Should you do a PhD?
Are you considering whether to enrol in a PhD? It’s a difficult decision with many pros and cons, and ultimately it will depend on your individual ambitions and circumstances. In this blog, we discuss some of the things you should consider, from the perspective Degrees of Freedom team who have each leveraged their PhDs into different career paths.
Madeleine Dupont
PhD(Chemistry), Current Job: Cybersecurity Intelligence Analyst
“You should do a PhD for personal rather than professional reasons.”
You should do a PhD for personal rather than professional reasons. In the discussion surrounding the value of doing a PhDs, there are often two apparently conflicting views: 1) No, you shouldn’t do a PhD. It is a major sacrifice (in terms of time, lost earnings, and professional experience) and often doesn’t translate into better career opportunities. In some cases, people even feel that their PhD has limited their career options. The opposing view is: Yes, you should do a PhD. Doing so gives you a unique opportunity to study something that you’re passionate about, it allows you to become an expert in your chosen field, to make a truly new contribution to this field, and it is an intellectual achievement of which you can be proud.
These views may seem contradictory, but I think they are both correct; doing a PhD for the purpose of developing professional skills to leverage into a career will likely lead to disappointment,* but if you are doing it as a personal challenge, you are more likely to find it to be a valuable and fulfilling experience.
Certainly, doing a PhD will help you to develop some professionally useful skills, but it is probably not the most efficient way to achieve this. In many cases, you will be able to get more industry-relevant experience by doing a different qualification (a masters, graduate certificate, industry qualification), or by getting a job in the industry, or even doing both. This way, you will often achieve better professional outcomes, and progress further in your career in the time it would take you to finish a PhD.
However, if your motivation to do a PhD is for personal development, then go for it! You might have research experience from doing another degree and want to pursue it further, you might have been out in the workforce and want the freedom to study something for the love of it, you might have even just finished an undergraduate degree and aren’t sure what to do next with your life (this is often an overlooked, but perfectly valid reason to do a PhD). Of course, there are plenty of practical aspects to consider when deciding to enrol in a PhD, so make sure you are aware of the downsides and potential challenges you may face.
*There are certain career paths which require (or highly value) a PhD, if you want to pursue such a career, then doing a PhD is a valuable professional qualification.
Aaron Elbourne
PhD(Chemistry), Current Job: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
A PhD is a gigantic undertaking, both in terms of time and effort. This effort can be all-encompassing, impacting on your social and family life, as well as your mental health. To this end, it is important that you evaluate why you are committing to a PhD program – What are your motivations, what is your end goal, and ultimately what is in it for you?
“What are your motivations, what is your end goal, and ultimately what is in it for you?”
As Madeleine stated above, if you want to do a PhD, there are many practical aspects to consider. I have produced a “check list”, which is designed to get you thinking about why you are considering doing a PhD and to evaluate if you circumstance are right for moving forward.
1. What is your motivation? Are you just doing it for the prestige (or the title)? If so, this is not great reason to do a PhD. PhDs are a huge investment (time, money, stress etc) and it’s likely that you’ll need something deeper to motivate you through it. In contrast, are you beginning a PhD to achieve a career goal, to extend your own knowledge, or to become an expert in a field? There is not right or wrong answer here, but you should make sure your motivation is enough to get you through the challenge.
2. Do you have funding to complete your PhD? If not, TURN BACK NOW, DO NOT PROCEED!
PhD are effectively a full time (or more) job. You will not have the time or energy to support yourself via another job simultaneously, unless you complete your PhD part time. So, make sure that you either have a scholarship (stipend), or personal circumstances that allow you spend at least 3-4 years with minimal to no additional income. Personally, I worked part time during my PhD, and I paid the price – endlessly tired, burnt out, and no time for myself. However, I wanted to complete the degree and pursue an academic career – this was my own sacrifice. In short, assess your financial situation and make sure that you can make it work.
3. Are you actually interested in the field you are about to study? Believe me, even if you are fascinated with your field, you will get sick of it after 3 years. So, do not start a research program in a field that already doesn’t interest you – this is setting yourself up for a disaster. To begin, you should at least start from a general point of interest. This interest and the scope of your PhD can always change, but you need to have a foundational passion or you will have a very, very bad time; if you start out disinterested, this will only get (significantly) worse with time.
4. Do you like research? Research isn’t for everyone and it can often be important to assess this before you begin. If you aren’t sure, then reach out to a research academic (or several academics) and see if you can conduct some research prior to beginning. This can often be achieved via “shadowing” another PhD student, completing a final semester project within a research group, conducting a summer scholarship/placement, or just doing a “day in the workplace “(lab, office, other setting) and seeing what would be involved in a research project.
5. What do you want out of your life and/or your career? Do you want to pursue an academic position, do you believe you need more time at a university, are you seeking to gain more knowledge and skills, or are you just unsure of what to do next? Do you want to become an expert in a field? Are you taking up the challenge because you are interested in education? Do you want to leverage this experience into a different industry?
Unfortunately, I can’t answer these questions for you, but I hope that positing them can make you begin to think.
When I started my PhD I was unsure of what I wanted to do, but I did know that I wasn’t ready for the work force – you may be in a similar position. Although I completed mine successfully (despite some setbacks), I wish that I had had more guidance going into it. Hopefully this can help you to make an informed decision.
