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The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Is a PhD Worth It? Should I Do a PhD?

It’s been almost a year since I was officially awarded my PhD. How time flies! I figure now is a good time to reflect on the PhD and answer some of life’s big questions. Is a PhD worth it? Does having a PhD help your future job prospects? Am I pleased that I did a PhD and would I recommend that you do a PhD?

In this post I’ll walk through some of the main points to consider. We’ll touch on some pros and cons, explore the influence it could have on your career and finally attempt to answer the ultimate question. Is a PhD worth it?

Before we get into the details, if you’re considering applying for a PhD you may also want to check out a few other posts I’ve written:

• How Hard is a PhD?
• How Much Work is a PhD?
• How Much Does a PhD Student Earn? Comparing a PhD Stipend to Grad Salaries
• Characteristics of a Researcher

Are you seated comfortably? Great! Then we’ll begin.

The Pros and Cons of PhDs

When I have a difficult decision to make I like to write a pros and cons list. So let’s start by breaking down the good and bad sides of getting a PhD. Although I’ve tried to stay objective, do take into account that I have completed a PhD and enjoyed my project a lot!

These lists certainly aren’t exhaustive, so be sure to let me know if you can think of any other points to add!

The Good Parts: Reasons to Do a PhD

Life as a phd student.

• You get to work on something really interesting . Very few people outside of academia get to dive so deep into topics they enjoy. Plus, by conducting cutting edge research you’re contributing knowledge to a field.
• It can be fun! For example: solving challenges, building things, setting up collaborations and going to conferences.
• Being a PhD student can be a fantastic opportunity for personal growth : from giving presentations and thinking critically through to making the most of being a student such as trying new sports.
• You are getting paid to be a student : I mean come on, that’s pretty good! Flexible hours, socialising and getting paid to learn can all be perks. Do make sure you consciously make the most of it!

Life As A PhD Graduate

• The main one: Having a PhD may open doors . For certain fields, such as academia itself, a PhD may be a necesity. Whilst in others having a PhD can help demonstrate expertise or competency, opening doors or helping you to leapfrog to higher positions. Your mileage may vary!
• You survived a PhD: this accomplishment can be a big confidence booster .
• You’ve got a doctorate and you can use the title Dr. Certainly not enough justification on it’s own to do a PhD, but for some people it helps!

The Bad Parts: Potential Reasons Not to Do a PhD

• It can be tough to complete a PhD! There are lots of challenges . Unless you’re careful and take good care of yourself it can take a mental and physical toll on your well being.
• A PhD can be lonely ( though doesn’t have to be ), and PhD supervisors aren’t always as supportive as you’d like them to be.
• Additionally, in particular now during the pandemic, you might not be able to get as much support from your supervisor, see your peers or even access the equipment and technical support as easily as in normal times.
• You might find that having a PhD may not bring the riches you were expecting . Have a certain career you’re looking to pursue? Consider trying to find out whether or not having a PhD actually helps.
• Getting a job with a PhD can still be tough . Let’s say you want to go for a career where having a PhD is required, even once you’ve got a PhD it might not be easy to find employment. Case in point are academic positions.
• Even though you’ve put in the work you may want to use your Dr title sparingly , it certain industries a PhD may be seen as pretencious. Also, use your title sparingly to avoid getting mistaken for a medic (unless of course you’re one of them too!)

Is a PhD Good For Your Career?

If you’re wondering “Should I do a PhD?”, part of your motivation for considering gaining a PhD may be your career prospects. Therefore I want to now dive deeper into whether or not a PhD could help with future employment.

It is difficult to give definitive answers because whether or not a PhD helps will ultimately depend a lot upon what kind of career you’re hoping to have. Anyway, let’s discuss a few specific questions.

Does a PhD Help You Get a Job?

For certain industries having a PhD may either be a requirement or a strong positive.

Some professions may require a PhD such as academia or research in certain industries like pharma. Others will see your qualification as evidence that you’re competent which could give you an edge. Of course if you’re aiming to go into a career using similar skills to your PhD then you’ll stand a better chance of your future employer appreciating the PhD.

In contrast, for other roles your PhD may not be much help in securing a job. Having a PhD may not be valued and instead your time may be better spent getting experience in a job. Even so, a PhD likely won’t have been completely useless.

When I worked at an engineering consultancy the recruitment team suggested that four years of a PhD would be considered comparable to two or three years of experience in industry. In those instances, the employer may actively prefer candidates who spent those years gaining experience on the job but still appreciates the value of a PhD.

Conclusion: Sometimes a PhD will help you get a job, othertimes it wont. Not all employers may appreciate your PhD though few employers will actively mark you down for having a PhD.

Does a PhD Increase Salary? Will it Allow You to Start at a Higher Level?

This question is very much relates to the previous one so my answer will sound slightly similar.

It’ll ultimately depend upon whether or not the industry and company value the skills or knowledge you’ve gained throughout your PhD.

I want to say from the start that none of us PhD-holders should feel entitled and above certain types of position in every profession just for having a PhD. Not all fields will appreciate your PhD and it may offer no advantage. It is better to realise this now.

Some professions will appreciate that with a PhD you’ll have developed a certain detail-orientated mindset, specialised knowledge or skills that are worth paying more for. Even if the position doesn’t really demand a PhD, it is sometimes the case that having someone with a PhD in that position is a useful badge for the company to wave at customers or competitors. Under these circumstances PhD-holders may by default be offered slightly higher starting positions than other new-starters will lower degree qualifications.

