Translated material
Cutlets and flies together
Return to the case of P.A. Astakhov (I hope it’s the last time) is forced by the fact that this incident turned out to be no less significant than even the incident of A.V. Andriyanova. I’m not providing links here, because if you’re completely out of the loop, it’s better not to read further. Just as in the case of Andriyanov, this incident became significant for history through the fault of the author of the dissertation himself. Over the past few days, he has said so many things on the air that are strange to the ear of a sane person...
Well, for example, about “quoting” your candidate’s dissertation in the text of your doctoral dissertation. A normal person understands a quotation to be from one to several paragraphs. Otherwise, it refers the reader to the source and does not waste time and paper. According to Astakhov, quoting is a multi-page rewrite (without quotes, of course). More than 100 pages from the candidate's dissertation migrated into the text of the doctoral dissertation.
Or here are the arguments about the scientific supervisor, who, as any doctor of science knows, does not exist in principle when defending doctoral dissertations.
Or... “we discussed that the doctoral dissertation will be a continuation of the candidate’s dissertation”... Who should we discuss this with? A doctoral dissertation is an independent scientific work.
Or even cooler: “the degree is awarded not based on the dissertation, but on the totality of your scientific work and defense. I have a video of my defenses in 2002 and 2006.” It turns out that an academic degree is awarded based on how successfully you spoke before the dissertation council, how enchanting and revealing the show and subsequent banquet were. On the contrary, the main argument for why thick dissertation works are written is to give the author himself the opportunity to concentrate and look at what has been done, and to show it to the world. This is very useful, first of all, for the author himself.
It turns out that despite all his undeniable human merits, understanding of an academic degree and in general why dissertations are needed and how they are written by P.A.A. diametrically opposed to that which has emerged in the academic community. And I'm sure he's not the only one.
What is the problem and how is this problem solved in other countries?
The problem is that businessmen and officials in the Russian Federation receive the same academic degrees as a scientist or university teacher. There is no difference either in the diploma, or in the councils that decide on awarding this degree, or in the rules or regulations. This looks absurd and P.A. Astakhov clearly demonstrated this absurdity.
In practice, in different countries, corresponding alternative titles are being introduced, making it possible to distinguish the academic community from people of non-science. Here are some of them:
— Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) — Doctor of Business Administration in Anglo-Saxon countries
— Doctor of Commerce (DCom) — specially invented for commerce
— Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) — narrow specialization: healthcare administrator
— Doctor of Management (DM or D.Mgt.) — for ambitious managers
— Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) — for professional politicians
In Germany, too, there are special categories of doctors for this - Dr.oec. and Dr.oec.Publ.
That is, as long as flies and cutlets are together, the comical incidents of the Astakhovs, Andriyanovs or Zhirinovskys will continue. All we can do is laugh. But what does it feel like for them? M.b., still separate flies?