Your Ph.D. is How Old? You Need Not Apply

Doctor of Philosophy (Photo credit: lounae)

A disturbing trend is cropping up in the Ph.D. job market circuit. Universities are now qualifying that they do not want applicants whose Ph.D.s may be getting “stale.” According to Leiter Reports, there are now some universities asking that people apply only if their Ph.D. has been granted in 2010 or later. This means that those who graduated during the initial collapse of the economy may find themselves without a potential job to apply to.

To me, asking that people have a Ph.D. later than 2010 seems to be saying to job applicants that they aren’t worth the bother if say they graduated in 2008 or 2009 if they weren’t employed then, instead of looking at the problem as a holistic one. The reason many graduates didn’t receive job offers is that there weren’t jobs when they graduated. Not only are listings like this ageist, but they also seem to perpetuate the over abundance of unemployment and underemployment for those with advance degrees.

If you received a degree and had a difficult time when entering the job market, what would you say if you saw a post like this? Please post your thoughts in the comments.