So You Want to Earn a PH.D. in Economics: How Long do you Think it Will Take?

John Siegfried and W.A. Stock

No DP-53, Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: The elapsed time taken to earn a Ph.D. in economics is analyzed with data from 620 (of about 950) 1996-97 Ph.D.s. The median is 5.3 years. A duration model indicates that those students at several of the most highly regarded programs, those supported by no-work fellowships, and those holding a prior masters degree finish faster than others. Americans, those who start jobs before completing their degree, and those who have children take longer. Kids slow the progress of women, but not of men. The only difference among fields is a longer time required for industrial organization and international economics. There is no difference in time-to-degree between men and women, married and single students, older and younger students, and those enrolled in larger or smaller Ph.D. programs. Fellowship support is more important for speeding the progress of women than that of men.

Keywords: EDUCATION; ECONOMICS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A23 I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2000-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published in the Journal of Human Resources, 2001, Vol. 36, no. 2: 364-378.

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Related works:
Journal Article: So You Want to Earn a Ph.D. in Economics?: How Long Do You Think It Will Take? (2001)
Working Paper: So You Want to Earn a Ph.D. in Economics: How Long Do You Think it Will Take? (2000)
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