The pettiness of insisting on her full title is embarrassing, but she is a *real* doctor, just not a physician. People seem critical of her degree but I don't think they should be. Her thesis on retaining community college students does address a real problem and I'm glad that there's a public figure that advocates for co…
The pettiness of insisting on her full title is embarrassing, but she is a *real* doctor, just not a physician. People seem critical of her degree but I don't think they should be. Her thesis on retaining community college students does address a real problem and I'm glad that there's a public figure that advocates for community colleges. Community colleges seemed like a major policy focus a decade ago and it's unfortunate that we've replaced that education conversation with one about whether textbooks are too woke/not woke enough.
I admit, a weak joke, my issue is not with her but this setup where, yes, doctorate is shortened to doctor because confusing. She should be addressed as Doctorate Jill Biden. I admire her accomplishments. She's certainly a lot smarter than I am (and probably a better joke teller). I'm still voting for Joe.....
I don't know if you're continuing a joke but "doctor" is not really short for "doctorate". She's a doctor of education and her degree is a doctorate in education. A (licensed) physician is a doctor of medicine and their degree is a doctorate in medicine. In neither case would it make sense to use "doctorate" to refer to the person that has the degree. (Ironically, the etymology for doctor is from the Latin term for educator)
So it's completely accurate (not particularly confusing) to call her Dr. Jill Biden. However, it's gauche and pretentious for anyone to insist that people do so. At least, that's my personal view and the view expressed in a critical WSJ editorial years ago. Newspapers and other institutions should have style guides to decide how people are addressed, so individuals don't have to use personal judgement on how to refer to people like Dr. Henry Kissinger, Dr. Biden or Dr. Ben Carson. These guidelines should also include how to refer to non-American education systems, so there's consistency in how they refer to people like Assad. Anyways, the controversy about this etiquette does not reflect well on the Bidens or the people offended on their behalf and I hope they don't bring it up again.
>the fake doctor
The pettiness of insisting on her full title is embarrassing, but she is a *real* doctor, just not a physician. People seem critical of her degree but I don't think they should be. Her thesis on retaining community college students does address a real problem and I'm glad that there's a public figure that advocates for community colleges. Community colleges seemed like a major policy focus a decade ago and it's unfortunate that we've replaced that education conversation with one about whether textbooks are too woke/not woke enough.
Thanks for your reply Robert!
I admit, a weak joke, my issue is not with her but this setup where, yes, doctorate is shortened to doctor because confusing. She should be addressed as Doctorate Jill Biden. I admire her accomplishments. She's certainly a lot smarter than I am (and probably a better joke teller). I'm still voting for Joe.....
I don't know if you're continuing a joke but "doctor" is not really short for "doctorate". She's a doctor of education and her degree is a doctorate in education. A (licensed) physician is a doctor of medicine and their degree is a doctorate in medicine. In neither case would it make sense to use "doctorate" to refer to the person that has the degree. (Ironically, the etymology for doctor is from the Latin term for educator)
So it's completely accurate (not particularly confusing) to call her Dr. Jill Biden. However, it's gauche and pretentious for anyone to insist that people do so. At least, that's my personal view and the view expressed in a critical WSJ editorial years ago. Newspapers and other institutions should have style guides to decide how people are addressed, so individuals don't have to use personal judgement on how to refer to people like Dr. Henry Kissinger, Dr. Biden or Dr. Ben Carson. These guidelines should also include how to refer to non-American education systems, so there's consistency in how they refer to people like Assad. Anyways, the controversy about this etiquette does not reflect well on the Bidens or the people offended on their behalf and I hope they don't bring it up again.
Thanks for explaining that! I was totally confused about this.
My sincere apologies.....