Yes, it’s BSc here too.
I think it depends on the organisation. In the one where I work, I would say about 30% of the staff here have PhDs, and while none would ever insist that you call them Dr So and So, it is accepted that they will use their title in a number of circumstances - in correspondence (externally), when representing us outwith the organisation, at conferences etc
Although we are a fairly informal organisation, as government organisations go, we also have a national profile that requires that other professionals and members of the public have confidence in us. I think in this instance, it helps for people to be seen to have the standing that having a doctorate confers.
That being said, I think that most of us would think that they were a bit of a dick if they insisted that Dr or PhD be added to their name in most internal documents.
I’m intrigued, now. I think that I will start keeping a tally to see who needs their ego fluffing.
Individual British institutions are free to title their degrees in ways of their choosing, often displaying historical reasons. Some places award a music degree as a BA, others as BMus, and mine, for no reason I’ve ever found out, is MusB (despite all other degrees from that university being BA, BSc etc.).
I work in administrative support at a university, for faculty no less, so each person in my unit is highly degreed, mostly Ph.D. but we have a few hold-over master’s profs. This is a major goddamn headache for me.
When I first started in the job, I was asked to prepare an office directory. I listed the Director’s name at the top of a directory as Dr. So and So, and then proceeded to list all faculty last name, first name, no credentials followed by the office number (including the director’s name in the appropriate alphabetical spot, without credential). This was protocol across all academic units and on all signage across my building. Shortly after posting the signage, I was asked to change it by one prof because I had included a title for the Director only, and left off everyone else’s credentials, which could be considered offensive by some. So, what to do? He wanted me to list everyone as Dr. So and So. But, that would piss of the Master degree only profs because they don’t get the Dr. I could no longer list everyone last name, first name because this looks dumb: Soandso, Mary Ph.D. I went with listing everyone first name, last name, credentials. The amount of time I spent thinking about this blows my mind.
My solution in all future correspondence has been to list everyone’s credentials after their name so I can avoid this in the future. I keep a word document handy for reference, but I now have them all memorized. I have told the more than half of my profs who have bitched that they would prefer not to be called “Dr” or be credentialed in emails (“it sounds pompous”) that I am doing so because it would seem weird to credential only the people who request it. So far, the response has been a rolling of the eyes and an immediate retreat back to the nether-regions of their research space.
The lesson I’ve learned from all this - play to the people who care about the credential - because they care A LOT and it will cause you less headaches in the long run. Until I became an administrator at a University, I used to joke that once I got my Ph.D., I would force everyone to call me Dr. Now, I cringe at the thought. The prestige of it has lost some of its appeal under the fluorescent glare of academic egos.
I lost my edit window. I forgot to add my answers!
ETA…
- If her PhD is listed, should I also be sure that other academic degrees and certifications (licensed social workers, etc.) be listed for other staff named in my work plans?
Yep. Its a pain in the ass.
- Should I have to do this if the document is completely internal; meant for colleagues and coworkers inside the organization?
Better safe than sorry - I only do this if listing. If I reference the person, I will use the title… Dr. X. If they do not have a Ph.D., I use Mr. and Miss. in the same document.
- How will I be sure not to offend those outside my organization when I list their names without degrees, because I don’t know them?
I’ve gotten around this by googling, facebooking etc to find out, and when in doubt, I’ve asked. If it is a lot of people, leave it off - they’ll tell you if you annoy them.
- Several highly degreed (MD/PhD) people I work with specifically don’t want their degrees to be listed because they feel it will be perceived as elitist. How will it look if I put the initials after this one person’s name but not under theirs in the same document?
Have a quick conversation re: my tactic above - tell them for consistency you will be titling/credentialing them because you have been asked to do so by some people.
- Is this the biggest potload of bullshit you ever heard and should I just go work on a farm instead?
Nope. I have stories that would make your ears bleed. Don’t get out the hoe just yet, but keep the pickaxe handy.
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But why does one set of whiners get to dictate policy? You’ve been asked to do so by some people; you’ve also been asked not to do so by others, presumably of equal status in the institution. What’s your basis for favouring one group over another?