To play devil’s advocate, you could be spending those 3-4 (or more) years progressing in the job. Let’s look at a few concrete examples.

PhD Graduate Salaries in Academia

Let’s cut to the chase: currently as a postdoc at a decent university my salary is £33,787, which isn’t great. With a PhD there is potential to possibly climb the academic ladder but it’s certainly not easy. If I were still working in London I’d be earning more, and if I were speficially still working at Imperial in London I’d be earning a lot more. Browse Imperial’s pay scales here . But how much is it possible to earn with a PhD compared to not having one?

For comparison to research staff with and without PhDs:

As of 2023 research assistants (so a member of staff conducting research but with no PhD) at Imperial earn £38,194 – £ 4 1,388 and postdoctoral research associates earn £43,093 – £50,834 . Not only do you earn £5000 or more a year higher with a PhD, but without a PhD you simply can’t progress up the ladder to research fellow or tenure track positions.

Therefore in academia it pays to have a PhD, not just for the extra cash but for the potential to progress your career.

PhD Graduate Salaries in Industry

For jobs in industry, it is difficult to give a definitive answer since the variety of jobs are so wide ranging.

Certain industries will greatly reward PhD-holders with higher salaries than those without PhDs. Again it ultimately depends on how valuable your skills are. I’ve known PhD holders to do very well going into banking, science consultancy, technology and such forth.

You might not necessarily earn more money with a PhD in industry, but it might open more doors to switch industries or try new things. This doesn’t necessarily mean gaining a higher salary: I have known PhD-holders to go for graduate schemes which are open to grads with bachelors or masters degrees. Perhaps there is an argument that you’re more employable and therefore it encourages you to make more risky career moves which someone with fewer qualifications may make?

You can of course also use your PhD skills to start your own company. Compensation at a start-up varies wildly, especially if you’re a founder so it is hardly worth discussing. One example I can’t resist though is Magic Pony. The company was co-founded by a Imperial PhD graduate who applied expertise from his PhD to another domain. He sold the company two years later to Twitter for $150 million . Yes, including this example is of course taking cherry-picking to the extreme! The point stands though that you can potentially pick up some very lucrative skills during your PhD.

Conclusion: Like the previous question, not all industries will reward your PhD. Depending on what you want to go and do afterward your PhD, it isn’t always worth doing a PhD just for career progression. For professions that don’t specifically value a PhD (which is likely the majority of them!) don’t expect for your PhD to necessarily be your ticket to a higher position in the organisation.

Is a PhD Worth it?

What is “it”.

When we’re asking the question “is a PhD worth it?” it is a good idea to touch on what “it” actually is. What exactly are PhD students sacrificing in gaining a PhD? Here is my take:

• Time . 3-5 (more more) years of your life. For more see my post: how long a PhD takes .
• Energy. There is no doubt that a PhD can be mentally and physically draining, often more so than typical grad jobs. Not many of us PhD students often stick to normal office hours, though I do encourage you to !
• Money. Thankfully most of us, at least in STEM, are on funded PhD projects with tax free stipends. You can also earn some money on the side quite easily and without paying tax for a while. Even so, over the course of a PhD you are realistically likely to earn more in a grad job. For more details on how PhD stipends compare to grad salaries read my full analysis .
• Potential loss of opportunities . If you weren’t doing a PhD, what else could you be doing? As a side note, if you do go on to do a PhD, do make sure you to take advantage of the opportunities as a PhD student !

When a PhD Could Be Worth It

1. passion for a topic and sheer joy of research.

The contribution you make to progressing research is valuable in it’s own right. If you enjoy research, can get funding and are passionate about a subject by all means go and do the PhD and I doubt you’ll regret it.

2. Learning skills

If there is something really specific you want to spend three year or more years learning then a PhD can be a great opportunity. They’re also great for building soft skills such as independence, team work, presenting and making decisions.

Do be aware though that PhD projects can and do evolve so you can’t always guarantee your project will pan out as expected.

If there is the option to go into a career without a PhD I’d bet that in a lot of cases you’d learn more, faster, and with better support in industry. The speed of academic research can be painstakingly slow. There are upsides to learning skills in academia though, such as freedom and the low amount of responsibility for things outside your project and of course if you’re interested in something which hasn’t yet reached industry.

3. Helping with your career

See the section further up the page, this only applies for certain jobs. It is rare though that having a PhD would actively look bad on your CV.

When a PhD May Not Be Worth It

1. just because you can’t find another job.

Doing a PhD simply because you can’t find a job isn’t a great reason for starting one. In these circumstances having a PhD likely isn’t worth it.

2. Badge collecting

Tempted by a PhD simply to have a doctorate, or to out-do someone? Not only may you struggle with motivation but you likely won’t find the experience particularly satisfying. Sure, it can be the icing on the cake but I reckon you could lose interest pretty quickly if it is your only motivation for gaining a PhD.

Do I Feel That My Own PhD Was Worth It?

When I finished my undergrad I’d been tempted by a PhD but I wasn’t exactly sure about it. Largely I was worried about picking the wrong topic.

I spent a bit of time apprehensively applying, never being sure how I’d find the experience. Now that I’ve finished it I’m very pleased to have got my PhD!

Here are my main reasons:

• I enjoyed the research and felt relatively well fulfilled with the outcomes
• Having the opportunity to learn lots of some new things was great, and felt like time well spent
• I made new friends and generally enjoyed my time at the university
• Since I’d been interested in research and doing a PhD for so long, I feel like if I’d not done it I’d be left wondering about it and potentially end up regretting it.

In Summary, Is a PhD Worth It?

I’ve interviewed many PhD students and graduates and asked each one of them whether the PhD was worth it . The resounding answer is yes! Now of course there is some selection bias but even an interviewee who had dropped out of their PhD said that the experience had been valueable.

If you’ve got this far in the post and are still a little on the fence about whether or not a PhD is worth it, my advice is to look at the bigger picture. In comparison to your lifetime as a whole, a PhD doesn’t really take long:

People graduating now likely won’t retire until they’re in their 70s: what is 3-4 years out of a half century long career?

So Should I Do a PhD?

Whether a PhD is worth all the time and energy ultimately comes down to why you’re doing one in the first place.

There are many great reasons for wanting to do a PhD, from the sheer enjoyment of a subject through to wanting to open up new career opportunities.

Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that practically every PhD student encounters difficult periods. Unsurprisingly, completing a PhD can be challenging and mentally draining. You’ll want to ensure you’re able to remind yourself of all the reasons why it is worth it to provide motivation to continue.

If you’re interested, here were my own reasons for wanting a PhD.

Why I decided to pursue a PhD

Saying that, if you’re interested in doing a PhD I think you should at least apply. I can’t think of any circumstances where having a PhD would be a hindrance.

It can take a while to find the right project (with funding ) so I suggest submitting some applications and see how they go. If you get interesting job offers in the meantime you don’t need to commit to the PhD. Even if you start the PhD and find you don’t enjoy it, there is no shame in leaving and you can often still walk away with a master’s degree.

My advice is that if you’re at all tempted by a PhD: go for it!

I hope this post helped you to understand if a PhD is worth it for you personally. If it is then best of luck with your application!

Considering doing a PhD? I have lots of other posts covering everything about funding , how much PhD students earn , choosing a project and the interview process through to many posts about what the life of a PhD student and graduate is like . Be sure to subscribe below!

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4 Comments on “Is a PhD Worth It? Should I Do a PhD?”

Hi Thanks for the post . I have been struggling to make a decision regarding doing a PhD or doing a second masters . I’m currently doing an msc civil engineering online (because of covid) so for my research I am not able to conduct lab experiments. Therefore my research is more of a literature review / inductive research. So I feel I’ll be at a disadvantage if I were to apply for a phd program especially at high ranking universities like oxford , imperial etc What are your thoughts?

Hey Esther,

I completely appreciate that it’s not an ideal situation at the moment so thanks for reaching out, it’s a great question. A few thoughts I have:

• If you are already tempted by a PhD and would do a second masters simply to gain lab experience, there is no harm in applying for the PhD now. At the very least I suggest considering reaching out to potential supervisors to discuss the situation with them. The universities realise that current applicants won’t have been able to gain as much research experience as normal over the last year. Practical lab experience has halted for so many people so don’t let it put you off applying!

• If you don’t get in on the first go, I don’t believe it looks bad to apply again with more experience. I applied for PhDs for three years, it doesn’t need to take this long but the point is that there’s not much reason to give it a go this year and stand a chance of getting accepted.

• Although we can be optimistic, even if you were to do a second masters it may not be guaranteed that you can gain as much lab experience as you’d like during it: even more reason to start the ball rolling now.

I hope that helps, let me know if you’d like any other further advice.

Best of luck. 🙂

Funny, every one i have talked to as well as myself when we asked ourselves and others whether the PhD was worth it is a resounding ‘No.’

I guess it comes down to a Blue or Red Pill, LoL.

Hi Joe, thanks for sharing this. I’ve spent enough time on the PhD subreddit to see many other people who haven’t had good experiences either! On the flipside many people do have positive experiences, myself included. There is perhaps an element of luck as to what your research environment turns out to be like which could somewhat dictate the PhD experience, but ultimately I do think that answering whether or not a PhD has been worth it really depends a lot on why someone is pursuing a PhD in the first place. I’m keen to make sure people don’t have unrealistic expectations for what it could bring them. I really welcome hearing about different experiences and if you’d fancy sharing your perspective for the PhD profiles series I’d love to hear from you.

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Is a Ph.D. Worth It Anymore? Cont'd

Three more readers share their critical experiences of working toward a Ph.D. and the postdoctorate that often accompanies it. Here’s Mary:

I spent (too many) years in a prestigious PhD program. During my post-doc, I saw newly-hired Assistant Professors work 60-hour weeks to generate preliminary data in order to secure funding during lean years (early ‘90s). They spent their Saturdays in the lab, bringing their young children with them. (The kids wrote on white boards. One spouse cleaned the lab.) Quite simply, I did not possess the interest or drive for this kind of life. When my son was born, I determined that I would earn a living in a way that provided economic security, as well as time to be there for him. Initially, I was fortunate to secure a non-research position in a government agency. I later moved to the private sector. There is an arrogance about academia that is imparted to doctoral students: that the tenure-track position is “pure” research and the only honorable path for a PhD. Stuff and nonsense.

Begin with the rate at which students for a particular advisor may graduate. One per year? One every other year? In a 30-year career, a lab chief may churn out 20 PhDs. There are far too few academic positions to justify this; rather, graduate students and post-docs are inexpensive labor. I wonder about the thinking that keeps trainees believing that they will be the exceptional ones to beat those odds. I love what I do, and those 10 years were worth the opportunity cost. In my 21-year career, I have used my training, and the way I learned to think, most days. Bonus: I have a life outside work. Look around, students: The academic career is not your only, or even your best, option.

