On the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Sheree (I think that's her name) is confronted with a situation. Her boyfriend, Tiy-E Muhammad, had been pretending that he had a PhD, prompting Sheree to call him "Dr. Tiy-E."
I was confused on two levels: firstly, what was it about being a PhD that made Dr. Tiy-E want to have one? Secondly, what about being a PhD made him attractive to someone who drives an Aston Martin?
People with Doctor of Philosophy degrees are afforded a level of respect in society, presumably in recognition of their wide range of knowledge about a specific topic. Phd holders go through several years of reading, doing research, sniffing out free food, and attending industry conferences.
[Note: Although many PhD candidates are given some sort of stipends to defray certain costs, they are not, as many people assume, "paid to go to school." I sometimes think that doctoral funding is one giant research study that attempts to find out how long a student will attempt to live within the amount given before caving in and getting a job (tutor, library, online poker player) to make ends meet.]
After completing your program and earning your celebrated PhD, you land a prestigious job at a top University and earn roughly what the average MBA applicant makes when he is applying for Business School (now for PhD students who have MBAs, this begs several questions, all of which will remain unanswered in this post). While you may never drive an Aston Martin, once you have tenure your income is guaranteed (for as long as you have the energy to speak for 45 minutes straight twice a week and can find enough funding for TAs and RAs to do the rest of your work) not many professions offer this sort of perk.
Now when I consider the "Real Housewives" cast members, I can't help but wonder whether they somehow equate PhDs to MDs - after all, they are all doctors, right? Was Sheree dating a Doctor because she thought he made a lot of money? When she heard he was staying at the Holiday Inn and laughed along with miss "Tardy to the Pardy" was she thinking "I don't care if he's rich, he's fine and he's a doctor"? Who knows.
Now back to my first question, about "Dr. Tiy-E" - I understand that being known as a Doctor could have helped his credibility as far as his radio show was concerned and I'm sure he fancied himself a Black Dr. Drew. Once he got found out the first time, though, why would he insist on still going around claiming a PhD? Perhaps it was because he knew that the chances of getting jumped by "real" members of the PhD fraternity if discovered and found those chances more favorable than for claiming to be a volunteer firefighter. Perhaps he, too, knowing nothing about what a PhD does/earns/eats for a living, thought that he could pull off the "Rich Phd" oxymoron (note: I am exaggerating a bit here - I hear that there are a lot of rich Math PhDs working for Goldman Sachs).
In any case, I would like to advocate that people think twice about pretending that you have a PhD, especially if you have no idea what having one means. Not only do you run the real risk of meeting someone who is as clueless as you and having an absurd relationship based on your joint ignorance, but you also risk being laughed at (and possibly jumped) by those who have spilled their blood, sweat, and tears earning their degree. You don't just wake up one day and decide to become a cynical academic - the process takes years! The inverse relationship between capital letters behind your name and ability to lay the smackdown doesn't matter - PhDs travel in packs.
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