I’m reading about Paul Rusesabagina (the dude Hotel Rwanda is based on) and he received several honorary doctorates, including a law degree. My former boss, a complete idiot, said he got some too. I’m assuming all his education was “honorary,” rather than “actual.”
My question: are they worth anything in the job market? Let’s say it’s the only degree you have besides a high school diploma.
Apparently, Toni Morrison got a teaching job at Princeton with it. It’s in the creative writing department (creative writing is a terminal MFA degree) but I would assume her Nobel Prize was more influential in getting tenure than her MA or honorary doctorates.
It’s basically just an honor saying “University X thinks you deserve recognition and would like to be associated with you.” It does not imply any particular job skills or academic achievement.
So it won’t qualify you for anything, but it will still look good on a CV.
Are there any degrees that are “honorary” in the sense that you don’t have to apply for them (or turn in homework, take tests, etc.), but the school closely scrutinizes your accomplishments for academic rigor? In other words, the degree represents an actual assessment of your educational level. E.g., “This guy has only a high school diploma, but he discovered the groundbreaking Theory of Quantum Transchromaticism that is sweeping the Physics world, and also wrote five novels that demonstrate a wide mastery of knowledge and that are sufficiently laced with allusions to prior works to demonstrate that he’s well read. That has to be equivalent to at least a Bachelor’s Degree, give him one!”
I know that there are an increasing number of degree programs that award credit and degrees largely based on “prior learning” and allow you to submit past work and take exams proving your current knowledge and skills, but you have to apply for those programs and work within their framework. Perhaps there could be a hypothetical university that keeps “files” on local citizens and slaps them with a degree when their file gets thick enough. Yes, I know that’s exaggerated and unrealistic, but you get the idea.
I can see no advantage to be gained by a University for doing this. That’s my cynical, but realist (IMO) view.
As to the first part of your question, I would note that Albert Einstein wrote and published his first scientific paper while working as a patent examiner, prior to obtaining a Ph.D.:
Not exactly an honorary degree, but this is the closest I can think of, especially considering the apparent pro-forma nature of the Kleiner’s status as advisor.
As I understand it, that’s more-or-less the idea behind the “higher doctorates” awarded by some British universities, though I believe you are supposed to have a “junior doctorate” (PhD) beforehand and be engaged in academic research, so I’d imagine you’d typically be a professor when you receive it. They are the same degree titles that are, in America, typically awarded only as honorary degrees (Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Letters, etc.), so I suspect that the practice of honorary degrees began when some faculty dean said, “I’ve examined Mr. Smith’s corpus, and I believe the excellent penmanship with which he signed this donation check more than qualifies him as a Doctor of Arts!”
I believe the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein submitted his book * Tractaus Logico-Philosophicus** as his doctoral dissertation at Cambridge, and was awarded the doctorate on that basis, even though the book was in German, and had already been written and published before it was even contemplated that it should be his dissertation. However, Wittgenstein had earlier been a graduate student at Cambridge, under Bertrand Russell, and the Tractatus was, at least in part, the product of those studies, which Wittgenstein had broken off, to return to his native Austria, when World War I broke out. The Tractatus was mostly written after the end of the war, but before returning to Cambridge.
Basically, once Wittgenstein showed that he had an interest in returning to academia, Russell, who recognized his brilliance, very much wanted to get him to come and teach at Cambridge, and fixed it for him so that he cuold be awarded a doctorate (that would not be considered merely “honorary”) and made a fellow straight away. It was, of course, very irregular to do things this way. The fact that Russell was not only long since recognized as Britain’s greatest living philosopher, but was also the heir to an earldom, and the fact that Wittgenstein was not only a genius, but also came from an incredibly wealthy family, all probably helped to make it possible.
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*I think the pompous Latin title was Russell’s suggestion. Wittgenstein’s original working title was Der Satz (The Proposition) which actually reflects the content, though not the ambition, of the work much more clearly.
Doctor of Divinity isn’t an honorary degree-- it’s a tertiary degree from a seminary for a person who already hold a secondary degree from a seminary-- ie, a minister. Basically, if someone wants as a career path to teach in seminary after having been a parish pastor, a D.Div is one way to go. A Ph.D in Religious Studies is another, but if the person is certain of wanting to teach in a seminary, D.Div doesn’t require a dissertation, and a Ph.D does.
In the US, the Ph.D is the most difficult, and time consuming doctorate, because it requires a dissertation, which requires an original research project. Other doctorates don’t. The D.Let (Dr. of Letters) is what all honorary doctorates are. Gallaudet University gave one to Marlee Matlin in theater after she won the Academy Award for Children of a lesser god. (Yes, it’s spelled that way.)
Other non-Ph.D doctorates require honest work, but not dissertations. Bill Cosby has a Ed.D, a doctor of Education. You need a doctorate to obtain certain ranks in the Army, but it doesn’t need to be a Ph.D. A D.Let won’t work, though. A DJ (doctor of jurisprudence will, though), and so will medical doctorates: MD; DVM; DDS (yes, there are Army veterinarians).
There are a few bogus ones, like the Psy.D, which is a degree meant to allow an MSW who works as a therapist to call him or herself a “dr.” without either going to med school or becoming a Ph.D in Psychology. It’s just a two year course, and a NP-psychiatry knows way more. There’s one around here who does hypnotherapy and aromatherapy, and a bunch of other crap, and legitimizes it by legally being allowed to call himself doctor. His webpage is full of typos.
But yeah-- someone who gets an honorary degree probably already has a job.
I was gonna say, if you’re that exemplary in the field that a college or university recognized you for an honorary doctorate, you’re probably doing okay and have all the bona fides you need to find a good job. I would doubt that honorary doctorate would come into play in any real job search sense.