Ilya would agree, and he emphasizes the upsides of the private sector to drive scientific progress:

Bachelor’s degrees are not for all people and all walks of life, and advanced degrees all the more so. I tried to get a Ph.D. in an engineering field. Leaving with a master’s was a great decision, even though it was largely forced on me. Over the ensuing years, I watched my friends who had stayed for the long slog become increasingly bitter. Here’s why. Academic research is the right channel, if not the only channel, for strikingly original, pathbreaking work. Once a field begins to attract private investment, however, academia needs to step back. Once a field has reached a certain level of popularity and recognition, the number of strivers greatly exceeds the number of original directions available, leading to duplicate work and dissertations of little value. In fields (such as mine) that require expensive and temperamental lab equipment, a company can afford to buy the best tools and hire technicians to maintain them. Graduate students waste years fussing over obsolete instruments. And, finally, academia tends to breed faculty with outsized egos who abuse students as a source of cheap labor for their pet projects. Companies, although not perfect, are much better at aligning the interests of frontline workers and management, and at killing projects that aren’t worthwhile. A doctorate remains the minimum credential to be a professor, which is fair. In some fields, though, even companies will not consider applicants who lack doctorates. This is part fetishism, part hazing ritual. In my field, I have found a Ph.D. to be usually valued as much or less than an equivalent number of years of private-sector experience, and we’re all better off for it.

This anonymous reader, like Ilya, will probably settle for a master’s:

All of my comments are in reference to graduate school in STEM disciplines, since I do not have experience in grad school in other fields. As a graduate student considering exiting my program as a 5th year, I can tell you in all honesty that a PhD is not “worth” it—for me, at least . Too many eager students earning a bachelor’s degree in STEM are told that they cannot have a worthwhile career without entering grad school. I saw the PhD as one more hoop to jump before I could land a great job that would provide me with the challenges and stability I wanted in a career. I have learned a massive amount and I don’t regret coming to grad school, but I am increasingly regretting staying . Most of what I will take from the PhD will be things I learned in my first two years. In other words, a master’s degree would have been perfect for me. Unfortunately, master’s degree programs in STEM are not encouraged and sometimes frowned upon. The few master’s degree programs that exist do not usually cover students’ tuition or offer any sort of stipend. At top-tier universities where students can only enter PhD programs, master’s degrees are only handed out as “ consolation prizes.” In other words, a master’s degree is a mere exit option for those not able to “tough it out” through the PhD. From an institutional perspective, this makes some financial sense. Why offer a paid master’s program, where students will be novices in the lab and still refining their techniques, when a PhD student will make up for these formative 2 years by effectively “working” 3+ years after the initial phase of their training? This is certainly the case in my lab. I used to fumble with equipment and make rookie mistakes daily. I now train newer students on instruments, assist with experimental design and analysis, and manage a good deal of the lab. I don’t get credit for it, though; I have the same low stipend that I did as a first year. My experience is the norm. It’s expected that you “pay back” for your training in the form of working more and publishing. In fact, certain fellowships require that you financially pay them back if you decide to pursue work outside of academia. Keep in mind that these fellowships are a trainee’s paycheck. If I was awarded one of these postdoctoral fellowships and decided to quit an unhealthy postdoc in month 11, I would owe back 11 months’ worth of my paycheck . If this isn’t indentured servitude, I don’t know what is. Coupled with emotional distress, not knowing where I might be working in a year, the lack of benefits (will I ever be able to retire if I stick with the PhD?), and an overwhelming desire to do something that I am good at and getting compensated appropriately, I can’t see sticking around any longer. The PhD is not the route to career satisfaction that I envisioned. It is no longer a simple hoop; it’s a long, winding, and seemingly never-ending tunnel.

For further reading, Tim recommends:

This entertaining but serious essay by history professor Timothy Burke was required reading when I was at Swarthmore almost 20 years ago. It begins, “Should I go to grad school? Short answer: no.” The essay holds up today—and the job market worries he touches on have, of course, gotten incomprehensibly worse.

Update from a reader:

Big thanks to your reader who pointed out Timothy Burke’s essay on graduate school in the humanities! It led me to Timothy Burke’s blog , which has some fascinating viewpoints on current events around globalization, Donald Trump, and the like. Speaking of which, I’m intrigued that so many of the responses on the worth of graduate school are about the sciences rather than the humanities. Is this because the story in the humanities is old news by now? Whereas, in science, you get this weird disconnect between “we need more STEM majors” on the one hand, and the same old math about how many more PhDs there are than tenured posts, on the other. Do we really need more STEM majors? Because a lot of us are pretty worried about becoming unemployed, or spending our lives in badly-paid adjunct posts with no job security.

Here’s one more reader, who stands up for the Ph.D. track and brings us back to the theme of government funding that started this discussion thread:

I’m at the end of my 5th year of my PhD and will graduate in the next year. In many ways, I’m lucky. I work in food safety and microbiology. Since everyone wants to know their food is safe, government funding has been cut less, and we can usually persuade industry or trade associations to fund our applied research. However, we’ve been able to do less basic research than we would have hoped, because when funding is tighter, the government funds projects which are more likely to have immediately applicable results (applied research), and industry only funds applied research. So a lot of good basic science doesn’t get funded. Is a PhD worth it? So far, yes. As a graduate student I've had opportunities to teach, write grants and fellowships, mentor undergrads, help manage the lab, and work on international development projects. I’ve also seen mentoring failures, abusive advisers, and nasty department politics. It is a hard road to a PhD (though I think attributing “Navy SEAL-like brutality” to it is going too far), but it does offer a lot of personal growth opportunities and the joy of research along with the frustration of repeated failure and impostor syndrome. I plan to stay in academia because there is no other position I know of which combines teaching and basic research and opportunities for international development projects like academia does. So I’ve mentally given myself a few years to postdoc and try to get a tenure track job. I think I have a decent idea of what I'm getting myself into ... we shall see. Research funding is the thing which worries me the most.

