Some figures for science are in here

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Congratulations!  It must feel like a huge achievement.  I had no idea the numbers were so small.  With "qualification inflation" it seems that you need a degree nowadays, where an A level would have sufficed a generation ago, and post graduate qualifications are now the norm where a degree would have sufficed before.  I'm considering registering for a PhD in Confliction Resolution myself, but it would very much have to be a labour of love rather than a career move - so I am thinking long and hard about it.  It seems like an awful lot of work, and academia has never been my favourite game. I hope your PhD opens up some good career opportunities for you, and that all the hard work will have been worth it.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."

That is so shocking.  I had no idea things were as bad as that, though I suppose I could have guessed.

My cousin is Deaf and in his late thirties. His post-16 education seems to have been proscribed by others' ideas as to What Deaf People Can Manage.  First a specialist catering college, then an ICT degree.  I don't think he was ever especially interested in either, or that anyone ever asked him what he'd like to learn or do.

He's also frequently assumed to have learning difficulties.  I imagine it's pretty corrosive to the educational engagement and prospects of Deaf children and adults when they're widely treated as less able if their speech isn't clear, or they don't understand because their needs haven't been taken into account.

It's such a terrible waste.  I remember training with someone who was Deaf, and the teaching staff were just awful.  They spoke in profile.  They summarised slides in a few words and then whisked them away.  I used to loan him my notes, but he was only getting half a training, and was frustrated and humiliated at having to rely on a fellow student for that.  He didn't finish the course.  

The UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency only seems to offer stats for £££s, so I tried Eurostat.

Not much there either, but I got numbers for total PhDs awarded in the UK in 2004 and 2005, also for those in Physical Science (no specific Chemistry item), and a gender breakdown. Small mercies etc...

2004:

All PhDs:
Male:  8682 (57%)
Female:  6575  (43%)

Physical Science:
Male: 1503 (66%)
Female: 777 (34%)

2005:

All PhDs:
Male: 8949 (57%)
Female: 6829 (43%)

Physical Science:
Male: 1536 (66%)
Female: 798 (34%)

Numbers vary, proportions remain the same.

That's crazy, especially as I'd imagine that the obstacles posed by deafness decline as you move up the educational ladder since the learning is increasingly reading based. Assuming a translator  deafness should also pose only a minor obstacle in academic work.

here are a few thoughts of mine:

•  I am reminded of a blind woman who started at the same university as I but lasted all of 2 weeks before her parents decided to pull her out.  She had made friends quickly and we were walking her back and forth from her classes, etc but that wasn't good enough for her parents.  My, how frustrated she must have been!

• Despite the fact that I graduated in the latter half of the 20th century, I was one of the first 10 women to graduate with a Bachelor's degree, from my department!  the university is well known, and the department not that archaic.

Sorry if I sound stupid, but what exactly did you get your Ph. D. for?

Sincerest Congratulations.  

Make everyone call you doctor too.  If anyone is offended just say, "I am not into titles but I figure if I don't insist, folks might mistakenly believe I am not as smart as Henry Kissinger"

Or not.  ;-)

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

for what deaf persons are able to accomplish given the obstacles placed before them. Moreso for ones who have been deaf from birth or from a very young age. Let me tell you why.

Back in 1974 I travelled from Albuquerque NM to San Diego CA with a friend of mine who wanted to see her boyfriend. She didn't want to travel (hitchhiking) alone, and I didn't want her to have to, so I volunteered to go with her.

When we got to SD it turned out that her boyfriend's father was President of the Southern California Deaf Persons Association. She, her boyfriend and all his siblings knew sign language and could therefore converse with the father. I didn't know any sign language, so when they got to "talking" amongst themselves, it seemed like the one who was "deaf" was actually me.

Let me tell you it was an eye-opening experience. I became the one with a "handicap" while all those around me were unaffected. I had never before thought about the complications a deaf person must experience on trying to live in a hearing world. The experience had a profound effect on my thinking, making me realize how much I took for granted and even more of which I was completely ignorant.

So let me say to you now, my hat is off to you for what you've accomplished. Simply obtaining a PhD is a great accomplishment. To have done it with the added drawback of being unable to hear is, to me, a testimony to your perseverance and a tribute to the capabilities of all who suffer from hearing loss.

Kudos to you.

Congrats on the PhD.

I have no doubt that a deaf person striving for a high level qualification will find more obstacles in their path. That's probably part of the explanation as to why the figures for deaf PhD holders are so low in comparison to hearing PhD holders.

I assume the figure of 37 only records those who achieved their PhDs as deaf students, and not those who hold PhDs who later became deaf. Also, do these figures only cover people who are profoundly deaf, or do they also include the hard-of-hearing?

It's just that 37 seems like such a low number, it is necessary to know how big a group of people the researcher is looking at. The numbers of deaf people who have become deaf in later life would skew he figures, moreso because older people are less likely to hold PhDs anyway. One of the quotes you give says:

* No figure for total number of users; up to 30,000 deaf people in the UK have been educated via BSL (1986).
          -- (Gallaudet Encyclopedia, vol.3 p.62.)

Which would seem to indicate the base figure of how many people are in the potential pool of deaf students who could earn or could have earnt a PhD. (Though the figure is quite old.) That would make people who are or were 'deaf students' to be 0.05% of the UK population, which is think is the percentage that DoDo gave.

According to Social Trends 38 from the ONS, 16,250 people were awarded doctorates in 2005/06. This is one for every 3,692 people in the general population (all of whom we'll assume were students at some time or another). For the deaf population to equal that, there would have to be about 8 to 9 doctorates awarded to 'deaf students' every year.

But there is also a high comorbidity of 'additional educationally relevant conditions' among deaf people:
Gallaudet 2006/07 Summary, Page 10. Similar conditions among the general population are about 10%, though the statistics do vary considerably. Which means that the percentage of deaf students which can be expected to be capable of PhD level study may be lower than the general population. Trying to factor in these differences also is pretty much impossible for me to do, but I think it will bring the number down to about 5 to 6 PhDs a year to be equal.

I've probably made some pretty egregious error or terrible assumption somewhere, I'm sure. Feel free to slaughter me.

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.

Congratulations In Wales. You'll be owed much more respect around here now that you've added a PhD to your qualifications as a great diarist and photographer!

Strangely, I never thought of deafness as being a limiting factor for you - but now I am reminded of the always present human factor and my admiration grows.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears