wazua Thu, May 14, 2026
Welcome Guest Search | Active Topics | Log In

6 Pages«<23456>
PhDs
digitek1
#31 Posted : Monday, August 05, 2013 4:48:59 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 2/3/2010
Posts: 1,797
Location: Kenya
phd is a ticket to poverty
I may be wrong..but then I could be right
Impunity
#32 Posted : Monday, August 05, 2013 4:57:06 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/2/2009
Posts: 26,334
Location: Masada
digitek1 wrote:
phd is a ticket to poverty


Yep! Just look at Professor Savai and the one who looks @KJ's dad in the previous elections.
Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly
Portfolio: Sold
You know you've made it when you get a parking space for your yatcht.

Siringi
#33 Posted : Monday, August 05, 2013 5:03:39 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/8/2013
Posts: 2,517
Magigi wrote:
smile


yaani hawa



Hata Kofia za PhD during hi convocation parade wacha tu
"😖😡KQ makes money for everyone except the shareholder 😏😏 " overheard in Wazua
Siringi
#34 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 4:53:53 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/8/2013
Posts: 2,517
I can tell the distance with precision to the nearest half a mile of some wazuans homes as measured from Port Florence along the shores of Lake Sango - nam Lolwe in what is popularly refered to as Nyanza. Donge?Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly

The region with the highest conentration of PhDs per square mile but do I saysmile smile
where are akina @eco when you need them at wazua?PhD Thesis Public defense

Go back to school unless your intention was to excite the kind of cyberspace tribal clashes that philip Ochieng's article brought linking Nyanza's poverty /lack of development and PhDs and Rayila worship
why does Rao have to come in

rinks

My people have lost their sense of Heroism - Philip Ochieng'

halafu matusi hapa
Nyanzerians reply
"😖😡KQ makes money for everyone except the shareholder 😏😏 " overheard in Wazua
Rahatupu
#35 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 8:47:05 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 12/4/2009
Posts: 1,982
Location: matano manne
Punda Mlia wrote:
mosesotieno wrote:
kamundu wrote:
Are they really worth it? Thats of unless of course you are in academia.
Statistics in the US alone show that 30% of phds drop out in first year, only 50% finish while average time to finish is 9 years!


In my opinion, they are worth the effort but only if you understand its purpose. I think many of us Kenyans simply accumulate degrees to show off.

To my mind, a PhD (or doctoral degree) is meant to demonstrate that one has the capacity for original thinking, invention and innovation. For this reason, a lot of the best research worldwide is carried out by PhDs or PhD candidates working in academic institutions.

Let me give an example. I recently attended a conference where a dentist from an East Asian country presented his work on a substance derived from seaweed that may be used to treat gum diseases. His whole PhD focuses on this topic and if the tests prove that the compound works, he plans to patent his work and manufacture a commercial product.

The scope of PhD study is also very narrow unlike, say, that of an bachelors or masters degree.

If you intend to teach or work in a research-based institution, go for the PhD. If , however, you prefer to simply specialize in and practice your trade, a bachelors or masters will do fine. Remember, 'papers' alone aren't sufficient.

P.S. I really hate the way we Kenyans use the word 'papers' to refer to academic certificates. Makes them look so cheap.



Many Kenyans with less papers are just hating and out to prove they can match those with serious academic credentials. One can easily obtain Bachelors/Masters degree without much effort but when it comes to Phd., you have to prove yourself - no short cuts. Many people rush to register for Phd study without fully understanding the work it involves. Be prepared to toil hard and for long. With no external funding, ensure you have your own, else things will come to a grinding halt. I hope to do a Phd. in future so that I can contribute in a special way to this country. Don't do a Phd. because you need a job. Outside academia, there are few organizations hiring that level of staff. How long would you tarmac as you chew books to earn the coveted title? Set the foundations of life, get a family and as you self actualize/have free time, do a Phd.
.