• Is Doing a PhD Worth It?
• Finding a PhD

Undertaking a PhD shouldn’t be a light decision. In fact, it’s one of the most challenging academic journeys you could embark on. This begs the question: Is a PhD worth it?

A PhD is the highest globally recognised postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award. The degree, which is awarded to candidates who demonstrate original and extensive research in a particular field of study, is not only invaluable in itself, but can lead to improves job prospects, a higher salary on average, and sets you up for invaluable skills and traits. If you are a graduate student considering undertaking doctoral studies, read our guidance to help you make an informed decision.

Career Prospects

Although a full time PhD takes on average three to five years to complete, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a long-term goal, especially with the possibilities that come with it. It’s a common misunderstanding that PhDs only open the door for educational based roles such as university lecturers and training providers. Although obtaining a PhD does lend itself to an academic career, the opportunities extend far beyond the traditional academic job. In fact, recent data from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates only 23% of PhD graduates take a position in educational roles. This low percentage is primarily because PhD graduates have a wide range of skills that make them suitable for a broad spectrum of roles. This is being seen first hand by the increasing number of PhD graduates who are entering alternative roles such as research, writing, law and investment banking.

Percentages aside, one of the most desirable post-doctoral fields is working within independent Research and Development (R&D) labs and new emerging companies. Both industries, especially R&D labs, have dedicated groups of PhD graduates who lead research activities, design new products and take part in crucial strategic meetings. Not only is this a stimulating line of work, but the average salaries in R&D labs and emerging start-ups are incredibly lucrative. In comparison, an undergraduate with five years of experience within their given field will, on average, likely earn less than a new PhD graduate taking on an R&D position. Completing an advanced degree programme demonstrates that you have developed a knowledge base in your research area which gives you a head start over other candidates who many only have an undergraduate degree or masters degree.

Pursuing your Interests

One factor to consider when asking ‘is a PhD worth it?’ is what your interests are. A doctoral degree is a fantastic opportunity to spend time learning about something that appeals to you. Having an interest in your research area as a PhD student is a massive advantage as you will always be motivated to push the boundaries of your research. Possessing an advanced degree in a field your are genuinely interested in can also help shape your career path and help you land your dream job.

Transferable Skills

PhD students are widely in demand for their wide range of skills they develop during their studies. Not only do these skills extend beyond that obtained by an undergraduate counterpart, but the transferability of the skills is what makes them stand out amongst employers.

Professional Networking

To successfully undertake a PhD, it’s paramount to have a good working relationship with your PhD supervisor and other students in your laboratory, workshop, or department. This relationship will also extend to undertaking short-term collaborative projects, delivering joint conferences and co-authoring research papers. The modern doctorate needs to demonstrate effective team working, collaboration and networking to be successful in their chosen field. This skill is highly sought by all employers, as open and effective communication is key to any project.

Publication

Although publishing isn’t a requirement of all PhD projects, all students will have the opportunity to produce technical or informative texts, regardless of whether it’s in the form of reports or academic journal articles.

The preparation, research, writing, and editing of such texts demonstrate your ability to amalgamate information and communicate complex ideas. Regardless of an employer’s field, the ability to record and summarise essential information is a fundamental skill they look for. Demonstrating you’re capable of delivering factual documents will help set you apart from colleagues, which will help make strides in your career.

Research Skills

One of the most valued skills you’ll gain during your PhD study is the ability to undertake original research. Not only does this demonstrate you are able to think independently, but also that you are prepared to take on responsibility and can contribute original ideas to the workplace. In undertaking a PhD, you will prove yourself as a professional expert in this area, making you a suitable candidate for research jobs.

Data analysis

A PhD programme, in particular a STEM PhD project, is likely to involve identifying, managing and analysing large amounts of complex information. In addition to this, you could be required to assimilate this information in an appropriate and understandable format. Because of this a data driven doctorate degree is highly desirable in numerical industries such as banking and engineering.

Public Speaking

In today’s industries, excellent oral communication skills are becoming more and more essential. Although many individuals struggle with this skill, as a PhD graduate, you’re more likely to excel in this area. This is because of the many public speaking opportunities you’ll be exposed to during your course. Through conference talks, presentations, and posters, you’ll learn to become confident and engaging when speaking to a broad audience. You’ll also showcase to future employers that you know how to present complex ideas and defend them.

Project management

Even if your career goal isn’t to become a project manager, all jobs require some project management. Fortunately, PhDs are a project management exercise. To complete your thesis, you must design a project, establish a realistic timetable, manage stakeholders and overcome failures. While attempting to achieve the long-term goal set out by the PhD, you must also set, manage, and achieve short-term goals to make progress.

This scenario accurately represents any modern workplace. You’ll be given the autonomy to manage your projects and workload and be expected to do so at a competent level. With this in mind, PhD holders can show they are more than capable of managing a team, and in doing so broaden their career options when entering the job market.

Critical Thinking

Every doctoral student will gain unparalleled skills in exercising critical thinking. This is due to having been trained to address problems, identify connections and analyse information to come to sensible conclusions. A critical thinker is exceptionally beneficial for any industry.

