Thread by @BretDevereaux

I am extraordinarily confused by the number of non-PhD-havers in certain media outlets who proclaim with absolute certainty that among the PhD-having-intelligentsia, using the title 'Dr.' for PhDs (and Ed.Ds) is somehow gauche.

It's not, that's stupid. 1/8

Look - do academics go around the office calling their colleagues 'Dr. so-and-so'? No, because this isn't a Jane Austen novel (if only because we're not that witty) and we don't say Mr. or Ms. in casual conversation either. 2/8

But when writing a formal letter, or a cold email, or introducing someone's talk or any other situation where you'd use 'Mr.' or 'Ms.' we absolutely use Dr. for PhD-havers (and EdD-havers!).

It is not gauche, it is normal and failing to do so is a bit of a faux pas. 3/8

And let's not play pretend here - as a balding white guy, I am taken seriously regardless of my achievements or credentials because I look the part.

Many female scholars and scholars of color far more accomplished than I are not offered that benefit of the doubt. 4/8

And to be clear, that's not just a vague sense of the matter - it's actually been studied in a careful, rigorous way: liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.10…

I have seen *far* better academics than me get 'Ms.'-ed at on this very birdsite in cases where i would *never* have been 'Mr'-ed. 5/8

And of course we ought to note that the idea that Dr. should be reserved for medical doctors is dumb, that the title was the province of academic educators (indicating qualifications to teach at a university) first and extended to medical doctors only later. 6/8

And yes, an Ed.D does count! (professional doctorates also mostly get Dr.; JDs are the traditional exception and I bow to the practice in the field. Lawyers may present briefs on the JD on the 12th of Never. Honorary doctorates in any field generally do not count). 7/8

Finally, I hear anyone talking s*** about someone's dissertation who hasn't written one, I will slap them with my diss. - it is 788 overwritten pages and in hardcover for the purpose.

Talking s*** about state school degrees will also earn diss-slaps.

So ends the lesson. 8/8