the program within those five years, 55% were still in the pipeline, and 21% had quit or were MIA (more common than you might think.) Of those students who entered graduate school ten years ago, 59% had finished, 9% were still plugging away (How many of those are Asianists?), and 33% quit/MIA.
As my uncle (a prof himself) reminded me last month: There are far more ABDs in the world than PhDs.
So, if you’re thinking of grad school here’s how it breaks down: We have a 12% chance of getting accepted and a 60% chance of finishing for a job market that gives us…sorry, I can’t talk about ratios of PhDs to available positions without repeatedly jabbing a pair of scissors into my upper thigh.
Why do it? It’s the love of the game and (okay, I’m getting sappy here) a love of teaching.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Jan 7, 2007 at 3:45 am
As a recently minted PhD (’06) and Qing Doc alum myself, I can testify to the difficulty of doing Chinese history well and of getting a Ph.D. in general. But as a new professor sitting in on faculty meetings as we discuss grad students, I’m forced to ask an implicitly churlish question despite my (honest!) friendly disposition to you and your blog: is spending time writing your blog time not spent writing your dissertation?
2 花崗齋之愚公 // Jan 7, 2007 at 5:11 am
It’s a fair question.
Everybody needs a hobby, even ABDs. Some play ultimate frisbee, some watch “Lost”, some knit, some play in bands, some play Madden ‘06, some build smoking appliances out of potatoes. As for me, I take time each day to write in a blog.
One of the reasons I became a graduate student was because I wanted to teach and to promote discussion and understanding of Chinese history. It’s not a big site, but I’d like to think that my little hobby contributes to that in some small way.
And if writing a post or participating in one of the lively discussions on the site helps me to think about different aspects of Chinese history or historiography in new ways, then I believe that can only help my research and my teaching in the long run.
Thanks for stopping by and next time, no need to be anonymous. It’s a friendly place.
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