PhD news stories on Newser

More People With PhDs Going on Food Stamps

Kevin Spak — Sun, 13 May 2012 06:21:48 CDT

Melissa Bruninga Matteau has a PhD in medieval history, and a job as an adjunct professor, but she's still relying on food stamps and Medicaid to get by. "I am not a welfare queen," she tells the Chronicle of Higher Education . But with take home pay of only $900 a...

Shaq Now a ... PhD

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:44:54 CDT

That's Dr. Shaq to you: Shaquille O'Neal graduates Saturday from Barry University with a PhD, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The retired NBA star's doctoral degree, earned after 4½ years at the Miami university, is in education—or, if you want to get technical, Organizational Learning and Leadership with a...

Doctor Who? MDs Fend Off Rising PhDs

Mark Russell — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:56:47 CDT

As more and more nurses, pharmacists, and physical therapists are earning PhD degrees, a battle is raging over which health care professionals can use the prestigious title "doctor," reports the New York Times . Nurses especially are pursuing doctorates, eager to increase their pay and promotional opportunities—last year, 153 schools...

Finally, You Can Get a PhD in Manga

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:18:45 CDT

To earn this PhD, you need to hit the books—specifically, Japanese comic books. Japan's Kyoto Seika University will launch the country's first doctoral program in manga studies next year, it announced today. The private university is well known for its manga and anime programs, and established a master's degree...

For First Time, Women Earn More PhDs Than Men

Nick McMaster — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:17:22 CDT

Women earned more doctoral degrees than men in the 2008-2009 academic year for the first time in US history, the Washington Post reports. The PhD is the final degree to be affected by the groundswell of women in higher education—they already outnumbered men on undergraduate and master's degrees. As...

15 Things You Didn't Know About Wikipedia

Kate Schwartz — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 05:09:41 CDT

The fact that Wikipedia's name comes from merging "wiki" (shared website) and "pedia (short for encyclopedia) is no big surprise. But some of these other tidbits, gathered by Online MBA and packaged in a spunky infographic, are: " Sex " is one of the site's most popular articles ... in every language except...

Germany Probes 100 Profs Over PhD Bribes

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:28:12 CDT

About a hundred professors across Germany are under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes for doctoral degrees, the Local reports. Prosecutors say professors may have taken bribes as high as $28,000 through an intermediary firm to give PhDs to undeserving students. "It involves teaching professors from all subjects, from medicine...

Woman Gets PhD in Texting

Nick McMaster — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:57:10 CDT

A British graduate student has earned a PhD in texting—an academic first, Discover magazine reports. Caroline Tagg’s doctorate, more specifically, is in the philosophy of texting communication. Tagg studied 11,000 texts from 235 people over four years. Among the findings: The average text is 17.5 words, texters...

Title IX Turns to Science: Where Are the Women Physicists?

Katherine Thompson — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:59:44 CDT

Title IX, the federal mandate that requires gender equality in education funding, has been applied mostly to sports teams, but recently a new push has begun to apply it to university science departments. Decrying a dearth of women in physics and engineering programs, some women's groups and members of Congress...