‘Paucity of faculty with PhDs in higher education’

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India’s top 100 institutions have the most doctoral faculty, with top management schools having the maximum number of PhD teachers, according to the data from the just-released National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). But even among these best institutes, the proportion of high-qualified faculty is skewed.

While the management institutes in India have the highest number of faculty with doctoral degrees at 91.60 per cent, their proportion is only 61 per cent in other colleges. As per NIRF, which ranks higher education institutions in India, it was observed that faculty with doctoral qualifications is concentrated in the top 100 institutions; the remaining institutions have fewer faculty with postgraduate degrees. “This is a serious handicap since mentorship received during the doctoral training can play a vital role in preparing the faculty for a teaching career in higher education,” said the NIRF document.

University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof M. Jagadesh Kumar said that “institutions in the top 100 bracket in NIRF are strong in promoting research. That is why almost all the faculty members are doctorates in these institutions.” He said, on the other hand, that only those colleges with master’s programmes and research culture will have doctorates as faculty members. 

“It is, therefore, not surprising that only 61 per cent of colleges have faculty that have doctoral degrees, and the top 100 institutions have the highest number of faculty with doctoral degrees,” he told this paper. Also, in some areas, such as commerce, law, architecture, and foreign languages, fewer people pursue a PhD. There will be fewer faculty members with a PhD in colleges offering these programmes, he explained. One of the parameters on which 100 institutes were ranked best by NIRF is teaching, learning and resources. The other parameters are research and professional practice, graduation outcome, outreach, and inclusivity and perception.

As per data, of the top 100 institutes that were rated best for ‘engineering,’ 81.20 per cent had faculty with PhDs, as compared to just 34.94 of the remaining engineering institutes that had registered themselves for the prestigious ranking.

In the same way, in the ‘overall’ category, the 100 institutions that were judged the best, nearly 78 per cent had faculty with doctoral degrees compared to only 51.36 per cent in the remaining institutions. 

Among the 100 best ‘universities,’ 73.60 per cent had faculty with PhDs, compared to 64.29 per cent in the rest which registered. The 100 top management institutes had the maximum number of PhDs at 91.60 per cent. This was in stark contrast to other management institutes, which had only 57.37 per cent of faculty with doctoral degrees. The pharmacy was one category that saw less number of PhD holders. While in the 100 best pharmacy institutes, the figure stood at 70.82 per cent, compared to a mere 33.27 per cent in the remaining institutes.

Similarly, in the NIRF-ranked 100 colleges, the faculty with Ph.D degrees stood at 61.06 per cent, compared to 44.63 per cent in the remaining institutes. Moreover, the average number of faculty in the top 100 institutions varies from a minimum of 34 and 46 in the case of ‘pharmacy’ and ‘management’ to a maximum of 685 and 645 in the case of ‘universities’ and ‘overall’ categories, respectively.

NEW DELHI: India’s top 100 institutions have the most doctoral faculty, with top management schools having the maximum number of PhD teachers, according to the data from the just-released National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). But even among these best institutes, the proportion of high-qualified faculty is skewed.

While the management institutes in India have the highest number of faculty with doctoral degrees at 91.60 per cent, their proportion is only 61 per cent in other colleges. As per NIRF, which ranks higher education institutions in India, it was observed that faculty with doctoral qualifications is concentrated in the top 100 institutions; the remaining institutions have fewer faculty with postgraduate degrees. “This is a serious handicap since mentorship received during the doctoral training can play a vital role in preparing the faculty for a teaching career in higher education,” said the NIRF document.

University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof M. Jagadesh Kumar said that “institutions in the top 100 bracket in NIRF are strong in promoting research. That is why almost all the faculty members are doctorates in these institutions.” He said, on the other hand, that only those colleges with master’s programmes and research culture will have doctorates as faculty members. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

“It is, therefore, not surprising that only 61 per cent of colleges have faculty that have doctoral degrees, and the top 100 institutions have the highest number of faculty with doctoral degrees,” he told this paper. Also, in some areas, such as commerce, law, architecture, and foreign languages, fewer people pursue a PhD. There will be fewer faculty members with a PhD in colleges offering these programmes, he explained. One of the parameters on which 100 institutes were ranked best by NIRF is teaching, learning and resources. The other parameters are research and professional practice, graduation outcome, outreach, and inclusivity and perception.

As per data, of the top 100 institutes that were rated best for ‘engineering,’ 81.20 per cent had faculty with PhDs, as compared to just 34.94 of the remaining engineering institutes that had registered themselves for the prestigious ranking.

In the same way, in the ‘overall’ category, the 100 institutions that were judged the best, nearly 78 per cent had faculty with doctoral degrees compared to only 51.36 per cent in the remaining institutions. 

Among the 100 best ‘universities,’ 73.60 per cent had faculty with PhDs, compared to 64.29 per cent in the rest which registered. The 100 top management institutes had the maximum number of PhDs at 91.60 per cent. This was in stark contrast to other management institutes, which had only 57.37 per cent of faculty with doctoral degrees. The pharmacy was one category that saw less number of PhD holders. While in the 100 best pharmacy institutes, the figure stood at 70.82 per cent, compared to a mere 33.27 per cent in the remaining institutes.

Similarly, in the NIRF-ranked 100 colleges, the faculty with Ph.D degrees stood at 61.06 per cent, compared to 44.63 per cent in the remaining institutes. Moreover, the average number of faculty in the top 100 institutions varies from a minimum of 34 and 46 in the case of ‘pharmacy’ and ‘management’ to a maximum of 685 and 645 in the case of ‘universities’ and ‘overall’ categories, respectively.