Co-operation

Nearly all careers place a strong emphasis on team working and interpersonal skills. Although producing a PhD thesis is an individual task, to complete your doctoral degree you’ll need to collaborate with others, whether it be to conduct experiments, collect data, operate as part of a larger research group or co-write manuscripts. To complete these tasks, you must know how to divide the task, share with others, communicate effectively, and resolve conflicts. All these skills carry over to any workplace, not just those in an academic position. By demonstrating that you can work as part of a team, you’ll significantly increase your desirability for any role.

Many prospective PhD students see a future in academia. Strong communication skills are essential in this line of work as in addition to giving lectures you may be involved in the supervision of graduate students during their final year projects.

As a graduate student you will have spent the last few years in university and likely have some student debt. A doctorate programme is a further large financial commitment, in particular if you self-fund your studies which can take 3-5 years to complete as a full time PhD student. Even if you secure a funded PhD, the available living stipend will comparatively be less than you would potentially earn if you had gone into employment instead. Part time PhD programmes also worth looking at for PhD candidates, as they allow researchers to work during their PhD course who can then spend their earnings towards their living costs and tuition fees.

In analysing the career prospects and transferable skills gained in undertaking a PhD degree, it is clear that pursuing a PhD is an extremely worthwhile venture.

You will develop deep knowledge in your research area which gives you an advantage when applying to academic jobs (for example a professor or research advisor/PostDoc). During your doctoral years you’ll also gain many skills valued in any career path, from problem solving, to managing tasks and communicating complex ideas. Possessing a PhD correlates to higher median salaries, and can aid career progression as a PhD holder can use their specialist skills to seek out unique opportunities in industry. These skills, combined with the new roles that open up for doctorate holders, such as working within innovative Research and Development teams, presents an exciting and prosperous future.

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• 3 . 01 . 20
• Leaving Academia

Is a PhD Worth It? I Wish I’d Asked These 6 Questions First.

• Posted by: Chris

Updated Nov. 19, 2022

Is a PhD worth it?

Should I get a PhD?

A few people admit to regretting their PhD. Most—myself included — said that they don’t ( I wrote about why in this post ).

But we often say we don’t regret stupid things we’ve done or bad things that happen to us. This means we learned from them, not that we wanted them to happen.

So just because PhDs don’t regret it, doesn’t mean it was worth it.

But if you were to ask, Is a PhD worth it, it’s a different and more complicated question.

When potential PhD students ask me for advice, I hate giving it. I can’t possibly say whether it will be worth it for them. I only know from experience that for some PhDs the answer is no.

In this post, I’ll look at this question from five different directions, five different ways that a PhD could be worth it. Then I give my opinion on each one. You can tell me if I got the right ones of if I’m way off base. So here we go.

This is post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Roostervane!

tl;dr It’s up to you to make it worth it. A PhD can hurt your finances, sink you in debt, and leave you with no clear path to success in some fields. But PhDs statistically earn more than their and have lower unemployment rates. A PhD also gives you a world-class mind, a global network, and a skill set that can go just about anywhere.

Should I Get a PhD?

tl;dr Don’t get a PhD by default. Think it through. Be clear about whether it’s going to help you reach career goals, and don’t expect to be a professor. A few rules of thumb- make sure you know where you want to go and whether a PhD is the ONLY way to get there, make sure it’s FUNDED (trust me), and make sure your program has strong ties into industry and a record of helping its students get there.

1. Is a PhD worth it for your finances?

My guess: Not usually

People waste a lot of their best years living on a grad stipend. To be honest, my money situation was pretty good in grad school. I won a large national grant, I got a ton of extra money in travel grants, and my Canadian province gave me grants for students with dependents. But even with a decent income, I was still in financial limbo–not really building wealth of any sort.

And many students scrape by on very small stipends while they study.

When it comes to entering the marketplace, research from Canada and the United States shows that PhD students eventually out-earn their counterparts with Master’s degrees. It takes PhDs a few years to find their stride, but most of us eventually do fine for earnings if we leave academia. Which is great, and perhaps surprising to many PhDs who think that a barista counter is the only non-academic future they have .

The challenge is not income–it’s time. If you as a PhD grad make marginally more than a Master’s graduate, but they entered the workforce a decade earlier, it takes a long time for even an extra $10,000 a year to catch up. The Master’s grad has had the time to build their net worth and network, perhaps buy a house, pay down debt, invest, and just generally get financially healthy.

While PhDs do fine in earnings in the long run, the opportunity cost of getting the PhD is significant.

The only real way to remedy this—if you’ve done a PhD and accumulating wealth is important to you, is to strategically maximize your earnings and your value in the marketplace to close the wealth gap. This takes education, self-discipline, and creativity, but it is possible.

I tried to calculate the opportunity cost of prolonging entry into the workforce in this post .

2. Is a PhD worth it for your career?

My guess: Impossible to tell

Most of my jobs have given me the perfect opportunity to see exactly where I could be if I’d stopped at a Master’s degree, often working alongside or for those who did and are further ahead. In terms of nuts and bolts of building career experience section on a resume, which is often the most important part, a PhD is rarely worth it. (Some STEM careers do require a PhD.)

However, at the start of my post-graduate educational journey, I was working part-time running teen programs and full time as a landscaper. I had an undergraduate degree. Despite my job and a half, I was still poor. My life had no direction, and had I not begun my Master’s to PhD journey I probably would have stayed there.

The PhD transformed me personally. It did this by developing my skills, or course. But even more so, it taught me that anything is possible. It took a poor kid from a mining town in northern Canada and gave me access to the world. It made my dreams of living abroad come true. I learned that anything is possible. And that will never go away.

It’s changed the course of my life and, subsequently, my career.

