If you had a PhD, would you demand to be called Dr.?

Probably not. I am a medical professional with a Master’s Degree, which was the requirement 22 years ago when I got it. The field has since transitioned to a clinical doctorate, and although those of us who have Masters are still allowed to practice, many went back for the doctorate. Depending on one’s career goals, the higher degree could have advantages, but there are clearly those who did it – at least to some extent – for the title, and they can be annoying.

From all the sweat and tears to get a PH.D. It is a miracle to get that far… I would give him/her credit because credit is due.

Probably not. I had a teacher in high school like this. Whenever the main office had to contact her classroom over the intercom and said, “Ms. Nute?” she’d stick her nose up and say, “It’s Dr. Nute. I didn’t go to school for x years to be called Ms.” Always followed by an awkward silence. I found it quite pretentious.

Respect and recognition of title is earned and those that have to then demand of that, IMO have not earned that title. That said, I do see a lot less respect afforded to adults from the younger generation. When I grew up I would never dreamt of calling an adult by their first name. It was always Mr. Mrs. Ms. so and so and same can be said for professionals like Dr.s, clergy, law enforcement etc.

I think working in Academia would be about as frustrating as working in a hospital. So many people thinking they re superior because of their title. I don’t think I could handle it.
I don’t have a degree but have thought at times about going back to get a business degree. Then I think I would probably get frustrated being bossed around by some twit who spent all their time in school and never spent a day in business. I would be tempted to ask, “And what’s your net worth?” Because in business that’s what matters.

Screw it, call me whatever you want. I’m not that pretentious.

I think the only Dr. that can justify requiring people address them as Dr. only are medical doctors. You could make the case that should there be an emergency, everyone should know who the MD is. Depending on their attitude, it could still be pretentious.

Oh, and let me get the obligatory ‘Call me for dinner, yuck, yuck, yuck!’ out of the way.

I wouldn’t expect it in a high school. However, it is standard in a university setting, unless the prof introduces him/herself by first name. I’d guess about half of the profs I’ve taken courses with prefer to use their first name. Otherwise, it’s “Dr.” by default.

Why do I have to care for a title which will surely create a big gap between me and my dear students?

I’d make up a title like Dr. Happy Brownie. lol

We had a CEO who was a PhD in Economics that insisted we all address him as Dr.

He was an ass.

As a joke, sure. I am working on my PhD.

You see it as pretentious and it could be. But it’s a hard call without knowing the back story. It could be she came from humble beginnings and it is a source of pride and or insecurity.

The time money and maybe other missed opportunities while she studied or applied herself could be another reason.

Or maybe that was how she was raised. Or a dream come true. It could be she is a bit disillusioned by her actual employment and reminding herself in some way she is above it is petty but we all cope in different ways.

You could always ask her what the backstory is. Or… You could just avoid her as much as possible and really try to just honor her wishes when you have to address her.

Are you in high school? (This speaks to your maturity level.)

Why do you assume that a doctorate in English or Education is worthless? (Do you have any idea what level of work it entails to earn such a degree?)

Why would it bother you to use a fairly earned title?

I really don’t understand your objections.

Definitely not. Having a title is not the problem. I admire anyone willing to put in the work. Insisting to be called by that title is pretentious and arrogant, in my opinion.

I will have mine by the end of the year, and I DON’T want to be called Dr. I am still the same person!

It is pretentious. I would not advertise it like that. I went to grad school and was urged to get the extra letters but I opted to leave instead.

I think that if it is an academic degree like a phd, rather than an MD, then it’s a little pretentious to use it in general situations. But if you are in an academic situation, it is appropriate to use it. I would include a high school in this. It declares your authority to speak about your academic topic.

@canidmajor I think the OP is asking if you insist on being called Dr by everybody in every situation.

One of the worst professors I’ve had so far for my programming classes was a PhD, lol! And pretentious as anything…

@Mimishu1995 : I understand what the OP is asking. I was addressing the details, as they seem to indicate more of an annoyance with one person rather than an honest curiosity about how others might feel about using such a title.
This is why I asked those questions, to determine the purpose of the question.

@canidmajor Perhaps a doctorate in English or Education is difficult to achieve, but after you’ve spent so much time and money on graduate school, what can you do with it except teach?
As for this woman, her doctorate in whatever has only afforded her the position of vice principal at a beyond-repair high school in Small Town, USA.
Yeah, her doctorate in English/Education is really paying off.

As for annoyance with this woman, you’re correct. As for my lack of general curiosity for answers to my question, you’re wrong.
I thought it would be interesting to see how many other people find insistence upon being called “Dr.” pretentious.

I don’t like the woman because she uses her title to emphasize some sort of superiority complex she has over the students. She refuses to treat anyone with dignity (which is in most cases deserved because my school is full of hoodlums). The problem is when she tries to speak down to students who are more intelligent than her and who try to speak to her maturely. In her eyes, every teenager is an idiot. I feel she uses her title of “Dr.” to try and justify this stigma.

