Rare, specialised, and more valuable than ever. That's how economist, banker and researcher Imran Khan describes PhD holders. He says that there are roughly 8 million of them in the world, yet they make up only 0.1% of the global population.
Leading the pack is Slovenia, where 3.6% of the country's population has a PhD. "The distribution between PhD adults by gender in Slovenia finds more female doctorates than male PhD earners," notes the World Population Review site. "About 4.5% of adult females have a PhD, compared to about 3% of adult males in Slovenia."
According to Khan, around half of those who set out to get their PhD end up dropping out. Research conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools found similar results.
"The study looked at 49,000 students attending 30 institutions in 54 disciplines comprising 330 programs," explain the experts at Statistics Solutions, a global dissertation consulting company. "Astonishingly, the completion rate ten years after students begin their doctoral program remains low at 56.6%."
The consultants believe that often, this is due to a lack of support from universities and/or their advisors.
Aku Sika agrees. The founder of the SikaInScience blog is currently pursuing a PhD in Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London (KCL). Sika likens choosing a PhD supervisor to online dating.
"Red Flags? Ghosting? Vague feedback that makes you spiral into self-doubt. Yep," writes the student. "Poor supervisor is one of the main reasons students don’t complete their PhD. Staying motivated is hard when your supervisor barely knows you or your project exists!"
Sika adds that if communication is poor, it can lead to a lack of direction and growing frustration. "This can leave students question their motivation to continue."
