Once while traveling to a conference, I used my credit card to check-in to access my frequent flyer benefits. My salutation, Dr. Nichole M. Garcia, prompted the sales associate to ask me if I could provide medical advice for something she was experiencing. As I began to explain that I was not a medical doctor, I was met with, “But you’re not a real doctor, you’re a teacher.”
While I was home for the holidays, my brother, said, “I know you are not a medical doctor, but what the hell do you do as a ‘doctor?’” This reminded me of a piece by my dear friend and colleague, Andrew Martinez. In “Responding to Misconceptions of Being a Graduate Student,” he states: “When I would hear people in my family try to explain my work or career to others, I heard – ‘he’s like a principal at a college,’ and ‘he’s a guidance counselor for college students.’ I had such a hard time explaining what I do because I was also figuring out the field as I entered it.”
I agree. As people of color, we often are figuring it out as we go. Like Martinez, explaining the misconceptions of being a graduate student is significantly important and it does not stop as a student. At some point, I am sure most academics have found themselves in casual conversations in airports as we travel to conferences, conduct research, work at coffee shops or run errands for life purposes, having to respond to what it is we “actually” do. It happens to all of us Ph.D.’s, who unlike “real” doctors are not medical doctors.
As an undergraduate I was guilty of qualifying Ph.D.’s as not “real doctors.” That saying, “you don’t know, what you don’t know,” applied profoundly. I had no idea what a Ph.D. was. I was like many people. To be successful meant I needed to become a medical doctor or a lawyer. I am also aware of the constant debates regarding who qualifies to be called a “Doctor” based on their discipline, degree type and profession. We could debate all day about this. However, let us all remember that these debates are steeped in White supremacy, privilege and power. This we all need to be cognizant of and find ways to decolonize academia.
One way I was taught to decolonize academia was through my Ph.D. adviser, Dr. Daniel G. Solórzano. If you know him or met him, he simply goes by “Danny.” As one of the humblest academics I know, he always asks his students, “what is the story you want to tell?” and “what is the history behind it?” This allows for humility to drive the work you do as you are in constant reflection of your own positionality. The story I want to tell is one that is general, yet informative. Even though I have a Ph.D. in education, I set out to find more information regarding classifications and degree types. This is what I found of significance:
What is a Ph.D.?
The U.S. Department of Education’s, National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) classifies the doctorate as “the highest award a student can earn for graduate study. The doctor’s degree classification includes such degrees as Doctor of Education, Doctor of Juridical Science, Doctor of Public Health and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in any field.” NCES has three main sub-classifications they follow for doctorate degrees: research/scholarship, professional practice degrees and other degrees.
