I’ve noticed that in my workplace (government/engineering/research) there are lots of people with PhD, but there are a few that everyone refers to as Dr. <lastname>, and most others are just referred to by first name or full name. I can’t figure out why, people seem to do it because everyone else does it. Has anyone else seen that happen? Do you think that’s because they introduce themselves as Dr? Or some other social dynamic at play here?
I’m sure it happens organically. Everyone has a personal preference for how others address them. Some people insist on others using the honorific, others don’t care or are more casual.
Generally the rule I’ve always gone by is use the honorific, i.e. be formal and respectful, until they ask you not to.
In my limited experience: In places where everybody has a PhD, nobody goes by “Dr”; it would seem pretentious. In places where only some have PhD’s, those who do have them go by “Dr.”
One place where I worked had PhDs all over the place, and the only time anyone was called Dr. was during presentations to visitors. The only person I ever encountered who insisted on the title was a guy whose degree was in English Lit or something similar. He had a right to be proud of his accomplishment, but pretty much everyone at that backyard party thought he was an ass. Then again, he was an ass before he got his doctorate.
It reminded me of a woman I met when I was in the Navy - introduced herself as Mrs. Admiral <Lastname> - I guess we were supposed to be impressed…
Hard to say. At my alma mater, the University of Virginia, there’s a tradition of non-medical PhD’s insisting on being called “Professor” or “Mister” because Thomas Jefferson, the founder, did not call himself “Doctor.”
There’s also the Friends episode where Ross, at the hospital where Rachel’s dad worked, told the receptionist “Please tell Dr. Green that Dr. Geller is here.” To which Rachel replied “This is a hospital. ‘Doctor’ means something here!”
I work in Korea and have a Master’s. Technically, I could insist on being called “Professor” but have yet to do so.
I look around my office and I’m pretty sure that I’m one of the very few without a PhD. No-one goes by doctor and I suspect it would be frowned upon if you did. In fact, we do occasionally use “doctor” as a means of *sarcastic *address but never formally.
Actually, formal workplace announcements of recruitment or promotion do use the term but it is rare enough to be remarkable.
I work in a smallish engineering office. Nobody calls and of the PhDs doctor and most if not all of the employees would think someone was an ass if they expected it.
People call me “Doctor” when they want something.
There are only a few of us in my workplace who have PhDs. I think all of us have “PhD” in our email signatures. But none of us are called “Dr” by our colleagues. Unless they are joking.
But in public meetings and hearings where I am called upon to speak as a technical expert, I am always referred to as “Dr.”
I frequently have to interact with university researchers who almost always have PhDs. But since I work in government and my job title is somewhat oblique, it is often assumed I don’t have a PhD. Once, I was telling a researcher how much I hated being treated in a condescending manner by a specific chest-thumping academic who is a mutual enemy of ours, and he replied “He only treats you that way because you don’t have a PhD.” His face turned red when I corrected him. Ever since then, he has always made a point of calling me “Dr.” when introducing me to other scientists.
While I used to feel a little awkward being called “Dr” at work, I don’t feel that way now.
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This sounds like it would mostly only be an issue in eg Germany, where someone may be introduced as “Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Der-und-Der” to be formal, or let’s say you are lecturing at a university, and wouldn’t necessarily expect some random student to address you like you’re their buddy. Otherwise, assuming you are on speaking terms, I do not see why you would need to address your colleague any way besides “Hi, Bob” or similar.
Are the non-Drs at a lower or non-managerial pay grade?
IME GS-15s and above are called Dr. if they have a PhD, but GS-15s and above are also called Mr., Mrs., or Ms. if they don’t. GS-14s and below, or contractors and some engineering-type senior civilians without direct reports, are just first names regardless of degree status. Degree specialty never seems to play into it, other than sometimes we snicker when we find out what someone has a PhD in (while still calling them Dr, of course).
IMHO calling someone with a PhD “Dr.” is reserved for formal occasions. In an office where everyone calls each other by their first names, if a PhD insists on being called “Dr.” they are a pompous ass. And I have met a couple of pompous asses. OK, you got a PhD, that’s great, but you’re here to do a job. How’re you doing with that?
It is also needless to put “PhD” after your name in an email, unless there is some specific reason to show your academic credentials. This sort of nonsense is contagious and leads to people putting all kinds of crap after their names:
John Doe, BS, MBA, PMP
In scholarly papers, you will never see “Dr.” or “PhD” by the authors’ names. Because it’s the content of the paper that matters.
In my general opinion, it’s a title that’s used more in academia than anything else; your average history prof is called “Dr. History Prof” as part of his job.
But in the working world, I’ve seen that insisting on being called “Dr.” if you have a PhD is very much an artifact of insecure people. I work in IT, and there have been a handful of doctorate holders that I’ve worked with, and the ones who insist on the “Dr.” prefix are invariably either full of themselves or trying way too hard. They’re the same sorts who stick the alphabet soup after their names in their email sigs, even if it’s absurd or not relevant.
I asked a similar question a few years back:
You have an MD or a PhD. Do you make people call you “Doctor” in social settings?
My workplace is pretty egalitarian. Many of us have advanced degrees, but all of us are on a first-name basis with each other. I have a PhD and have been introduced as “Doctor Machine Elf” on a very few occasions in the past, and it made me uncomfortable.
In my small neighborhood association, there is one person who sign their emails as “<jackass neighbor’s name>, Ph.D.” Given where I live, it’s likely that there are several PhDs in the neighborhood, so this one person kinda stands out. Perhaps not by coincidence, they are annoying to interact with in these exchanges.
This must vary by field, because I see it fairly frequently in some of the humanities, such as history journals.
When I worked at Bell Labs, our center had 50% PhDs and no one used Doctor - with the exception being letters to candidates. Almost no one used Ph.D on a business card either.
I’ve been involved in a technical conference for a long time, where a lot of the talks are given by PhDs, and no one uses Doctor in the introduction either.
I’ve noticed that those who do use Ph.D on a business card work for smaller companies where there aren’t a lot or any other Ph.Ds, so having one stands out in some way.
I did go to grad school in a place where a lot of Professors did not have Ph.Ds, so it was standard to call professors who did “doctor” since that was higher prestige than just professor.
Question for those surrounded by PhDs you don’t address as Dr, do you address them as Mr or Mrs instead?
I wonder if the people who put a string of alphabets in their signatures have worked in previous environments where that isn’t totally weird.
Where I work, it is normal for professional engineers and geologists to have PE and PG in their signatures. Because these folks are indeed special (as far as their job duties go), and the agency looks good by having staff who can flash those credentials to the public.
The same goes for PhDs.
When people see the PEs, PGs,and PhDs putting alphabets after their names, others naturally want to do the same with their credentials. So then everyone starts doing it until it is all meaningless noise.
So I think it is important for management to come up with a style guide for email signatures and business cards, since people may sincerely not know what is considered acceptable for their workplace.
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If they are my coworker, I am going to call them by first name unless they tell me to do otherwise.
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