Hi everyone, this is my first post so apologies if I'm re-treading a well-covered topic.

Having just completed UCL's Ma Human Rights programme I've been recommended pursuing doctoral study in the US, given the (alleged) better availability of funding and the more comprehensive nature of training involved.

As one would expect, trawling through US university websites, departments, faculty and so forth has been a rather daunting process.

My area of interest is the effects of neoliberal economic policies (eg economic liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation) on the fulfilment of economic and social rights (eg health, education, workers' rights) via quantitative empirical investigation (ie large time-series datasets, regression analysis).

Quantitative investigation of human rights outcomes is an under-developed field and academics producing research are few and far between, mostly operating at non-Ivy League institutions. On the other hand, there are plentiful staff investigating neoliberalism in general at more 'reputable', shall we say, institutions, though not directly in my niche interest area.

Given this, I'm in a quandary...

My question is this: is the reputation of the institution or the line of academic interest of the supervisor of greater importance?

Presumably both will be of importance. I suppose what I'm more getting at is: does one's PhD awarding institution carry enormous weight upon completion? To the same extent that, say, an oxbridge undergraduate degree seems to automatically trump one from an institution lower down on the league tables (at least as far as job applications are concerned)? At this stage I'm thinking, perhaps naively, that I would sooner struggle through a PhD from a well respected institution than receive more support / enthusiasm from a supervisor at a less reputable institution. Post-PhD employment prospects, however regrettable, are a major decisive factor here (given the gargantuan student debt I have hitherto amassed).

I've heard that PhDs in the social sciences are fairly atomised, regardless, so perhaps it isn't THAT important that my supervisor's interests are PERFECTLY concordant with my own? In which case, again, it seems it might be better to apply to reputable institutions over ones housing prospective supervisors whose research is slightly more in resonant with my chosen area of study.

Perhaps I'm missing something/ being an idiot though?

Any feedback would be really, really appreciated.

Cheers


:-)