Tenure for sure after getting the econ phd?

**bscout** · 07-11-2007, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by jjmann

But why so many people want to get the econ phd?

Many people relative to what?

**jjmann** · 07-11-2007, 04:43 PM

Many people relative to other fields such as business, sociology, maths, physics, some other sciences etc

**veroniquaz** · 07-11-2007, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by jjmann

Many people relative to other fields such as business, sociology, maths, physics, some other sciences etc

any stats to substantiate this statement?

**jjmann** · 07-11-2007, 05:13 PM

Nope, no stats to back it up. But still tht should not stop someone from answering, why a lot of earthlings are after econ phd. Especially considering the fact, people from other backgrounds also apply for econ phd (physics, math, sociology, etc). Why does this happen?

**Bayern** · 07-11-2007, 07:00 PM

Thanks a lot for the comments everyone. They were very valuable indeed. Lot of excellent observations!
I would also ask anyone interested to read the thread mentioned by polkaparty. It says a lot. I am guessing a lot of people already read that thread, because most of the people responding to this thread are quite experienced and old in this TM.

**Karina 07** · 07-11-2007, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by veroniquaz

any stats to substantiate this statement?

I saw an article somewhere (sorry, don't know where) which showed the number of people who have Ph.D.s in assorted disciplines in the states. It might be biased somewhat by immigration, I don't know, but it seemed like Econ was the most popular social science (if I remember correctly), or at least very far up there and far ahead of Sociology et al., but the "hard" sciences had still more people, and the humanities had less. As in, it seemed to vary by hard science / social science / humanities far more than by anything else, presumably largely because of the job prospects for each.