> PhDs are intellectually demanding, and not everyone will be able to finish. In the US between 41 and 78% of people who start PhDs have finished them after ten years, depending on their sub field. Computer and Information Science has the lowest graduation rates (41%)
Right...
I've met a good number of PhD dropouts - I am one myself. None of them dropped out because it was too "intellectually demanding." They all dropped out because the work was unrewarding, the odds of employment in academia were poor, and the work in academia was unappealing.
Looking at Computer and Information Science in particular, I might suggest that high availability of high paying jobs in the private sector is worth looking at rather than the "intellectually demanding" academic program.
I also dropped out of a PhD program in CS after I realized that my advisor had incentives to keep me in the program and no incentives to help me complete my dissertation in a timely fashion. Imagine having a highly-educated, native english speaking computer scientist that you paid $30K / year. Compared to the 150K+ / year that person would make in the private sector.
I went to grad school for chemistry. A PhD in my experience is more an exercise in perseverance than anything. You don’t need to be a genius, just work hard and have some luck as well.
While I suspect you're right, anecdotal evidence must be fairly weak here. Not many people would admit to themselves that they weren't up to the intellectual challenge -- let alone admit it to other people.
My own experience was that part of the problem was that there was no intellectual challenge. I actually suspect that if PhD programs were a little more intellectually challenging drop-out rates would go down.
Right...
I've met a good number of PhD dropouts - I am one myself. None of them dropped out because it was too "intellectually demanding." They all dropped out because the work was unrewarding, the odds of employment in academia were poor, and the work in academia was unappealing.
Looking at Computer and Information Science in particular, I might suggest that high availability of high paying jobs in the private sector is worth looking at rather than the "intellectually demanding" academic program.