追寻PhD的背后（转载）

摘自 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/grad/gbcaveat.htm
标题 HOW NAIVE CAN YOU GET?
   -The pursuit of a Ph.D. entails much more than classes and research
                  By Carolyn Kleiner
...
Indeed, there s much more to earning a Ph.D. than classes and research. Dean
s and glossy admission brochures may showcase big-name professors, state-of-
the-art labs, and top rankings, but often it s the less publicized quality-o
f-life issues that determine whether students finally obtain their degrees. 
Although many people have satisfying graduate-school careers, others encount
er problems that, while common, are often unexpected-such as abusive adviser
s, financial difficulties, and exhausting teaching or research workloads. "M
any students are quite naive about the realities of graduate-school life," s
ays Chris Golde... That s unfortunate, she says, because the more informed t
hat prospective Ph.D. s are about these potential struggles, the better prep
ared they ll be to choose a program that s right for them.
...
Not surprisingly, the number of years it takes to earn a doctoral degree has
 increased. In 1998, the average across all fields was 7.3 years, up from 5.
9 in 1972. And just half of all Ph.D. candidates today end up obtaining a de
gree. Individual schools or departments rarely disclose their attrition rate
s, but researchers have found that they generally are higher in the humaniti
es and the social sciences than in the hard sciences. They also are higher f
or women and minorities, especially in fields where they are underrepresente
d.
关于导师
...one thing hasn t changed: The most important decision a student will make
 is selecting an adviser. This professor will serve as intellectual guru, em
ployer, and chief advocate during a student s job search. That is, when the 
relationship works. When it does not, the fallout can be devastating.
Within six months of arriving at Dartmouth, Lauren Wittenberg [a Detroit nat
ive] knew she had a problem with her adviser. She claims he was capricious a
nd volatile: He would tell her to do one thing in the lab one week and anoth
er the next; then, she says, he d deny changing his instructions and berate 
her for not doing what he d asked. He would call her stupid, she contends, a
nd belittle her when experiments didn t go as planned. "I walked out of his 
office, more times than not, and went up to the lab and cried," says Wittenb
erg...
Grad students typically have few options when these relationships sour. Only
 a small number of schools have a well-defined grievance procedure, and even
 when they do, prospective Ph.D. s often are wary of filing a complaint agai
nst an adviser-afraid of a potentially ruinous effect on their careers...
少数族群
Some departments can be lonely places for minority doctoral students, who st
ill make up only 9.4 percent of new Ph.D. s. When Roland Fryer started his d
octoral degree in economics at Pennsylvania State University last year, he f
ound himself surrounded by foreign students who, he says, refused to work wi
th him because he is African-American. "Comments were made to me like,  I do
n t study with black people; black people are stupid,  " says Fryer. "It was
 very tough, because problems and homework are meant for group effort...
恶性竞争
Other Ph.D. candidates share stories of departments where cutthroat competit
ion has replaced camaraderie and any sense of community. Students have been 
known to steal journal articles from the library so others can t study them,
 for example, or to throw classmates  papers in the trash instead of handing
 them in to professors. A sixth-year Ph.D. student in criminal justice at SU
NY-Albany says that she was warned from the [beginning] by seasoned students
 not to share thoughts about her dissertation with classmates–as ideas had 
been stolen in the past... Mark Kelley, president of the..., speculates that
 the ultratight job market is driving rivalry to dangerous levels in certain
 departments.
经济问题
Something else prospective Ph.D. s aren t likely to read about in glossy bro
chures is the funding problem that plagues a growing number of doctoral stud
ents. Although most schools provide financial aid in the form of fellowships
 and teaching and research assistantships, the grants may end well before a 
student gets his degree. At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, for example,
 psychology students are guaranteed funding for just four years. Jonathan St
adler, currently in his seventh year, has struggled to support himself since
 his time ran out...
Even when students do have secure funding, they often live at or below the p
overty line. As a result, some take part-time jobs like waitressing to stay 
in school. A growing number of graduate students also are taking out loans: 
According to the 1998 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 20 percent o
f doctoral students borrowed an average of $9,870 in 1995-96, compared with 
12 percent of students who borrowed an average of $6,362 six years earlier.
There s no doubt that graduate assistants are working harder, as schools shi
ft more of the total teaching load their way. Institutions like the Universi
ty of Iowa and the University of Oregon set the average number of hours that
 students should work per teaching appointment: In cases where they put in m
ore time, they can file a complaint, which can result in higher pay. However
, at other schools, prospective Ph.D. s must teach or assist in as many as o
ne or two courses each semester–no matter how much time is involved. Jason 
Sears, for instance, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of So
uth Florida in Tampa, found himself overwhelmed with work at the end of last
 semester. In addition to taking three graduate-level classes and studying f
or two qualifying exams, he had to teach two undergraduate courses in introd
uctory philosophy. This entailed preparing lectures, holding office hours, a
nd grading class assignments. For all his teaching work, which rarely totale
d less than 30 hours a week, Sears was paid the bargain-basement wage of $4,
500. "We re considered graduate assistants, which is ironic, because we re n
ot assisting anyone," he says.
建议
Many recent Ph.D. s–and dropouts–say they wish they d had a less starry-ey
ed view of graduate-school life from the beginning. What advice do they offe
r on how to ferret out crucial information about prospective doctorate progr
ams? Visit departments and talk to a range of people, including professors a
nd a diverse selection of students. Request the names and numbers of recent 
graduates, who are in the best position to be open and honest about their ex
periences. Chat with potential mentors and their current advisees; inquire a
bout where past advisees are now working. Get an agreement on funding in wri
ting before enrolling, and, if it includes a time limit, find out how many s
tudents finish in the alloted period. Finally, try to get as many data as po
ssible about attrition rates, which vary widely between departments.
The stars may disappear quickly from your eyes, but at least you ll know wha
t to expect once on campus. And you will likely be better equipped to pursue
 and earn a Ph.D.
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