GETTING A PH.D. IS IT WORTH IT?
(Posted 2011-02-07 23:00:09 by Ray Lopez)
There are a lot of discussions going on right now at the _Chronicle of
Higher Education_ website and other blogs regarding the value of the Ph.D.
Specifically, the discussion centers on the fact that there aren't enough
jobs to support the number of Ph.D.s that are produced annually in the US.
Most of the problem stems from expectations that are simply not aligned
with reality. A lot of Ph.D. students think that they will be able to land
a tenure-track job in academia, but that's not likely to happen.
This has been true for decades, at least since the 1980s. The fact is
this: Unless you are white, graduating from an Ivy-league or other top
school, and have several publications, you're not going to get one of the
few tenure-track jobs that become available every year. That's just the
way it is, and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.
So if you're a graduate student, and you're within sight of getting that
coveted Ph.D., you may be asking yourself if it is worth the effort. If
you are expecting to get a tenure-track job somewhere, you may be in for a
big disappointment. But in my opinion, getting a doctorate degree
(particularly in the sciences) is very definitely worth the effort, if you
have the right experiences and right attitude.
I earned my doctorate in neuroscience in 1993, from a good, but not
top-tier, public university. My graduate program encouraged students to
adopt a very broad view of science, one that allowed many of us to
integrate other areas of knowledge into our studies. I think that such
graduate programs are extremely beneficial, because you get to learn about
other areas and expand your knowledge. This becomes critically important
after you get your doctorate, because in all likelihood you will be
entering the non-academic job market, and the more marketable skills you
can demonstrate, the better off you'll be. In my case, I had the
opportunity to learn philosophy and computer programming. The philosophy
helped me to be a MUCH better writer, public speaker, and thinker, and the
computer programming turned out to be a lifesaving job skill for me.
In neuroscience, it is traditional for new Ph.D.s to work as post-docs at
research schools, gaining experience and publications which will ultimately
help them land that coveted tenure-track job. In my case I landed a great
post-doc job with a very well-known pharmacology researcher. While I was
on this post-doc, the pharmacology department I was working in was growing,
adding lots of bright new faculty members. Many of these new faculty were
persons in their late 30s and early 40s, who had done 2, 3, and sometimes 4
post-doc rotations before they finally landed the tenure-track jobs at the
school I worked. That didn't look like a very promising future for me.
I'm a smart guy, but there's no way, on paper, I could compete with the
Harvards, Berkeleys, Yales, Caltechs, and others who were swarming into the
academic job market. At some point, I saw the writing on the wall and fell
back on my knowledge of computer science, and entered the world of IT
consulting in 1996.
I've had a great career in information technology, and having a doctorate
has definitely helped me more than hurt me. My best job was at IBM, a
truly wonderful place to work. They have a strong merit-based culture of
collaboration and innovation, and the doctorate definitely helped me over
there by saying that, yes, this guy can write and think somewhat. There
are other places, however, where the doctorate can set you back. I worked
for a couple of years at a large financial institution, where the horrific
culture was just the opposite of IBM. Over there, anyone with a doctorate
was an outsider, and they didn't treat outsiders very well.
If you do find yourself in the non-academic job market, be cautious about
how strongly you emphasize the fact that you do have a doctorate.
Unfortunately, there really isn't a fool-proof method you can use to guide
you along with this. Once suggestion I have is that if you are applying
for a job that is even remotely connected with education or your field of
study, then by all means highlight the fact that you do have a Ph.D.
Otherwise, just bury it in the "Education" section of the resume, and don't
mention it unless someone asks you about it.
So, the bottom line is that you should definitely get your doctorate!
While you're getting it, be sure to expand your horizons and do not end up
as simply a specialist in one, small area. Yes, creating a dissertation
means you get to specialize in something that only 10 other people in the
world will care about. But the rest of your experience, outside of your
dissertation, should support your work and give you some skills that you
can use anywhere. Also, you need to have a positive attitude about
yourself. If you don't see yourself getting a tenure-track job, then go
for something else. Getting a Ph.D. is very, very hard. If you can do
that, you can do anything.
--------
There are no comments on this post.
To submit a comment on this post, email
[email protected] or visit us on the web
[
http://ratthing.com ].
