We do not need to re-invent the PhD, Sekuler writes in Globe
'Doctoral work provides students with critical skills that are key to sustaining and building Canada’s economic, social, and cultural prosperity,' writes Allison Sekuler in Wednesday's Globe and Mail.
Allison Sekuler knows the true value of a PhD.
McMaster’s associate vice-president and dean of Graduate Studies contributed a column to Wednesday’s Globe and Mail entitled, “Faculty jobs are rare, but Canada still needs its PhDs.”
Read an excerpt from Sekuler’s column below:
Doctoral work provides students with critical skills that are key to sustaining and building Canada’s economic, social, and cultural prosperity. A quick look at a university’s graduate degree level expectations for doctoral students shows the PhD is much more than just a thorough understanding of a substantial body of knowledge.
PhDs are expected to communicate complex and ambiguous ideas, orally and in writing; to locate, evaluate, and synthesize novel information; and to apply that information in new situations.They learn to work independently, and, in many fields, they learn the value of teamwork as well. They learn to take risks. They learn resilience from failure. They learn how to build on ideas from success. These are exactly the sorts of skills Canada’s workers need in our evolving knowledge-based economy.
Click here to read Sekuler’s full column in The Globe and Mail.
