Is Doing A PhD Worth It? Top 5 Reasons It’s Worth Getting | Laura Gibbs

Is Doing A PhD Worth It? By Laura Gibbs

IS DOING A PhD. WORTH IT | Laura Gibbs

Top 5 Reasons It’s Worth Getting Your PhD

It’s not a secret that there a very little jobs available for once you finish your PhD. The academic job market is bleak, yes, and you will without a doubt be overworked, paid very little and juggling many tasks simultaneously just to stay afloat, at least for the first few years after you finish your doctorate. This is something I went over in my head hundreds of times before and during applying for a PhD. I spoke to my lectures about their experiences (some who are just finishing their PhDs, others who have made it to secure positions such as senior lecturer, professor and head of department. Here are the thoughts I have, and the thoughts shared by many, if not all, of these researchers:

• You should do a PhD. because you are highly passionate about your thesis and it is something you will genuinely want to do, not because you want to get a job at the end of it: that is the bottom line.

• A PhD. gives you more than just the skills to be an academic. the things you’ll learn over the course of 3-4 years are highly transferable. You’ll learn time-management, public speaking, you’ll make connections with others in a variety of job markets, you’ll gain confidence, self-discipline, writing skills, problem solving, speaking and listening skills, not to mention a huge amount of knowledge and the ability to think critically. If you get funding it will also provide training. this means learning how to disseminate your research, going to international conferences, and in some cases there will be a work experience project you’ll have to complete, where you spend a month working with an external partner outside of academia, before developing a small research project with them the following year. This will provide you with connections and experience outside of higher education, making it less daunting if you decide to not to continue with academia.

• Doing a PhD. does not just = academia. It also opens doors to many jobs in fields such as higher education, archival research, library jobs, jobs in the charity sector, arts sector… There are also teaching positions in available in schools that will accommodate time for you to research if you have a PhD., which means you still get to do something you’re passionate about, without the immense pressure of higher education. There are so many options.

• If you don’t get a job at the end of it, or you decide that the academic job market isn’t for you, the last three/ four years will not have been a waste of time, education is never a waste of time. Instead, you should view it as if you’ve worked a job for three years and you’ve decided it’s time for a change. You’ve gained all the skills, met a wide range of people, experienced something new, challenging and exciting – you don’t lose any of this by not going into academia.

• Finally, academic jobs are rare and extremely competitive, but they are still around. Just because it’ll be difficult, doesn’t mean it wont happen – you just need to be aware that it might not be easy. If you are willing to be persistent and keep trying, something will work out eventually.

In short, deciding to do a PhD. is not something that should be taken lightly. It’s 3-4 years worth of commitment, so you have to want to do it, and you have to be passionate about it, don’t just struggle through just because you think it’ll make you more employable. On the other hand, if you really want to do a PhD. but the lack of academic jobs is scaring you, remember that you can view the PhD. as an end in itself. It is an incredibly rewarding and extremely challenging process, and there is so much to be gained from doing one – even if the job doesn’t work out at the end of it.

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