𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐏𝐡𝐃: 𝐀𝐧 𝐎𝐱𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.

PhD, originally known as a ‘license to teach’ in its etymological sense is the highest level of academic achievement. Put bluntly, it is the end of study (or the study of the end!). If judged from Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy (Maslow, 1943,1954), a PhD is an investment in one’s self-actualisation. For Maslow, this is the highest level of human needs. 

In its intellectual flesh, a PhD pursuit represents an individual’s highest desire to consume and produce ideas – some of which might have practical implications but most might not at least in the short haul. In this sense, it’s an abstract pursuit whose purpose is to interrogate what’s generally considered the ‘truth’ and expose its inner workings.

Broadly speaking, a PhD’s major task is to critique the knowns to produce the unknowns, i.e. knowledge. Or in the words of my Academic Advisor, a process of intense scholarly business where one is required to immerse in the intellectual entanglements to unpack hidden histories. This business of knowledge production is riddled with challenges. Yet it’s probably the most valuable aspect of the job. One cannot be PhDing without this ultimate goal in mind. The enterprise of knowledge generation is expansive and costly. However, businesspeople operating here have to grapple with it because it matters for the society.

As a conventional Arab poet once put it; “Knowledge builds homes without pillars, while ignorance destroys the homes of glory and honour.” PhD entrepreneurs (this author included) believe acquiring the highest form of knowledge is akin to laying the groundwork of one’s home. However, this being the case, doctorate readers also ask: what knowledge and to what ends? These readers speak to the critical re-thinking of fundamental truths, of facts and figures that might be utilised to improve humanity. This is a higher calling for which most PhD student aspires to achieve. It is calling to engage with phenomena that might in fact stand against one’s beliefs but to do so with intellectual curiosity and humility.

Despite its importance, undertaking a doctoral study is not everyone’s business. It should never be. This is particularly because a PhD is not the only pathway to resolving humanity’s biggest contradictions. There are many. As a matter of fact, current statistics suggest that only 2% hold a doctorate globally even though PhDs have been awarded since 1150 AD. This is not just a figure; it is telling sign of how tough it gets to enroll and complete doctoral studies. Even more, it is a disclosure of the critical nature of this endeavour, and its attendant role to keep so many at harm’s way.

Such is escorted by the indisputable fact that doctoral programs are deeply isolating. For others, the use of word ‘lonely’ is preferred. This author approaches it as an intellectual solitude; a rare chance to fall in love with one’s scholarly inquiries which by themselves should not be shared with others or they will cease to be inquiries.

The process of acquiring a PhD is inherently isolating in view of the unique circumstances leading to intellectual and scholarly discoveries. PhD students and scholars are tasked with the responsibility to push the boundaries of knowledge; to travel uncharted territories and to grapple with some of the world’s biggest puzzles. While doing so, their capacities to think and innovate come to grips with the contending realities of the human world.  

In their ‘intellectual Disneyland’ to paraphrase Oxford Said’s 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚, PhD students are caught up between their intellectual and scholarly lives on one spectrum and the imposing social worlds on the other. This is true today as it probably was in 1150 AD. As they come to terms with this, their curiosity may be stifled lest they are particularly invested in the field. (At Oxford, we are taught we should as a matter of course). Unlike other study pursuits where common interests might align, doctoral programs are structured in such a way that each student is wallowing in their own sea. Nobody really understands with exactitude what the other is working on. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a PhD. 

Yet once it settles, the title ‘Dr’ properly earned is priceless. It communicates not just the discovery of and contribution to human knowledge but it is an indication of such an individual’s ability to start and finish an arduous path as a PhD.