It’s impossible for you to know if it’s worth it for your career. But you can build a hell of a career with it.

So it wouldn’t be fair for me to say, “don’t get a PhD.” Because it worked out for me, and for some it does.

But there are a heck of a lot of people who haven’t figured out how to build a career with this thing. Which is one of the reasons Roostervane exists in the first place.

Psst! If you’re looking at doing a PhD because you don’t know where to go next with your career–I see you. Been there. Check out my free PDF guide– How to Build a Great Career with Any Degree.

3. Is a PhD worth it for your personal brand?

My guess: Probably

There’s some debate over whether to put a Dr. or PhD before or after your name. People argue over whether it helps in the non-academic marketplace. Some feel that it just doesn’t translate to whatever their new reality is. Some have been told by some manager somewhere that they’re overqualified and pulled themselves back, sometimes wiping the PhD off their resume altogether.

The truth is, if you have a PhD, the world often won’t know what to do with it. And that’s okay. Well-meaning people won’t understand how you fit into the landscape, and you may have to fight tooth and nail for your place in it. People may tell you they can’t use you, or they might go with what they know—which is someone less qualified and less-educated.

It happens.

But someone with a PhD at the end of their name represents an indomitable leader. So grow your possibilities bigger and keep fighting. And make your personal brand match those three little letters after your name. Do this so that the world around can’t help but see you as a leader. More importantly, do it so that you don’t forget you are.

Should I put “PhD” after my name on LinkedIn?

5 reasons you need to brand yourself

4. Is a PhD worth it for your sense of purpose?

Is getting a PhD worth it? For many people the answer is no.

PhDs are hurting.

If you’ve done one, you know. Remember the sense of meaning and purpose that drew you towards a PhD program? Was it still there at the end? If yours was, you’re lucky. I directed my purpose into getting hired in a tenure-track job, and got very hurt when it didn’t happen.

And people have vastly different experiences within programs.

Some people go through crap. But for them their research is everything and putting up with crap is worth it to feel like they have a sense of purpose. Many PhDs who are drawn into programs chasing a sense of purpose leave deeply wounded and disenchanted, ironically having less purpose when they started.

While new PhDs often talk about the PhD as a path do doing “something meaningful,” those of us who have been through entire programs have often seen too much. We’ve either seen or experienced tremendous loss of self. Some have friends who didn’t make it out the other end of the PhD program.

But there are some PhDs who have a great experience in their programs and feel tremendously fulfilled.

As I reflect on it, I don’t think a sense of purpose is inherently fulfilled or disappointed by a PhD program. There are too many variables.

However, if you’re counting on a PhD program to give you a sense of purpose, I’d be very careful. I’d be even more cautious if purpose for you means “tenure-track professor.” Think broadly about what success means to you and keep an open mind .

5. Is my discipline in demand?

Okay, so you need to know that different disciplines have different experiences. Silicon Valley has fallen in love with some PhDs, and we’re seeing “PhD required” or “PhD preferred” on more and more job postings. So if your PhD is in certain, in-demand subjects… It can be a good decision.

My humanities PhD, on the other hand, was a mistake. I’m 5 years out now, and I’ve learned how to use it and make money with it. That’s the great news. But I’d never recommend that anyone get a PhD in the humanities. Sorry. I really wish I could. It’s usually a waste of years of your life, and you’ll need to figure out how to get a totally unrelated job after anyway.

TBH, most of the skills I make money with these days I taught myself on Skillshare .

6. Is a PhD worth it for your potential?

My guess: Absolutely

Every human being has unlimited potential, of course. But here’s the thing that really can make your PhD worth it. The PhD can amplify your potential. It gives you a global reach, it gives you a recognizable brand, and it gives you a mind like no other.

One of my heroes is Brené Brown. She’s taken research and transformed the world with it, speaking to everyone from Wall-Street leaders to blue-collar workers about vulnerability, shame, and purpose. She took her PhD and did amazing things with it.

Your potential at the end of your PhD is greater than it has ever been.

The question is, what will you do with that potential?

Many PhD students are held back, not by their potential, but by the fact that they’ve learned to believe that they’re worthless. Your potential is unlimited, but when you are beaten and exhausted, dragging out of a PhD program with barely any self-worth left, it’s very hard to reach your potential. You first need to repair your confidence.

But if you can do that, if you can nurture your confidence and your greatness every day until you begin to believe in yourself again, you can take your potential and do anything you want with it.

So why get a PhD?

Because it symbolizes your limitless potential. If you think strategically about how to put it to work.

PhD Graduates Don’t Need Resumes. They Need a Freaking Vision

By the way… Did you know I wrote a book about building a career with a PhD? You can read the first chapter for free on Amazon.

So if you’re asking me, “should I do a PhD,” I hope this post helps you. Try your best to check your emotion, and weigh the pros and cons.

And at the end of the day, I don’t think that whether a PhD is worth it or not is some fixed-in-stone thing. In fact, it depends on what you do with it.

So why not make it worth it? Work hard on yourself to transform into a leader worthy of the letters after your name, and don’t be afraid to learn how to leverage every asset the PhD gave you.

One of the reasons I took my PhD and launched my own company is that I saw how much more impact I could have and money I could be making as a consultant (perhaps eventually with a few employees). As long as I worked for someone else, I could see that my income would likely be capped. Working for myself was a good way to maximize my output and take control of my income.

It’s up to you to make it worth it. Pick what’s important to you and how the degree helps you get there, and chase it. Keep an open mind about where life will take you, but always be asking yourself how you can make more of it.

