On the homepage, Kyle Smith nails the truth in denigrating the doctoral degree held by Jill Biden. Her dissertation isn’t remotely close to the sort of work that doctoral candidates are usually expected to produce.
But programs offering educational doctorates don’t exist to shape scholars who will contribute to knowledge. They exist because they are cash cows for universities, selling easy degrees to people who want to have that “doctor” appellation, but even more because such “advanced” degrees usually mean automatic pay increases. Supposedly, institutional status is raised by having another faculty member with a terminal degree and most schools have rules that make them pay up.
This is another dreary aspect of America’s credential mania. Lots of people who don’t have college credentials are shut out from applying for work they could do simply because they don’t have the “required” college degree. (Actual learning is entirely irrelevant.) On the other hand, getting a credential can mean a raise for people who are already doing a crummy job and won’t do it any better. The latter mostly prevails where there is no way of measuring performance, like teaching in government schools.