How and why did the PhD degree evolve into its modern form?

David Gordon World Federation for Medical Education Copenhagen

• Organisation of this talk – Universities in Europe before 1500 – The structure of four faculties – Higher degrees in these faculties – why? – The doctorate in philosophy, to match other doctorates – The employment of holders of the PhD, and higher qualifications (habilitation etc.) – The modern PhD – Parts of the history that remain – Germany? Scandinavia? Russia? UK? …..

Universities in Europe before 1500

• Founded by Emperors and Popes (long after universities in the Arabic world…) • Bologna (1088), Paris (1200?), Oxford (1200?), Cambridge (~1209), Salamanca, Coimbra, Prague, Krakow, Vienna (1365), Pécs, Heidelberg (1386) …. • For the education of future leaders of society, particularly clergy, lawyers, doctors and administrators The structure of four faculties

• Theology • Law (often in two parts) • Medicine • Philosophy – the study of science, and of the arts What did a higher degree mean? – masters and doctors (1)

• The bachelor degree was a very basic level of learning – maybe like an 18-year old school leaver today • The master degree was evidence that you had “mastered” your subject • A doctorate was gained by scholarship rather than research and was evidence that you could teach (“doctor” = “teacher”) as well as being qualified to practise in your subject • Note – achievement rather than time What did a higher degree mean? – masters and doctors (2)

• Theology – doctor of theology (or similar) • Law – doctor of canon law, or of civil law • Medicine – MD – and in all these “higher” faculties, admission to the profession granted by the doctorate • Philosophy – – no doctorates – a bachelor degree in “philosophy” sometimes needed before enrolment in one of the “higher” faculties When and where did the pressure for a doctorate in philosophy happen?

• The PhD was not unknown (Paris ~1200?) • In Germany, between ~1750 – 1850 particularly at the University of Berlin (founded 1810 by von Humboldt) • Why? – an ambitious young land-owning and administrative group: – why should the other faculties award doctorates, and not philosophy? – reduced interest in theology The outcome

• The acceptance that doctorates could be awarded in the philosophical faculty • Soon becoming a favoured – often essential – qualification for a higher cultural, administrative or political position (as a theological qualification had been in the middle ages) • Often scholarship more than research The employment of holders of the PhD, and higher qualifications

• If a doctorate in theology, or law, was a licence to teach, then was a PhD a licence to teach? • Concerns over the pressure of more and more well qualified young men (… yes …) wishing a career in teaching, and sometimes in research • Therefore, the development of a higher academic qualification – the habilitation Habilitation – when and where

• Germany, the German-influenced countries (central Europe, Scandinavia, etc.) • Ideas that are accepted, evolve, spread and persist … are probably good ideas, at least in part? • But – is this extra step between the start of an academic career (the PhD) and highest appointment (a professorship) really necessary? • Can the inhibition to international careers that it causes be justified? The development of the modern PhD (1)

• In the mid-late 19th century, students from the USA and elsewhere began to appreciate the value of a degree that recognised their higher academic ability – • - particularly in research • Hence the introduction of the PhD into USA universities from the 1860s onward • Later elsewhere (~1910 in the UK) The development of the modern PhD (2)

• In the late 19th century, and increasing recognition of the social and economic importance of research – chemistry, engineering, textiles, sociology etc. – and of the value of well-educated and research capable young people • Increasingly (and continuing even today) seen as an entry qualification into an academic career • The incomplete resolution of the potential conflict between scholarship and research Historical remnants (1)

• Germany and related countries – The habilitation – “A PhD in clinical medicine is not possible! Verboten!” – An uncertain conflict between the PhD and the habilitation as the crucial entry point to an academic career • Scandinavia – Graduates from a first degree being only candidates for the next stage

Historical remnants (2)

• UK – The master’s degree as, effectively, the first degree in some universities – Higher doctorates – not just in theology, medicine and law, but also science (ScD), literature (LittD) and so on – some surviving as “scholarship” until <50 years ago • Russia and Russian-influenced countries – The CandSci degree, and higher doctorates Conclusions of this talk

• Background – Universities in Europe before 1500 – The structure of four faculties – Higher degrees in these faculties – why? – The doctorate in philosophy, to match other doctorates – The employment of holders of the PhD, and higher qualifications (habilitation etc.) – The modern PhD – Parts of the history that remain – Germany? Scandinavia? Russia? UK? ….. • We are not in a static position: academic degree structures, including the PhD, continue to evolve, and this is the cause of many initiatives, including those about standards for the PhD