This is something that you should consider carefully before starting a graduate program. Do you want to be a professor? If the answer is no, think twice. If the answer is yes, the problem is further complicated by the fact that the competition to become a professor at even the most modest academic institutions is fierce (see Reasons 8 and 14). So whether or not you can answer that question now, if in the course of your journey through graduate school you are able to resign yourself to the idea of being a professor (or some kind of college instructor), you will then be faced with the reality of the job market. There are a few jobs outside of academe that require a PhD, but there are not many. Would it have been worth it?
When I started grad school, I thought that I probably would like to become a professor. My experience in grad school has been mostly positive, and I have gone through the motions in attempt to make myself a good candidate for jobs, such giving papers at conferences, publishing articles, teaching, etc. However, the job openings in my field are very limited, especially in this tough economy. I am writing my dissertation and planning to finish in a year or two, and I am getting very nervous about the job market. I try to tell myself that I'll be just fine if I don't end up being a professor and that I am qualified to do lots of jobs outside of academia, but I really do not know what type of job I would look for or how to market myself. I know that I can always go back to being a barista if I really need a job, but did I spend all these years in grad school to do that? I hope that everything will work out, but I know that there's no guarantee of getting a tenure track job after all of these years. There may not even be any tenure track jobs in my field. There may not be any job openings at all.
ReplyDeleteI am currently in exactly the position Grad Student imagines being in a few years from now. I started grad school with the aim of becoming a professor. I did everything one is supposed to do -- presented at many conferences, published articles, taught a lot. The job market is abysmal, and it’s not getting any better. I would still like to find a job as a professor, but I am not willing to spend the next 5 years as an adjunct, trying my luck again and again, year after year, on the tenure-track job market. It’s not worth it, because at the end of those 5 years, it’s just as likely I still won’t have a job. Meanwhile, as an adjunct, I’m contributing to the very system that is making tenure-track jobs scarce. Why should departments hire tenure-track professors when so many people are willing to do the same work on a semester-by-semester basis? Why should they pay someone a decent salary with job security and benefits when so many people are willing to accept contingent status and a barista’s wages? I make less as an adjunct than I did as an assistant manager of a retail store before I started grad school. I could go back to working in retail, but, as Grad Student says, after all these years invested in professional training, why would I do that? Yet, all my efforts to find other kinds of nonacademic jobs that are at least in some way related to my training have been so far unsuccessful. As I am discovering, nobody wants to hire someone with a Ph.D. for an entry level communications or assistant editor position. It seems I was more qualified for those jobs with just a B.A. in English. I’m hoping, with all my education, I’ll be able to figure out in time how to do a better job of marketing myself, but, right now, I am not at all optimistic.
ReplyDeleteNice blog! I like your writing way. I'm doing practice GMAT here: gmatonlinetest.com . I hope it's useful for GMAT test takers.
ReplyDeleteDead on here. I didn't particularly plan to be a professor, so to tell you the truth leaving my job was easy -- but now, trying to transition, I find the PhD a total liability for private sector jobs. I would now tell most people to get out before starting the diss (this is what makes it hard to leave in grad school). An MA looks respectable and actually gets you more money in most fields. A PhD just makes you look insane and/or unhirable.
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
DeleteThanks for this blog... For any ma and phds wondering what it will feel like to search for a job outside of academe check out selloutyoursoul.com a true story about my attempt to find a Job with an advanced degree in the humanities. I am listing this 100 reasons blog in an upcoming article about the top 30 post graduate blogs
ReplyDeleteYep, couldn't agree with this more. You're pretty much screwed if A) you're going to grad school in an obscure field but not that interested in becoming a professor or B) you really want to be a professor at the end of the process and can't imagine doing anything else. Doing everything you're supposed to do doesn't always pay off, particularly in the academic world.
ReplyDeleteI initially planned to stay two years and then leave. Unfortunately, after I got my master's (a great time, btw), I lost sight of my goals and decided to stay.
ReplyDeleteThis post was thus true for me. I lost my way at some point, but fortunately, was able to right the ship. Moving on ... I have to tell you, quitting (another reason) really did have a psychological cost that lingers to this day, nearly 17 years later, despite considerable professional success.
For me, it was the opposite. I always wanted to be a professor...until I actually started to get in front of a class and started teaching! It took me a couple of semesters for me to feel utterly miserable, but I decided to push ahead to get my PhD anyway. Even so, I was so focused on getting my PhD, that I didn't think about what I was going to do afterward.
ReplyDeleteIf I had known what my prospects of becoming an academic were, I may still have pushed on...but I probably would have focused on trying to figure out what I would do afterwards, as well.
yeah i ma in 9 th grade and i amm just reading this
ReplyDelete"By the end of your graduate school experience, you will have spent a long time building a resume and acquiring a very specific skill set that is optimized for exactly one thing: being a professor."
ReplyDeleteThat's not true of all disciplines. I'm in Computer Science and the skills I learned can be applied to a very wide range. From research scientists, software architects, to entrepreneurs. Quite some grad student in my area no longer care about jobs. We are strong enough to create jobs ourselves. We don't care about employers.
Shredder here is correct that this advice is discipline-specific. This is more an argument for not getting a Ph.D. in a discipline with little-to-no nonacademic demand.
DeleteDid you read that this blog is only intended for those in the humanities and social sciences? Yes, then why are you commenting? As a computer science degree this doesn't apply to you and if you didn't read this and now know then please go away and stop giving people advice that are majoring in the social sciences hope that this will not be them.
DeleteUnless they are getting a full ride to a top school in the field and will end up transforming the field and are brillant, then getting a Ph.D is for you. And this is coming from someone with a 3.9 and an undgergrad anthro major (now double major, who will finish the major in almost two semesters compared to others that have struggled to it for three years and have gotten poor grades to show for their efforts! And still they plan to go to graduate school. If this is you, think twice! If you couldn't cut it in undergrad and your writing skills are poor and hate analysis of any kind, you will not survive grad school, you will not finish and get nothing but debt and a worthless degree. It is harsh, but would you rather learn that now or later?
Also, this blog is intended for the Ph.D! This is what graduate school is. Getting a Masters is not included in this blog because in most jobs you do need that professional training to do what you want. I know I do after I got my head out of the ivory tower and I am now waiting to finish, so that I can run far away from academia.
Read the title of the blog. Now ask yourself whether discussion of subjects other than humanities or social sciences is merited.
DeleteRead the title of the blog. Now ask yourself whether masters' programs or even non-PhD professional programs are included.
This is one of the hardest reasons to wrap you head around when you first hear it. But for many it will end up being one of the most important on the entire list. I doubt that you can convince someone just starting grad school though. But grad school socializes you, it instills a bunch of professional academic values and attitudes in you. It happens so slowly and subtly you don't notice. But it happens. One value is that the only life worth living is as an academic , even if you have to move to Starkville, Mississippi to pursue it. Otherwise you and all those around you (many whose opinions you care about) see you as a failure.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I went into grad school, I was already having serious doubts about an academic career. But I duped myself into believing there were credible alternatives for a career outside academe. I take responsibility for my self delusion, but I was assisted by the institutional fantasy of "applied Sociology". I later realized how rare the outside jobs are. Sometimes "real world" organizations have work doing studies or running surveys, but rarely are they going to need someone of PHD rank.
Chalk this up as one more reason to avoid going past the MA level.