In this text is taken the issue of doctoral studies as the highest level of formal education as well as the first stage of their research careers. Use the category of “critical mass” I put questions about the PhD program in the discipline of Pedagogy. One of the context of analysis of “critical mass” is the number of the pedagogy students I and II degree and the social contexts of education as well as employability qualified pedagogs. Then, I ask, who and why needs a PhD in pedagogy. At the end I discuss the European trends in doctoral education with comparing it to the dominance the administrative and bureaucratic approach to doctoral studies in Poland.