Does it matter where I am doing my PhD from?

[johnykhan]

Does it matter where I am doing my PhD from?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Yes.

If you write a more specific question, you may get a more specific answer.

 

[johnykhan]

Like I am doing PhD from a Pakistani university; I am highly intellectual and capable individual and aspire to build an international career anywhere out of Pakistan. Do employers consider the country of the degree awarding institution while evaluating the candidate for a job (not any specific job or industry)?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Employers care about the quality of the institution. That is correlated with the country it is in. I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe.

Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise.

 

[Dickfore]

Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful,

who got his PhD from Cambridge.

 

[johnykhan]

"I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe." I differ with you on this because I have seen graduates of European schools struggling in front of Pakistani graduates; I am sorry I won't buy it.

In reply to your comment "Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise." is out of context to the question. And on the ground that the treatment of employers outside Pakistan towards Pakistani graduates is not based on the reciprocity of treatment given to foreign graduates and laureates by Pakistani employers.

 

[Vanadium 50]

It sounds like you had an answer in mind and are unhappy you're not getting it.

 

[Locrian]

I'll add it also (maybe ultimately) matters who you are doing it with.

 

[johnykhan]

Employers care about the quality of the institution. That is correlated with the country it is in. I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe.

Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise.

It sounds like you had an answer in mind and are unhappy you're not getting it.

The first part of your reply was perfectly fine in which you said: "Employers care about the quality of the institution. That is correlated with the country it is in." But in your claim "I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe. Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise"; you didn't give a proper reason rather made a criticism. That's why I needed to correct you on that. Otherwise I am cool and hope you didn't mind as well. Cheers

 

[johnykhan]

I'll add it also (maybe ultimately) matters who you are doing it with.

Please elaborate I couldn't get you on "it also (maybe ultimately) matters who you are doing it with."

 

[Mike H]

Please elaborate I couldn't get you on "it also (maybe ultimately) matters who you are doing it with."

What matters more than the name of the university is your graduate advisor and the work you do with them. Just because one speaks of a "brand-name university," it does not mean that they have the very best people in each and every subfield of every discipline. In fact, you may find that they don't have *anyone* in your areas of interest.

 

[Locrian]

And there are some examples of colleges that are "only" good having great programs in specific areas. It's not just what you know, but who your advisor knows.

 

[iRaid]

The first part of your reply was perfectly fine in which you said: "Employers care about the quality of the institution. That is correlated with the country it is in." But in your claim "I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe. Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise"; you didn't give a proper reason rather made a criticism. That's why I needed to correct you on that. Otherwise I am cool and hope you didn't mind as well. Cheers

I think vandium is right though, I have never heard of any very good schools in Pakistan..

 

[johnykhan]

What matters more than the name of the university is your graduate advisor and the work you do with them. Just because one speaks of a "brand-name university," it does not mean that they have the very best people in each and every subfield of every discipline. In fact, you may find that they don't have *anyone* in your areas of interest.

I agree. Thank you for sharing your opinion.

 

[johnykhan]

And there are some examples of colleges that are "only" good having great programs in specific areas. It's not just what you know, but who your advisor knows.

Makes sense. Thank you

 

[johnykhan]

I think vandium is right though, I have never heard of any very good schools in Pakistan..

If you speak of rankings then you won't see Pakistani universities in the list except for one or two, this is due to lack of funding. But I have seen a lot of capable people working in these universities and many of them go abroad to work for universities abroad.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Again, I think you are fishing for what you want to hear. Anything positive, you agree with, anything negative, you disagree with.

Rankings have meaning. Yes, there is no real difference between #1 and #10, or #1000 and #1010. But there is a difference between #1 and #1000. The best universities in Pakistan are ranked in the #2000-2500 ballpark. The worst university in the US to offer a PhD in physics sits around #550.

"Lack of funding" is important. Only a little funding means only a little research, and only a little research means poor rankings for your PhD programs, because a PhD program is a research degree. "Everything's good except for research funding" is like saying "Everything's good with this boat except the holes in the bottom."

Finally, it doesn't help that people like Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood ""recommended that djinns [or genies], being fiery creatures, ought to be tapped as a free source of energy. By this means, a final solution to Pakistan's energy problems would be found."

 

[Johannes]

I guess the difference is that you will have a much harder time convincing the people that you are good.
For instance in mathematics there are always people like Igor Rodnianski (Ms St. Petersburg PhD Kansas State... ) who just pop up out of nowhere, often nowhere, Russia, because there education is still very good. I can imagine the same with researchers from Pakistan.
However for instance in Experimental Physics you won't be able to outsmart or out educate billions of $ in funding.

 

[Starfyre]

"I'm afraid the very best schools in Pakistan do not compare with even a poor research university in North America or Europe." I differ with you on this because I have seen graduates of European schools struggling in front of Pakistani graduates; I am sorry I won't buy it.

In reply to your comment "Pakistan's treatment of its only Nobel prize winner was shameful, so this does not come as a great surprise." is out of context to the question. And on the ground that the treatment of employers outside Pakistan towards Pakistani graduates is not based on the reciprocity of treatment given to foreign graduates and laureates by Pakistani employers.

I think that what Vanadium was getting at is that religious tolerance/freedom tends to go with academic tolerance/freedom, and academic tolerance/freedom produces more ideas. It is less likely reject potentially good ideas based on irrelevant criteria such as how a researcher worships (or if at all). The universities in societies that persecute scholars on those grounds tend to decline (note the effects of the Inquisition, Communism, Fascism, etc.). The best research institutions have tended to encourage freedom of thought.

Pakistan persecuted the man's religious sect (while gladly developing the technology that his research led to I might add).

I don't know if YOU are looking for a particular answer but not getting it, but that does seem to describe why societies systematically persecute scholars. That attitude does not lead to innovative/meaningful research.

Just my take on the situation. I could have misinterpreted "the V-man (or V-woman)", but I don't think I misinterpretted history.

 

[Pyrrhus]

I agree with Vanadium and Locrian. In addition, I'll say your PhD worth is also tied to your publications, and the quality of the journals they are published in. If you graduated from a PhD in a Pakistani University and you have 0 publications. Your degree is worthless. If you graduated from a PhD in a Pakistani University and have many publications and they are all in journals peer-reviewed by faculty from Pakistani Universities. Your degree most likely is worthless.

You'll prefer to have publications in international recognized top ranked journals in order to convince others that your PhD even thought from an unknown university to them has "worth".