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Doctorate no guarantee for high-paying jobs
With outdated topics of research and supervisers indulging in corrupt practices, the value of doctoral courses and employment of PhD graduates has reduced drastically over the years.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Every year, a staggering number of youngsters complete their research and earn the doctoral degree. Putting this in perspective is the University of Madras, which alone produces at least 500 research scholars every year. But beyond the numbers, the crucial question remains: How many of these PhD recipients get employment commensurate with their qualification? Some of them, academicians say, are unemployed in spite of completing a doctoral course.
An all-India survey on higher education conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development shows that 1.61 lakh students took up PhD programmes in 2017-18, double the number since 2010 when it was 77,798. In the last five years, the University of Madras awarded PhD degrees to a total of 2,795 candidates – on an average, more than 500 a year (interestingly, the survey put forward that only about 10 per cent of these scholars managed to complete the programme in the stipulated time).
Even though these numbers look impressive at first glance, an analysis of the research output of India has revealed that the country is significantly behind China in academic publications. With about 1,500 research papers last year, India is far behind its neighbour that published more than 8,000 research papers. So stark is the difference that the number of publications churned out by the Chinese Academy of Sciences alone was more than twice the output from all the institutions in India.
Experts say that many PhD students find difficulty in meeting the demands of the job market. Writing thesis reports, giving academic presentations and conducting literature reviews is not very helpful in a world that demands technical knowledge to be assimilated quickly, and presented simply, to a wide audience.
Irrelevant research, poor supervision
The problem lies in the quality, at least partly. According to professor E Balagurusamy, the former vice chancellor of Anna University, the quality of PhDs in the country, especially in Tamil Nadu, has reduced drastically. “Most of the PhD research is purchased and money is given to even publish the thesis. If a project is purchased, how will a student scholar successfully appear for the interview,” he added.
The academician alleged that many guides receive money and sign the papers without studying the content. “Everything is done in a hurried manner,” he said. “Additionally, research done by the students are not application-oriented and is merely copied from websites,” he added.
Echoing him, Narasimhan, a retired professor from Madras Christian College, noted that even students who purse full-time research don’t take up projects that are relevant to demands of the present. “The quality of the programme has to be improved as per the current requirements. Also, guides have to be streamlined. Most of the institutions do not have the capacity to run PhD courses as they do not have labs for hands-on training,” he said.
The struggling scholars
It’s been eight long years since K Manikandan completed his full-time PhD in political science, he is yet to find a job. “Though some institutions offered employment, the salary was very less,” he said. This is true for even those who completed the course within the stipulated period.
“I did PhD in Instrumentation at the University of Madras. However, the project that I did was not relevant to the current period. Therefore, job opportunities are less for me,” admitted K Saravanan, who is now working in a company at Ambattur Industrial Estate. He said there was no proper research guidance or counselling when he took up the course.
The University of Madras accounts for a vast majority of technical doctorate holders as it offers 60 courses.
"There are two kinds of scholars pursuing PhD programmes–one group pursue the part-time course to prefix ‘Dr’ to their names or to join teaching jobs or for promotion in government organisations that don’t look into the research papers and another group with students who focus on research that is meant for public use," observed Kasmir Raja, dean (research), SRM.
According to research scholars, several State-owned universities, including the University of Madras, Annamalai University, Madurai Kamaraj University, Bharathiar University and Alagappa University, do not pay students a stipend on a regular basis. A senior official from the Higher Education Department said students are paid only for outstanding research that benefits the institution. “Exceptional research papers of a particular student will be sent to the government for financial assistance,” he explained.
At private institutions on the other hand, scholars are offered a monthly stipend of about Rs 16,000, which varies from college to college.
Lack of support from supervisors and institutions, radical changes in content, a lack of expert counsel, unfair viva voce examinations – the list of issues that the scholars cite for this issue is long.
"The main issue is guides asking students to run personal errands for them," said a second year scholar of Statistics from the University of Madras.
"For young doctoral graduates, the starting salary in an educational institution varies from Rs 25,000 to 35,000," said K Elongovan, who works at a human resources company in Chennai, and added that very few are employed in industries.
After completing the degree, those with financial support become entrepreneurs, some pursue post-doctoral fellowships abroad, while others keep their interest in research alive by publishing papers in renowned, peer-reviewed journals and by guiding young doctoral scholars.
Statistics of PhD courses
A review of the courses offered, preferred courses and the fee structure of govt and private institutions.
Peculiar courses
- There are many who pursue unique courses that don’t offer any benefit. Saiva Siddhanta, offered by University of Madras, for instance, does not have many job prospects. “Few foreigners have pursued this course to learn about ancient Indian philosophy, particularly from the Hindu culture," said P Chandrasekar, a professor who retired from the University
- According to him, Tamil Studies is another course that does not offer great job opportunities. He cited other courses like Wood Science, Acoustics, Educational Assessment Study, Vaishnavism, Crystallography, Agro Economics and Historical Studies which are not relevant in the job market now
Preferred courses
- Polymer Science
- Energy
- Biotechnology
- Nano Technology
- Management Studies
Is PhD a costly affair?
Many universities in Tamil Nadu have their own scholarships and fee waivers for students, though not all of these are available to international applicants. While the total cost of pursuing a PhD in a State university is Rs 40,000 to 50,000 (excluding costs of stationery, printing, etc), private colleges and universities charge Rs 60,000 to 80,000
UGC study
- During five years, the number of students who take up PhD course is on the rise
- The University of Madras
- itself offers about 60 PhD courses
- About 2,700 research scholars
- have been registered in the
- University of Madras since 2013
Fee structure for PhD courses
Private colleges - 60,000 to 80,000 (with regular stipend)
Govt institutions - 40,000 to 50,000 (without stipend)
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