PhD graduates, YÖK, and logic

YÖK proudly announced on its official website: ''The number of PhD graduates in Turkey is increasing'' (https://www.yok.gov.tr/Sayfalar/Haberler/2024/doktora-mezun-sayisi.aspx) 

I am quoting it as is: ''The increase in the number of PhD graduates in Turkey continues. The number of PhD graduates increased by 20 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The figures show that Turkey's research and development capacity is strengthening.''

There is no solid link between the increase in the number of PhD graduates and the claim that our country's ''research and development capacity is strengthening.'' Why is the number of PhD graduates increasing? What does this increase mean? 

The President of YÖK says: ''Turkey ranks first in Europe in terms of the rate of increase in the number of PhD graduates over the last 10 years.'' I do not want to spoil this picture of pride. However, the reason for this increase must be well understood. Many factors may be involved, such as a large number of PhD programs, excessive admissions to PhD programs, and careless supervision during the PhD process. 

It is necessary to think carefully about the meaning of a PhD degree: It is accepted that a person with the title of Doctor is capable of teaching university-level courses in their field of study and knows their field that well. However, many people who hold this title do not possess this competence. 

Unfortunately, we do not see any proper supervision being carried out regarding the difficulty of PhD qualification exams, the quality of PhD theses, and similar issues. 

The logic of YÖK (Council of Higher Education) is clear: the higher the number, the better! As long as we grant titles. If the issue is granting titles, let's distribute them abundantly. What could go wrong? As the YÖK President himself says: 'The PhD degree should no longer be seen merely as a tool for obtaining a position at a university. From now on, programs in our country that produce PhD graduates will not only train academic staff for universities but will also be trained in a way suitable for serving the business world and industry and working in these sectors.' The YÖK President is essentially right. However, in the current situation, it is difficult to say that people with a PhD degree can properly become academic staff. 

They say they will focus on the sector. In that case, the sector should kindly finance the universities. Since the sector will benefit from research and development activities at the university, the sector should also bear the burden of these activities. Is it YÖK's job to focus on the sector's benefit?

YÖK thinks so much about the sector that it treats PhD programs with the logic of a vocational high school. Look at what the YÖK President says: 'We are conducting new curriculum studies for PhD programs. We are also taking the opinions of representatives from the sector and the business world. We now want PhD graduates to serve in a much wider field outside of universities and to contribute to our country's economy, research capacity, and technological development.' 

For heaven's sake! Is there such a thing as a curriculum at the PhD level? Especially one managed within YÖK? Representatives of the sector and the business world should establish proper foundation universities or support public or foundation universities and finance private academic programs. Then the research they need can be easily carried out. 

This logic leads us to dangerous consequences. Directing young people toward research activities that will take at least 5 years, with an uncertain future based on the urgent needs of the sector, is contrary to both fairness and public interest. If activities in these areas are supported without calculating the number and depth of the research activities needed by the sector, we will not have utilized the researchers efficiently, even if the sector's needs are met by the researchers. Moreover, these researchers will graduate from the PhD program without receiving support from the sector whose problem they solved. So, what will happen then? Young people who put in a very intense effort during their PhD education regarding the course of their lives will turn into experts who are not needed 5 years later. 

Turkey occasionally does something crazy: Tourism, EU membership, etc. What are all those tourism experts, EU law experts, and graduates of EU and political science programs doing now? With what promises did they start these studies... Now each of them has turned into a qualified unemployed person. They are working completely outside of their education. Yet, a large part of these educations was financed by the public. Where is the public interest? Where is academic freedom? It is unknown where they are. Fortunately, it does not matter. Because YÖK does not care much about these things.