At least for Protestant seminaries in the US, this isn’t true. The degree you’re describing is the DMin (Doctor of Ministry). The DD (not usually abbreviated DDiv) is strictly an honorary degree here, though not in the UK. And while you can teach in a seminary with a DMin, especially a practical subject like Church Administration, a PhD is far more standard. And if you want to teach Theology or History, it’s necessary.
BTW, the most common theological degree is the MDiv (Master of Divinity—an awesome sounding title if ever there was one). That’s what every mainline Protestant denomination requires or recommends for ordination. (The ivory-billed woodpecker of academic theology is the ThD [Doctor of Theology]; only a handful of more traditional seminaries, including those at Harvard and Duke University award them as the equivalent of a PhD in Theology.)
The DLitt (Doctor of Letters, sometimes LittD or DLit, but never DLet) is a very common honorary degree, but not the only one. As mentioned above, DD is common for clergy. Stephen Colbert has an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, which is pretty common for actors who receive honorary degrees.
Wow, a lot of misinformation there! The PsyD is a perfectly legitimate doctoral degree in Psychology. It recognized by the APA and all 50 states, the federal government and the District of Columbia as fulfilling the academic requirements for licensure as a Psychologist, exactly as a PhD (and only a PhD, not any Master’s level degree) does. It is typically designed to be a professional, rather than an academic, degree.
Due arguably to the laxity of the accrediting agencies, there are a glut of independent, for-profit schools offering PsyD degrees of comparatively low quality, but they are all at least four-year programs. On the other hand, there are excellent, academically rigorous and research-heavy PsyD programs, such as the one at Rutgers University, and there are expensive, un-rigorous PhD programs at the same schools that are pumping out PsyDs. Social Work, by the way, is a completely separate field with it’s own doctoral degrees, including PhDs in Social Work and DSWs. And of course there are educated idiots in almost every field.
Not quite the same thing, but at Oxford, Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin you get your MA automatically after about 7 years. You don’t study further or take further exams, you just get it after you have your BA.
> You need a doctorate to obtain certain ranks in the Army, but it doesn’t need to be
> a Ph.D.
No, you don’t. It’s typical, but not required, to get a master’s degree before being promoted to the O-4 level in the United States military. An O-4 is called a major in the Army, Air Force, and Marines and is called a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Getting a master’s degree is something that the promotion board looks at favorably but doesn’t require. If I recall correctly, about 80% of those promoted to the rank of O-4 have the master’s degree. It’s not typical for officers in the U.S. military to have doctorates, regardless of what level they are. There are certain specific jobs that require a doctorate, but it’s not typical of most jobs in the military. It’s possible for officers in other military jobs to get a doctorate, but it’s not made easy. If anything, it will slow down your promotion schedule. On the other hand, it’s made comparatively easy to get a master’s degree. There are universities which offer graduate courses on or near military bases just to satisfy the officers who need to get the master’s degree in something. There’s no requirement about what the master’s degree is in.
I should never rely on memory. Although, all my info comes strictly from an Episcopal friend, so it’s possible what I said it true at Episcopal seminaries.
And that I know. I shouldn’t post after midnight.
Sorry, but I have met lots of Psy.Ds in my work, and every one has given me prickles. They make me think of chiropractors who insist on being called doctors socially, and think chiropractic can cure colds, strokes, and allergies. Every single one, to a person, had presented as a charlatan, and I have gotten lots of clients away from them to the care of NPs, MSWs, or psychiatrists. “Miraculously,” my clients started to thrive once they got away from the Psy.Ds with the hypnotherapy and crap. If there is an honest one out there, let me know. I’ll entertain the possibility, but I really have a lot of experience here, because I worked with disabled people in more than one city, for agencies that helped them with community living services.
Yes, I know you can get a Ph.D in social work, but most people who get one do not do counseling. Many people with MSWs though, get them with the goal of being counselors, or what we’d call “therapists.”
Despite television, psychiatrists don’t do hour-long counseling sessions.
Bit of an unfortunate similarity in name, but of course a totally different degree. An honours degree still counts as an undergraduate degree, despite sometimes requiring more work than some Masters degrees.
Honorary degrees that I have seen are usually a way of recognising some sort of achievement or contribution. Universities vary in the rules for degrees, and not all universities confer all degrees. It is well understood that they are honorary, and it is expected that this be noted whenever the degree is cited. My old university offers the Doctor of the University. It is a sort of golden handshake. You can be a loyal member of the non-academic staff, and after a lifetime of service, get this degree on retirement. You still have to be someone pretty special in the staff, but it carries no other standing. Most people who get honorary doctoral degrees will not call themselves Doctor. There are higher standing degrees than PhD that do requires academic contribution. My old university also awards a Doctor of Science. This is based upon the body of publications and is judged by a panel of experts constituted for the task. They award a a couple a year, and it is a very big deal. It most certainly isn’t honorary.
I remember my Father’s university (Exeter) was awarding heaps of honorary doctoral degrees to members of the Conservative government. At the time Winston Churchill was both prime minister and chancellor. This did not go down well with the rank and file academics. Winston turned up to confer the degrees himself.
I know one mathematician who was awarded an honorary doctorate for his lifetime achievements, which were impressive. He had been enrolled in a graduate program, had had some kind of disagreement and walked away. He got a job in a new university at a time when academic jobs were plentiful and eventually became a full professor. But the degree (from a third university) was honorary in the sense that he took no courses, passed no exams, turned in no dissertation. But his lifetime production has been extraordinary and I don’t think the degree mattered at all. I rather suspect that most people don’t know he doesn’t have a “real” PhD.
