There was a time when a PhD signified more than a credential. It reflected immersion in a field, intellectual discipline, and the ability to question assumptions/knowledge rather than merely reproduce them. Today, that ideal feels increasingly distant - particularly in the contexts of Pakistan, where the degree is often treated less as a journey of inquiry and more as a badge of status.

To be fair, this is not a uniquely Pakistani problem. Globally, the expansion of higher education has transformed the PhD from an elite pursuit into a more standardised qualification. As universities scale up, they rely on structured processes - coursework, publication requirements, ethics approvals, formal defences - to maintain quality and consistency. These mechanisms are necessary, but they also introduce a subtle shift: from intellectual exploration to procedural compliance.

This proceduralisation is compounded by a deeper issue: the absence of reflexivity. A PhD, at its core, should involve engagement with foundational questions........

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