Not Being Good at Math – Should That Be a Bar to Getting a PhD in Math?

Many years ago, my wife and I were at a volleyball tournament.  We were fortunate to sit next to a high school (or maybe middle school) volleyball coach.  He was big, friendly and knowledgeable.  Let’s call him Jack.

Jack told us that he was a math teacher.  As I recall, he said he went to Oklahoma State, where he played football.  That is where he decided to major in math.  He told us in a smiling, jovial, open way, that math there was really easy, even though he had never been good at math.

(This reminds me of an aside.  I have 1990 data from Souther Illinois University at Edwardsville that shows that the average ACT comprehensive score was 20-21 for students who were going to be math teachers.  Also, Alfred, in my post Professor Alfred Doesn’t Know What is Wrong with the Homework taught math at SIUE.)

So Jack told us he became a math teacher.  Then he told us he had a Masters Degree and explained how he got it – to his own amazement and excitement.

He saw that Southern Illinois University (at their main campus in Carbondale) had a special program for high school teachers, funded by a grant.  It paid for his room and board and it was for math teachers who wanted to improve their skills.  He told us, “…and, wow, could I eat…” and gave us a big smile.

So, Jack went through the program and, again to his amazement, made all A’s.  He told them he couldn’t finish it because he would be off campus.  They said, “Oh, that’s no problem.”  He said he hardly did anything, or learned anything, but he got a Masters.  He smiled and thought that was great.

After a while, Jack looked at me and said, “Hey, can I even get a Ph.D?”

At that time I didn’t know about the people in No Jobs for Ph.D’s?  Depends on what you mean by Ph.D.  or I would have said, “Sure, you don’t need to know math that well.”