I know of someone who has one of these honorary doctorates from a small university in central Africa. Are they worth anything? I have heard that they are offered to randomers, such as singers, etc.

Thanks

Mara

This must be the first time I've said this on here, but queue twenty pages of rants about devaluing real doctorates. :-)

Ian

They are not worth anything - it's not they do research and write a thesis to get them.

but they still get to wear a round hat and cloak?
:-) love satchi

I'm not decrying people who've done well or served their community as many thoroughly deserve some sort of honour.

However, whilst I appreciate the honorary award is being bestowed for such outstanding achievement, there are people who've worked damn hard for 4 or more years to obtain a qualification demonstrating excellence and original thought in there chosen field. That is not a claim an honorary doctorate can make.

If we are talking about the UK, there are Freedom of City awards, etc. to honour local, non-academic achievement. At national level, there's the Birthday's Honours List.

Ian

I thought that you would all reply with negative comments about them :-)

Yes, having gone through a real PhD for 7 years... I also consider honorary doctorates a cheat.

Just to play devil's advocate, I know one person who received an honorary doctorate who DID spend four years working hard and making an extraordinary contribution to their field, but outside of any institution, and I believe many others are awarded on a similar basis. But I'm sure some institutions must take the opportunity for a bit of publicity!

I'm with the negatives here :) I think a PhD has such specific requirements that it seems a bit odd to give out an honorary version - it's not like you can be made an honorary nurse, an honorary vet or an honorary accountant, so I'm not sure why you can get an honorary doctorate without going through the usual steps.

I was reading recently about a political figure (I can't remember his name) who was made an honorary professor despite having a non-academic background, and from that moment forward he used the Professor title at all times, which must be misleading to many people who'll assume he got the title via the academic route.

Hi guys, new member here! I agree that it's a hard pill to swallow when you're doing the PhD the hard way! I remember crying in the car, at a particularly low point during my PhD, because the radio dj (who is a former swimmer and tv presenter) was telling all the listeners about her honorary doctorate and joking about she was a doctor. It made me feel so bad that I was struggling to get this thing finished and she was making a joke of it.

Actually, I just wonder what we would all do if after getting a real doctorate, we were also offered a honorary doctorate by another university? Would we go get it? I think we would/should.

In any case, I have heard that a honorary doctorate should not appear in the 'education' section on the CV, but in the 'awards' section instead.

Mara