A small contribution to the discussion from Greece,
where design holds a minor position in academia:
The "Doctor Dropout" percentage is about 90%,
and this percentage has two aspects:
1) There are people who want to start a PhD but cannot find
the appropriate department, supervisor or funding.
2) There are people who manage to enrol in a department
as PhD students, but later abandon the study because
they are disappointed by the quality of the academic environment,
by the level of supervision, or by the professional
prospects after they finish.
(There is of course no official statistic,
I'm just giving a number that appears close to reality).
PhD completion in Greece in the design domain
(as well as in other domains)
demands an extremely high level of personal motivation,
which is usually absent. The situation becomes worse
because the jobs where a PhD in design would be valued
are non-existent, even in academia.
In my case, my PhD has been almost a disadvantage in the job market,
because I'm considered to be "too academic".
Best regards from Athens,
Artemis Yagou
www.yagou.gr
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