@Punda,@Moses, I feel you. I bet there is a problem with our association of academic achievement with success(monetary), so much so that there is a feeling that the higher up the academic ladder you get the more successful you get (or should I say richer?). To this end the glorification of degree certificates has reached its peak. Every parent wants his/her child to go to university at whatever cost in persiuit of that "paper". We don't have room for pursuit of one's passion, it is at the PhD level where this comes to the open, those without passion are caught by surprise. There is the other lot that does it for "self-actualization" is not passionate either, but out to balloon their egoes.
mukiha
#36 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 10:44:34 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
Food for thought: the higher you go up the academic ladder, the more you learn about less. Thus you face the danger of one day knowing everything about nothing!

In primary school, you study a little of everything
In secondary, you study a bit more of fewer things - you are allowed to concentrate on either sciences or social arts
In bachelors degree you study even more about one subject - say, animal husbandry
In masters degree, you stud a lot about, say,chicken farming...and do research on feeding habits of chicken between age zero and 7 days
In PhD you research on the effect of iron mineral feed on chicken between age zero and 7 days.

Does that PhD make you a better chicken expert than the guy who stopped at bachelor's degree?

Perhaps some one should do a PhD to find out!

BTW: a professorship is NOT an academic qualification; it is just a rank in university teaching. Being a professor doesn't mean you know a lot; it simply means you have taught a lot at the university!
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
nakujua
#37 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 10:45:34 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 12/17/2009
Posts: 3,583
Location: Kenya
Siringi wrote:
Shame on you Shame on you Shame on you lecturers dont belong to KNUT no? yawa Donge? Yao ni UASU - different cast different actors

methinks you might not have interacted with a Real Philosophiae Daktari..
These guys hawalali njaa strike or no strike

nakujua wrote:
phd is not worth it, imagine all those sossion strikes na kukatwa mshahara - kazi ya mwalimu ni ngumu.


Laughing out loudly - I thought they were threatening to go on strike the other day and I thought I saw their sossion making very accademic threats - smile , hawa Philosophiae Daktari wako na njaa - you are bound to get very hungry if you have to trek across 5 different counties to get a plate on the table, by the time you are through with the long walk your stomach must growl very hard.
Wendz
#38 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 10:53:52 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/19/2008
Posts: 4,268
Impunity wrote:
Wendz wrote:
Magigi wrote:
kamundu wrote:
Are they really worth it? Thats of unless of course you are in academia.
Statistics in the US alone show that 30% of phds drop out in first year, only 50% finish while average time to finish is 9 years!

...Just as stealing from gava coffers can be one's lifetime interest, seeking knowledge can be another's interest...Seeking knowledge just for the sake of it!!!
@Kamundu...I am not criticizing you but I find it a bit shallow and selfish when one uses himself as a standard measure of every body else...If it is not worthy for you it is for somebody else...


Exactly... because i do intend to do my phd and it wont be "to have a stepping stone to a better job"..... Noooooo. Just to learn. And in the future, when i am all free and retired, i will go to teach, and it wont be for money, just to transfer the knowledge i have and will have acquired to help the future generation. I have an option of taking to the grave though, but God willing, i prefer not to.


I always thought you are very old, in Ngilu's age group...kumbe I was wrong.
Wish you well mum!


You are right... I am not anywhere near young, unless you can call Ngilu and Martha young....but Ngilu is not yet retired, no? so, i still have sometime...smile
Wendz
#39 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 10:57:28 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/19/2008
Posts: 4,268
sheri wrote:
@Wendz you do not have to wait until you retire. Go for it now and enjoy the fruits when you are still young.


Nooooo.... this is advocating for a strike.... wacha kwanza nimalizane na mambo important... halafu nikienda academia, sitakuwa nikikaa sister ya poverty! (and for record, we need to re-define that "young"... Unless you want to qualify to be called "baby" and @impunity then becomes "infant" smile )
a4architect.com
#40 Posted : Tuesday, August 06, 2013 11:50:02 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 1/4/2010
Posts: 1,668
Location: nairobi
PhD in formal employment is a good way to easily rank the level of knowledge. PhD in the private sector/sole proprietorship is only to soothe the holder's ego. Clients dont come to anyone for service based on academic qualifications. They come based on the knowledge level. Einstein and Planc didnt have PhD academic qualifications but still managed huge wealth reservoir of knowledge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
As Iron Sharpens Iron, So one Man Sharpens Another.
6 Pages«<23456>
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.

Copyright © 2026 Wazua.co.ke. All Rights Reserved.