The PhD Trap Revisited

Lyn Clark is a Ph.D. candidate in adult education and counselling at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

The Ph.D. Trap Revisited is a story about “power: sheer, naked,
inexorable economic and social power.” Study after study provides data
showing that students are spending increasing lengths of time working
toward a degree and at the same time are dropping out in ever-growing
numbers. Moreover, a doctoral thesis that runs counter to conventional
wisdom can ruin a student’s prospects for a professional career. The
author of this superbly researched and documented book also questions
the efficacy of “publish or perish” and takes on that roadblock to
positive change known as “tenure.”

According to Cude, “[T]he two aspects of doctoral rehabilitation that
are absolutely crucial” are the difficulties posed by variant
disciplinary methodologies and the arbitrary powers of faculty in
adjudication. She offers creative solutions to these and other problems
afflicting academia. Students, instructors, and Canadians in general
could benefit from the consciousness-raising this daring book provides.