She’s also just very pedantic. She’ll try to enforce pointless rules without any explanation. For instance my friend and I were in the halls after the bell on our way to lunch because she needed to retrieve her lunch bag. We were scolded by the VP who rolled her eyes at our excuse and told us to, “Get Moving!”
Clearly getting your lunch out of your locker isn’t viewed as a legitimate excuse to be 5 minutes late to lunch in her opinion.

If you need a clearer image of why I dislike her, I can only directly compare her to Professor Umbridge of the Harry Potter series. They’re identical in form and manner especially with the shared characteristic that they could punish you unjustly while completely disillusioning themselves with the idea that it’s in your best interest.
She actually told a boy who broke the “3 punches before you may fight back rule” that what he should have done instead of defending himself was run away or duck into a fetal position.

Right.

I’m curious as to why you even care about the legitimacy of my question?
It seems hardly the point of Fluther that every question must be based on “honest curiosity” for it to warrant a response.

Do you still think I’m immature? Pick another 17 year old off the street and see if they can even form a reputable opinion on something such as this or even care enough to pose a question concerning others opinions.

If I come off as slightly whiny or uneducated when it comes to the usefulness of certain degrees, so be it. I’m doing better than the vast majority of people my age just by lurking on Fluther rather than MTV and Tumblr.

By the way, I have no problem calling a person Dr. if that’s their desired title.
But someone as loathsome as her, I almost want to call her Mrs. just out of spite.
Not to say I would. I have enough sense and common decency to call her whatever she requests.
The point is, I feel she abuses her title.
I’ve known some actual college professors that had doctorates who were worthy enough of title but chose to stay on a first name basis so as not to set themselves above their students.
To me, that’s respectable.

@Feta: To address your points in no particular order:

I didn’t say you were immature, but a 17 year old has a very different perspective because of a lack of general life experience from a (for example) 38 year old father.

I didn’t question the “legitimacy” of your question. You seem to have inferred what I didn’t imply.

This woman may well be a complete jerk. I don’t dispute that. That said, it may be school policy that appropriate titles are used, that may not be her choice. She may be working in a “beyond repair high school in Small Town USA” for reasons that have little or nothing to do with employability. There may be family reasons; you may know, I do not.

Enforcing the rules in the halls is her job. Explaining to you why is not. She may do it in a jerky fashion, but it’s still her job.

Are any teachers in your school on a first name basis with their students? That would be unusual. College is very different, the rules that govern most public high schools simply don’t apply.

It’s too bad that you think teaching is so low on a career choice list, as implied by your first sentence: “Perhaps a doctorate in English or Education is difficult to achieve, but after you’ve spent so much time and money on graduate school, what can you do with it except teach?” It’s an honorable and honored profession.

And lastly, to answer the Q as stated, I would “demand” it only in appropriate situations, which may include following the rules set down by the school board that hired me, if that was the case.

@Feta – a PhD usually has nothing to do with teaching. It is a research qualification. It qualifies you for research in the field that your PhD is in.

Where do I even start? This teachers PhD isn’t your problem with her. My darling man has a PhD and is a professor at a University, but he has also had other research work and now combines the two. His attitude about what people call him is very relaxed and he even gets embarrassed when people find out about his PhD and then it gets awkward when they find out what it is in. He is very shy anyway. This has more to do with personality. It sounds like her job sucks, having to deal with so many no-hope cases. Trying to educate the unwilling is utter pointless.

@Harold I know plenty of published researchers without a PHD.

@Harold and @ARE_you_kidding_me It means that you researched beyond your Masters degree, in a program you had to apply to and were accepted into and your topic was approved and your research given a ‘pass’ by your advisers and a board from your University. You have to stand up in front of this board and defend your work and answer their questions about your data, collection process and conclusions. It is supposed to be a pretty big deal. It doesn’t mean you want to keep researching, although many do (like my honey). Others go out and work in the private sector or even public sector, getting special government grants or contracts to work in public service, like the branches of the military or other government agencies. Those jobs usually pay better than working for a State University.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – so do I. I am one at the moment, until I get mine. However, I don’t know many PhDs who aren’t published researchers.
@cazzie – yes, that’s true. I was just making the point that PhDs do more than teach.

@Harald is your research done with or under a PhD professor programme? Labs like where BBE works often shares authorship of papers with the students, because everyone contributes.

In fact, technically speaking, your masters is published. Whether it gets picked up by respectable trade publications is another thing. Still, back to the OP, I get tired of listening to the whine of young students. She isn’t doing any good for herself. We all had crappy teachers or annoying administrators, and we run into ‘that’ type our whole lives. Learning how to deal with them is probably the biggest lesson we will ever learn from them.

@cazzie – I think we have different terminology in Australia. I do share authorship with my supervisor….

There is a 3 punch before you can defend yourself rule? What kind if bullshit is that? Sure, let them assault me 3 times before I curl into the fetal position to be kicked a few more times.