I encountered a similar situation at Lucent Technologies around 2000. I don't remember the specifics, but as I think we were referring to master and slave processes and someone objected to the usage. We thought it was stupid, but we found another pair of terms.
On the other hand, we were sensitive to such issues -- they had a very effective Diversity program and working with folk from all over the world was part of what made it a great place to be -- at least in some divisions. Still, there were occasions, such as this one, when it seemed to go a bit farther than was really necessary.
Of course, that's history, since I opted for the Voluntary Retirement Program as things went into the tank.
A PhD builds a new skill set that a first degree does not cover:
I'll agree with Toby's list, and add something else:
One thing you learn with a PhD that endures and is useful is how to become an expert. How to start from only a rudimentary knowledge of some field and advance to the point where you know what some unanswered questions in the field are, and how to go about answering them. -- or, if you prefer, how to learn new technologies quickly -- a skill in increasing demand.
But the utility of that skill depends a lot on the attitude of the person with the degree. Several particularly important attitudes are: 1. Respect and admiration for the good work done by those you work with. 2. Recognition of the limitations of education. 3. Willingness to listen and learn from experienced people, regardless of their educational credentials. 4. willingness to laugh at and appreciate PhD jokes.
Since you've been working for several years with an MS, you'll know the value of experience while you're working on your PhD. That's important. Theory is nice, but the fact is that PhD research focuses on problems that can be solved, preferably in 2-3 years, by one or two people. Most problems that are difficult in industry are much harder than that, and that's why they get hacked at in piecemeal fashion by many people over many years.
As many have said, it depends on what your goal is -- so set one.
If you don't know exactly, that's ok -- you're not being required to do this, so you can change your mind whenever you feel like it. So, spend some time thinking about what you think you'd like to do First -- you can always do something else later.
After you pick a first goal, focus on that and find out what you need to know to get there -- it probably won't be just one thing.
For instance, I got interested in Rubik's Cube and wanted to understand the math behind it -- so I started learning Group Theory -- that led to other things. Now I want to have a better understanding of Wiles' proof of FLT (I've a reasonable background in Theory of Computing/etc., so it's not completely out of the question) There are lots of things I didn't know anything about when I started, but I'm making progress, and having that as a long range goal is helping me find more accessible topics to start with.
I've been spending time working on these kinds of Math as a hobby for several years. Among the things I've found that work: 1. browse through the books in the bookstores and/or library to see if you can find one that's about a topic of interest, and at a level you can understand, or almost understand. There's a tremendous variability in that regard. 2. Ask people who are familiar with the area you're interested in for some recommendations -- If the books are too advanced, see what books they reference. 3. When you have a book you like, read it and do all the problems -- you can't learn Math by reading -- you have to get the experience. -- If you pick an area where there are proofs, work on understanding the proofs -- that's where the information is. 4. Keep the book in the bathroom and read it instead of that magazine. 5. Find a friend/group of friends -- As someone else said, it's much easier to learn with others. Take turns explaining how a proof / topic works. 6. Take (or audit) courses in a local college -- but beware of the audit-trap -- being too busy to do the homework -- if you don't do the homework you're probably wasting your time/money in the course. 7. use the web -- there're a lot of papers / people with "weird" hobbies (like math) and they often like to talk about it. -- Note that your group could be a newsgroup/mailinglist/chatroom... 8. There are lots of used books available on the Web -- so you can often find that "Great" book that's now out of print -- and at a reasonable price. 9. Don't give up, but don't be afraid to add a new, easier, goal to get to first.
Slashdot Mirror
I encountered a similar situation at Lucent Technologies around 2000. I don't remember the specifics, but as I think we were referring to master and slave processes and someone objected to the usage. We thought it was stupid, but we found another pair of terms.
On the other hand, we were sensitive to such issues -- they had a very effective Diversity program and working with folk from all over the world was part of what made it a great place to be -- at least in some divisions. Still, there were occasions, such as this one, when it seemed to go a bit farther than was really necessary.
Of course, that's history, since I opted for the Voluntary Retirement Program as things went into the tank.
A PhD builds a new skill set that a first degree does not cover:
I'll agree with Toby's list, and add something else:
One thing you learn with a PhD that endures and is useful is how to become an expert. How to start from only a rudimentary knowledge of some field and advance to the point where you know what some unanswered questions in the field are, and how to go about answering them. -- or, if you prefer, how to learn new technologies quickly -- a skill in increasing demand.
But the utility of that skill depends a lot on the attitude of the person with the degree. Several particularly important attitudes are:
1. Respect and admiration for the good work done by those you work with.
2. Recognition of the limitations of education.
3. Willingness to listen and learn from experienced people, regardless of their educational credentials.
4. willingness to laugh at and appreciate PhD jokes.
Since you've been working for several years with an MS, you'll know the value of experience while you're working on your PhD. That's important. Theory is nice, but the fact is that PhD research focuses on problems that can be solved, preferably in 2-3 years, by one or two people. Most problems that are difficult in industry are much harder than that, and that's why they get hacked at in piecemeal fashion by many people over many years.
joe davison
As many have said, it depends on what your goal is -- so set one.
If you don't know exactly, that's ok -- you're not being required to do this, so you can change your mind whenever you feel like it. So, spend some time thinking about what you think you'd like to do First -- you can always do something else later.
After you pick a first goal, focus on that and find out what you need to know to get there -- it probably won't be just one thing.
For instance, I got interested in Rubik's Cube and wanted to understand the math behind it -- so I started learning Group Theory -- that led to other things. Now I want to have a better understanding of Wiles' proof of FLT (I've a reasonable background in Theory of Computing/etc., so it's not completely out of the question) There are lots of things I didn't know anything about when I started, but I'm making progress, and having that as a long range goal is helping me find more accessible topics to start with.
I've been spending time working on these kinds of Math as a hobby for several years. Among the things I've found that work:
1. browse through the books in the bookstores and/or library to see if you can find one that's about a topic of interest, and at a level you can understand, or almost understand. There's a tremendous variability in that regard.
2. Ask people who are familiar with the area you're interested in for some recommendations -- If the books are too advanced, see what books they reference.
3. When you have a book you like, read it and do all the problems -- you can't learn Math by reading -- you have to get the experience. -- If you pick an area where there are proofs, work on understanding the proofs -- that's where the information is.
4. Keep the book in the bathroom and read it instead of that magazine.
5. Find a friend/group of friends -- As someone else said, it's much easier to learn with others. Take turns explaining how a proof / topic works.
6. Take (or audit) courses in a local college -- but beware of the audit-trap -- being too busy to do the homework -- if you don't do the homework you're probably wasting your time/money in the course.
7. use the web -- there're a lot of papers / people with "weird" hobbies (like math) and they often like to talk about it. -- Note that your group could be a newsgroup/mailinglist/chatroom...
8. There are lots of used books available on the Web -- so you can often find that "Great" book that's now out of print -- and at a reasonable price.
9. Don't give up, but don't be afraid to add a new, easier, goal to get to first.