It seems time has been compressed in our world. It seems like everyone is in such a hurry. In much the same way, academic life depends on doing everything faster. We can now access more data, process it more quickly and produce more sophisticated presentations thanks to computers, the Internet and other technological breakthroughs. Taking more than four years to complete a degree is seen as a failure.
People speak in hushed tones, in much the same way one pities a social outcast.
She's been here five years. Oh, how sad. What a plucky little trooper. As funding grows tighter, doctoral students must land running if they hope to graduate before their assistantships run out. It now seems a luxury to spend an extended amount of time absorbed in course work and pondering a research agenda.