This is why I suggested JillGat look into HR or institutional policy - if this is such an issue, it seems like there should be a formal policy, rather than just leaving it to which group whines more.
When I got my degree, it was listed as Sc.B., which I’m convinced they did because it didn’t have the associations “BS” did.
You get some people here who will also insist on adding the name of the institution after their degree.
e.g. Mr. Wallenstein, MA (Oxon.)
It tends to be “Oxon.” or “Cantab.” to show that not only do you have a degree, but it’s a degree from a posh university (where they still use latin, no less!).
I work in healthcare, although I am not a physician. I always address the physicians as “Dr. So-and-so”, secure in the knowledge that they will return the courtesy and address me as “Mr. Mysurname”. Oh, no, wait. Actually they don’t. That kind of grates on me.
Anyway, I’ll second Giraffe’s advice.
Anecdote time. My wife belongs to an email group for people interested in latin dance. One of the members signs all her emails to the group with “<HerName>, Esq.” My wife just rolls her eyes. I suggested that my wife respond by adding all her credentials after her name too. Since she is a highly-specialized physician, she could put the majority of the alphabet after her name if she got serious about it. Fortunately for all involved, my wife just rolled her eyes at me too.
Bayard, MBA (brand new!), CISSP, EMT (exp.)
Yes – but no.
As several people have said – tell her you’ll do it on public documents, not internally.
twicks, BA, MPhil, PhD
When BS became the abbreviation for “bullshit,” I guess.
Nava, Ingeniero Superior, MSc.
The reason that postnominal letters, like Cantab. and Edin., are used is to distinguish postgraduate masters courses from undergraduate masters courses that are awarded at universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the rest of the ancient universities.
You’re wooshing us, right? Because way back in the dawn of time, when I got a BS, we were using that hoary old joke: BS, MS, and PhD degrees stood for BullShit, MoreShit, and Piled high (and) Deep.
3acres, BS (really :D)
Or it’s a degree in Latin. I sometimes have to correct people who think my A.B. and A.M. are associate’s degrees. Sucks in a resume situation but it’s honestly what they are called; sometimes I think about adding “(Bachelor’s)” but that seems silly too.
My boss responded, “Only put it if they request it.”
This means that if the Medical Director appears in the same document with this midlevel manager, the midlevel manager will have PhD after her name and the Medical Director will have no credentials at all. Oh well.
Stay tuned.
FWIW, my boss says to stick PhD on my business cards and on outside presentations. So, I do. Outside of business situations in which some kind of credibility must be quickly established, I’ve almost never use my title. I use “Dr. Slow” on three occasions: with those who insist on my using their title, such as an elementary school principal who repeatedly corrected my not using her title (these usually shut up quickly); with bureaucrats who would otherwise blow me off, such as the city engineer who not return my calls until I left a “Dr. Slow” message, and jokingly (that’s Dr. Dad to you son).
My observation would be that we middle aged, white male PhDs are initially given the benefit of the doubt, which eases the establishment of competence. Of course, it also makes the establishment of incompetence that much more amusing - no one gets less respect than an idiot PhD. I hope your midlevel manager insists on it because while everyone assumes the medical doctors are appropriately degreed, they do not assume it of someone in her post. Otherwise, it’s either pompous bs, or she’s trying to counteract an assumption incompetence. It is even possible she has established incompetence, in which case, see my idiot PhD comment.
Ah, that I can see - kind of like “real” doctors. No one uses PhD or Dr. in the conferences that I go to, btw.
I heard it as “More of the Same, Piled Higher and Deeper.”
I’ve had some obnoxious doctors who were into first names for us peons. I was tempted to say “that’s Doctor Voyager to you, bozo.” But its hard to stand on ceremony when they have a finger up your ass. 
Oops!
A few posters have mentioned that introducing oneself as “Doctor Smith” can expediate processes, cut through beauracracy, etc. Those of you who sweated the process (and in many cases, the bs) to earn your degrees aren’t going to like this. But really anybody can introduce themselves (to the bank, the restaurant hostess, the insurance company, the airline counter, etc.) as Doctor. These folks don’t generally investigate your credentials. Be careful where you use it, though, because it may as often instigate passive aggressiveness in others as it does expediate things.
Countess JillGat