Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:27     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
I think you can privately eye roll but unless it's an instance where it's deceptive and could cause potential harm (like someone using Doctor at a hospital when they have a PhD in administration or something), just ignore it and go with the flow. They can call themselves High Priest of Imhotep for all I care.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:27     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A person who has a Ph.D. and demands to be addressed as Dr. is a jerk regardless of where they earned or bought their degree (the exception is an academic context where all Ph.D. are referred to as Dr.).


(Online) Ed.D.s are the worst about this. Pretty much every public school superintendent and asst. superintendent has an online Ed.D. from an open admit degree mill, which the public pays for per their contract, and then demands everyone call them doctor. It's laughable. Even more laughable are the bullshit plagiarized "dissertations" they submit for these programs.


Ed.D is one of the worst.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:27     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
In my field (Pharma/Biotech) we do not address anyone as Doctor verbally if they are an employee. It would be that stupid clip where everyone is

"Good morning Dr."
"Doctor."
"Doctor"

Easily half the work force has PhD, PharmD, MD, etc. The other half have MBAs and JDs.

It's only listed on professional outgoing emails, signature blocks or letters. In those cases, it doesn't matter where you went to school. It's all the same.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:25     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
I work in an engineering and science office. My colleagues do use the word "Dr." when they're being quoted or referenced in publications. It directly relates to their professional skills. My coworkers aren't pretentious either. These are real doctorates though, not some weird online doctorate.

It would be obnoxious if they were having their neighbors or friends call them Dr.

Similarly, our lawyers are all easily identifiable by their email addresses because they all have OGC (office of general counsel) in their actual email address. It's very helpful for identifying lawyers and recognizing attorney client privilege.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:23     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:Like others have said, there's a big difference between for-profit schools and less selective, but fully legitimate, schools. Stop being elitist.


Sadly, now a distinction without a difference. Even respected large research universities are in a race to the bottom selling bogus online credentials. From the Trump administration demanding we open the floodgates to 600,000 Chinese students a year to public and private sector employees who can tap tuition reimbursement from their employer and plow through a bullshit online degree while on the clock.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:18     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:So, back to this - after a year of pandemic and virtual-everything, do people have a different perspective on online advanced degrees?


Recently sat next to a "doctor" on a Delta flight. I thought no darn way in this dunce a doctor. Looked up her C.V. on my iPhone and her "doctorate" is from Capella University. "Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. Capella has 47 degree programs with over 1,600 courses."
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 14:15     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:A person who has a Ph.D. and demands to be addressed as Dr. is a jerk regardless of where they earned or bought their degree (the exception is an academic context where all Ph.D. are referred to as Dr.).


(Online) Ed.D.s are the worst about this. Pretty much every public school superintendent and asst. superintendent has an online Ed.D. from an open admit degree mill, which the public pays for per their contract, and then demands everyone call them doctor. It's laughable. Even more laughable are the bullshit plagiarized "dissertations" they submit for these programs.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2021 11:37     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:So, back to this - after a year of pandemic and virtual-everything, do people have a different perspective on online advanced degrees?[/quote

Issue was never online degrees but online degrees from for-profit degree mills with no standards for entry, mediore at best faculty, and participation trophy grading. Plenty of reputable public and private universities offer legit online grad programs.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2021 18:30     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:I was out of the workforce for about 15 years


Wow, unemployed for nearly 2 decades. Keep your head down and try to make up for your gap.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2021 18:16     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
You can get a totally online degree from a legitimate public university. There is no reason to ever get a degree from a for profit
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2021 18:13     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:At the core- I’ll call you what I want to call you. Mr. Or Mrs. But not because I’m hating online degrees. I get that the rigor isn’t much- but the traditional higher education route(s) are closed to folks re entering the work force, hoping multiple jobs, single parents ect. Until we address that- I can respect the hustle. But I’ll call you by a Mr/Mrs/Ms pronoun

No they are not. One can go for an online degree from a legitimate state university (not necessarily a top 10), yet people opt for diploma mills despite their reputation. Even a single parent or an ex-SAHM can google and be deliberate about their options. Otherwise they either have bad judgment or game the system with the easiest way to check that degree box.


+1... You can get a degree online or mostly online from legitimate schools. If you're that stupid or lazy to still go to a for profit diploma mill, I'm not hiring you.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2021 17:56     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
So, back to this - after a year of pandemic and virtual-everything, do people have a different perspective on online advanced degrees?
Anonymous
Post 12/07/2019 16:30     Subject: Re:Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I work in admin at the NIH. Lots of genius PhDs and MDs. Also, many (but not all) huge egos. Many expect to be called Dr. in both e-mail and in person. These are individuals focused on research, but not direct patient care. Still, I always give them the courtesy of their title.


“I work in admin.” Lol.


What’s so funny?


Seriously. Admins makes places like NIH function. You think those genius doctorates can handle basic real-world tasks?

My dad was one of those NIH PhDs. The man really is a genius in his niche field, and very well respected. But basic things? When my mom died, my dad had no clue how to handle the day-to-day.
Anonymous
Post 12/07/2019 15:59     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who looks up where their medical professionals attended med school?

I want a doctor from a top program, not one who went to KP School of Medicine (Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine).

Same with hiring. That's fantastic that you shelled out $$ for your doctorate, but when I see you next to an applicant with a doctorate from a not-for-profit university, they are getting picked over you.

My niece just completed her psychology degree at Shenandoah University. The level of work she was doing there was no more difficult than AP Psychology. Her practicum for graduation was the level of research you'd see at a HS science fair. Look, it's a perfectly great university, but the degree she earned from there is not on the same level as my B.S. in Psychology from Duke. She's now prepping for grad school and if she gets accepted at some of the programs to which she's applying, she's going to struggle.

I know that it isn't fair, but where you obtained the degree from does matter in the real world. Yes, having one gives you an advantage over someone without, but a UVA degree is no match for a CNU degree.


All US medical schools are considered good. What you should be looking at is where your doctors did their residency and fellowships.
Anonymous
Post 12/07/2019 10:40     Subject: Colleagues with "fake" advanced degrees? Ordered to address someone as "Doctor" (online doctorate)
I did an online masters from UVA. It was ridiculously easy but I still put it on my resume.

But I do have issue with the masters and PhD programs that have no required entrance standards. Like, oh you are a teacher in a large county around here, come on in and get your advanced degree because the county will pay for it.

And advanced degrees from for profit schools seem shady to me. But again, my UVA masters was so easy and I am not sure I really did anything that would be considered advanced in any of the coursework so who I am to throw shade?