A lot of interesting e-mails from faculty and students since yesterday's post/poll, for which my thanks. A few notable points. U.S. philosopher at a ranked PGR program:
Even supposing the polls are not being jobbed, which I'm not sure we can suppose, I'd expect them to reflect a reporting bias, since the mediocre, the incompetent, the internet ax grinders, and the angry will likely be MUCH more likely to vote than the functional rank and file of the profession, a high percentage of whom use the PGR in advising students.
Be a great shame to lose PGR, but I can easily see why you would be sick of this shit.
A junior philosopher in the U.K.:
Please continue with the PGR — it’s a great resource! I found it invaluable as a prospective graduate student and jobseeker. There is nothing else like it. The fact is, if there is no 2014 PGR, prospective graduate students will simply carry on using the 2011 PGR as they do currently. But I’m sure they would find an update extremely helpful.
I thought you might appreciate a supportive email more than a poll vote. I don’t think a poll is necessarily a good way to settle the issue. The PGR is always going to create lots of aggrieved parties who have nothing to gain from it and would rather see it disappear. If you keep it going, do it for the next generation of graduate students, who probably won’t vote in the poll but do have a lot to gain from the survey.
From a graduate student in the US:
I wanted to personally express my support for continuing the PGR (and for your more general project of calling out intellectual frauds). I graduated from an un-prestigious department** in a particularly un-prestigious university, and the PGR was crucial, for a variety of reasons, to my success in gaining admittance to a top program.
If you decide to post this, please sign me as "Anonymous Graduate Student at a Top-5 Program." (Not a courageous move, I know, but there is so much groupthink among your most recent critics, it would probably be a bad professional decision to be publicly named in support).
**(which is not to say that I didn't have great professors from whom I learned quite a bit)
From a U.S. philosopher teaching at an undergraduate university:
I implore you to continue with the PGR, the recent polls notwithstanding. I understand that some departments do not like the PGR, but as you have noted the PGR exists for prospective students (i.e., not specific departments in the rankings). In addition to the peer-rankings, there is much useful information in the PGR. For example, I often direct my students to read the "Realistic Perspective on Graduate Study" before they apply. Also, the breakdown by specialties is invaluable for students awash in information with no way to organize it. Further, departmental advisors/mentors cannot possibly keep up with shifting faculty and particular strengths of departments. As a philosopher of science, I can confidently recommend programs in that field; however, were it not for the PGR I'd have little in the way of recommendations for students considering programs in, say, ethics or analytic metaphysics (aside from the obvious top programs). I always recommend that my students start with the PGR and then learn more about the programs and, most importantly, contact graduate students in programs that interest them.
No doubt, you are receiving many messages such as these, and I hope that they will carry more weight than the polls, which are subject to manipulation. I cringe at the idea that those who smear you and the PGR could possibly be encouraging or coercing their undergrads to vote down the PGR. I also understand that the PGR is a headache for you, but it provides a very important service. I consulted it myself when I applied to graduate school in 2000 and 2002.
From a graduate student in the U.S. at a non-top 50 PhD program:
In light of the ongoing smear campaign against yourself and the PGR, I would like to take the opportunity to let you know that I sincerely hope that you will not give in to any pressure that you're receiving and forego publishing this year's rankings. As a current Ph.D. candidate, I can personally say that the PGR was extraordinarily helpful to me during the time that I was applying to schools and weighing offers. Students, like myself, coming from small universities often have little to no guidance on how to approach Ph.D. applications, and, so far as I can tell, the PGR is the most comprehensive and transparent guide to the process available. I, for one, appreciate all of the work that has gone into publishing the PGR, and I think that it has been a valuable asset to the profession. I just want to offer you some encouragement, and I truly hope that the outcome of your online poll does not dissuade you from continuing to offer this service to aspiring professional philosophers like myself.
Comments are open for those who wish to weigh in on the PGR issue; in the current environment, you may post anonymously, but choose a distinctive moniker; please do include a valid e-mail address, which will not appear.
