What does it mean to have a phd?

Answer 1

PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy. It's a postgraduate degree awarded by universities. Most people take 4 years to graduate High School. When you graduate, you get a High School degree. After high school, you can go to Community College, and in about 2 years, you can earn an Associate College Degree. Or, you could go to a four-year accredited College or University, and then you'd graduate with a Bachelor's Degree, which is a higher-level college degree than an Associate's Degree. You can also get an Associate Degree, and then transfer the credits towards a Bachelor's Degree, and then you can get a Bachelor's Degree in less than 4 years.

After getting a Bachelor's Degree, if you want more school, or a promotion at work, some people will go on to earn a Master's Degree, which you get at graduate school. It take 1-3 years to get a Master's degree, depending on if you are only going to school part-time or full time.

Finally, AFTER you have a Master's Degree, you can study and do reasearch for about 3 more years at a University, and earn your PhD! When you get your PhD, you get to be called Doctor as your title. Ms. Mary Smith would become Dr. Mary Smith, PhD. It's not the same thing as a medical doctor, but it's similar because you've gone to around 5 years of school AFTER earning your 4-year Bachelor's Degree. A medical doctor doesn't have a PhD. Their title would be Dr. Mary Smith, MD.

Some people enter a PhD program right after they finish their Bachelor's Degree. They agree to go to school and do research at a University for about 5 years (there's some flexibility depending on how long it takes for the research part to finish). While you are working towards that PhD, at some point 2-3 years in, you will earn your Master's Degree just by default since you have to complete the same credits on your path to your PhD.

Having a PhD is usually a requirement to teach at many colleges or Universities. If you ware working as an Educator or in Science or Engineering, having a PhD will often make you eligible for higher-paying jobs at work. But in some careers, having a PhD isn't always a good thing - it may make you appear over-qualified. If you are a tax accountant, you don't really need a PhD in accounting. It you want to be a Professor of Finance at a University, then you might get your PhD in Accounting or Finance.