Flawed degrees

IDREES KHAWAJA — PUBLISHED ABOUT 21 HOURS AGO

DO PhD programmes at typical Pakistani

public universities fit our circumstances? A
PhD programme has two essential
components: coursework involving
classroom teaching, and thesis involving The writer is a researcher
at the Pakistan Institute of
research. Which should receive greater Development Economics.
attention, if public universities cannot
focus on both? With a degree from a local
public university of good repute and experience in teaching in PhD
programmes and in supervising and examining theses at local
public universities, I shall attempt to answer these questions.

PhD programmes in the US focus heavily on coursework as well as

thesis. Coursework of 40 plus credit hours (CRH) is common; some
universities require up to 60 CRH. However, PhD programmes in
England focus primarily on theses requiring little or no
dissertation-specific coursework. The assumption is that the
student has mastered theory at the MPhil level.

‹ ›
‹ Our Higher Education Commission requires coursework of only 18
›
CRH for PhD. Most universities have adopted this, although it’s
specified as the minimum requirement. HEC’s guidelines draw
inspiration from the UK system, but applying them in Pakistan is
problematic.

Local PhD programmes are not suited to conditions

in our society.

First, the assumption that theory has been mastered at the MPhil
level does not hold true here. As per Pakistan’s education report
Aser, 2015, a very large number of Grade-5 students cannot do
two-digit subtraction or division. Is such deficiency limited to
school education only? No. It is pervasive. Judging by Aser’s
findings, it is difficult to expect that what is taught in MPhil has
already been learned. PhD being the ultimate degree, the
programmes should address all deficiencies.

Second, do our circumstances allow a heavy focus on thesis that is

characteristic of UK programmes?

Supervisors in public universities cannot be expected to strive too

hard to produce a thesis. Public servants tend to shirk work: we

‹ have no reason to believe that thesis supervisors are nobler than

›
‹ have no reason to believe that thesis supervisors are nobler than
typical public servants. After all, they belong to the same society
›
and get similar incentives — neither can be fired for non-
performance.

Students begin PhD at an age suitable for entering the job market.
Financially constrained, they find a job they can survive on as soon
they complete the coursework. This diverts focus from the thesis.
Typically, students submit a poor thesis very close to the deadline.
The supervisor and the university have two choices. One, make the
student work further; this means s/he would cross the deadline
and may not qualify for the degree. The thesis will then not grace
the supervisor’s CV and s/he may lose the remuneration as well.
An alternative is to let the thesis go, more or less in its present
poor form, and manoeuvre the system to the advantage of the
student, supervisor and university. Experience suggests that
supervisor and university choose the latter.

Though systems are in place to ensure quality, these are easily

manipulated. In developed countries, a PhD thesis is refereed by
experts. Choosing experts connected with the supervisor or
someone at the university, including Pakistanis based abroad, is
not uncommon. The conclusion is obvious.

A national expert examines the thesis’s oral defence. Evidence of

‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ is common on such
‹ occasions: within the close academic community of a specific ›
‹ occasions: within the close academic community of a specific ›
discipline, you as supervisor induce your university to invite X
from XYZ university and they invite you to do the same. It is a
reciprocal arrangement.

As thesis examiner, when you are about to write the letter grade
on the grade sheet, an academic peer among the audience may
remark ‘waisay bachay nain kaam to acha kiya hai’(the student
has done good work). If you have difficulty saying no to a long-
time associate or former boss, in whose tenure you earned a
promotion, you end up writing ‘A’ on the grade sheet much
against your inclination. This is how the system works.

Efforts can be made to introduce systems that would increase the

focus on thesis and prevent such manipulation. However, without
the public sector work culture undergoing a thorough change,
success seems far-fetched. Our best bet then is to have larger
coursework, maybe of at least 40 CRH, till at least such time we
observe significant improvement in the quality of theses
produced.

Still, there are some good students, good supervisors and good
theses, but they are the exception. PhD programmes should cater
to the typical, not to exceptions. Rather than increasing
enrolment to make PhD programmes financially viable, public

‹ funds should be used to induct only those who possess the talent
›
‹ to work towards a PhD. ›
Finally, Islamabad alone has at least six PhD programmes in
economics with three to four students in each. Public universities
would do better to pool faculty rather than operate in their
individual domains.

The writer is a researcher at the Pakistan Institute of Development

Economics.

idreespide1@gmail.com

Twitter: @khawaja_idrees

Published in Dawn September 19th, 2016

Author Image

The views expressed by this writer and commenters below do not necessarily re䂚诿ect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

TODAY ON IMAGES
OOOO

‹ ›
‹ ›

Sanjay Dutt signs on to 뻎ကlm about Afghani

child suicide bombers

‹ ›