Check out the related post- 15 Good, Bad, and Awful Reasons People Go to Grad School. — I Answer the Question, “Should I Go to Grad School?” )

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Is a PhD Worth It? [2024 Guide]

Is a PhD worth it? How you answer may depend on your definition of rewards. The title “Ph.D.” means “doctor in philosophy” or simply “authority in learning.” In other words, the title, dating back to the middle ages, was not specific to the branch of study we now know as “philosophy.”

Today, a PhD can be obtained in just about any field…but it still involves “philosophy”—a “love of knowledge.”

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When considering whether or not this is what you want, the intangible pleasures associated with lifelong learning and academic inquiry may be a big part of your calculation, alongside the more earthly rewards commonly referred to as jobs and salaries!

Is a PhD Worth It?

Yes, a PhD is worth it for many students. With evidence of increased job security overall — the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting 5% job growth in education, training, and library occupations over the next 10 years, there are some real pragmatic reasons getting a PhD might be worth it, in addition to the intellectual satisfaction.

Common careers in this field include teaching at the university level, educational leadership and administration, corporate or government consulting, and cutting-edge science or public-policy research and advocacy.

Keep in mind that the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on postsecondary teaching also includes many lower-paid jobs at vocational and technical schools as well as higher-paying jobs at four-year colleges and in graduate degree programs.

Also keep in mind that the high demand for college teachers (due to a wave of retirements) never really materialized over the past two decades.

But, if the Bureau of Labor Statistics is forecasting accurately, the next ten years could be different. Indeed, a growth trend of 9% for college professors is much higher than the average across all other occupations.

The downside of launching a job search with your newly won PhD degree is that you’re probably going to be looking for a job that aligns with very specialized knowledge.

Sometimes finding a really on-target job opportunity within such a narrow focus of expertise can be challenging, regardless of broader workforce trends—something to keep in mind as you decide what’s right for you.

How to Decide Whether a PhD is Right for You

Let’s face it, learning more, in general, has its rewards for many people. But it’s worth thinking about whether you really like sustained study and have the deep intellectual curiosity that drives independent research, private reflection, and academic writing.

Also, a PhD in a humanities field such as literature, history, political science, or linguistics, well, it won’t necessarily position you for lots of job options, for great geographic mobility, or mega earnings. In fact, it may take some measure of luck to find and land a college teaching job that fits your specialized area of research.

The big upside is that if you do find a good job, you’ll likely experience a high level of satisfaction working in an institution of learning that rewards your intellectual curiosity and expertise with a comfortable salary, job security, and prestige, and where you can continue academic inquiry alongside other specialists who share similar intellectual passions.

Here are some ways to think about whether getting a PhD is right for you:

1. you simply want to be an expert in your field of interest.

For many people inclined to get a PhD, the very idea of being “stuck” in school again for five to eight years is a key reward in itself! It’s true—this is because a PhD-seeker is usually motivated by a life-long love of academic learning.

In most traditional or online PhD programs , you will spend significant time working closely with an advisor who is highly specialized in your area of research, and you’ll learn to do your own ground-breaking research, write a dissertation, and then, maybe, author an academic book or articles.

Plus, most schools offer part-time PhD programs for those who would like to continue working during the day, or for those who simply don’t want to commit full-time.

2. You want to teach at a college or university

Some people, whether they work in a humanities field or in science and technology fields, simply love research and teaching more than anything else.

If you are in a humanities field, a college teaching job may be one of your best options. If you study a technical field, you’ll probably have more career options. Postsecondary teaching jobs may or may not pay as high as some jobs in the for-profit sector.

3. You want to be a policy researcher, leader, and authority

If you want to be a high-level policy expert or a distinguished authority in a specific area of investigation (historian, policy analyst, investigative journalist, or scientific or engineering researcher), you’ll probably need the kind of intensive study and research training that only a PhD program is likely to provide.

Studying for your PhD can not only help you learn a lot about your field of interest, but it can also help you gain deep insights into present knowledge gaps and the areas of greatest potential for new groundbreaking investigation.

5 Things You Can Do with a PhD Degree

A PhD degree may put you on a pathway to a range of jobs based on your interests and aptitudes.

1. College Professor

This is a career path fueled by intellectual curiosity and the satisfaction that comes from helping new generations of students develop their knowledge and become innovative thinkers in their own right.

As a postsecondary teacher, you can get paid to study and teach about a subject you love. Depending on the kind of postsecondary school you work in, you might spend more time teaching or more time researching and publishing.

You may also travel periodically, attending professional conferences, for example, or doing a teaching stint or research fellowship at another college. If you want to teach at a community college, technical school, or vocational adult school, you may find a range of part-time and full-time opportunities, but perhaps for less pay.

2. Educational Administration

At most colleges and universities, the administrators running the school often have resumes with advanced academic degrees and several years of postsecondary teaching experience, even though these qualifications may not directly relate to their administrative office.

As a school system administrator, you may support curriculum development or student services, or you may be in charge of hiring and facilitating staff development efforts or overseeing departmental budgets.

At the highest levels of higher education leadership, you may help envision system innovations, direct public relations campaigns, and influence overarching spending priorities. In pubic K12 systems, a PhD is not required for getting a teaching job but may earn you salary stipends and put you on track for district-level jobs down the road.

3. Policy Analyst

Ever thought about being part of a think tank or inter-governmental research panel? If you want to move into senior-level policy research and advocacy, then a PhD and a documented trail of specialized publications can help you qualify.

In this kind of job, you will likely collaborate with other experts on creating reports, gathering and interpreting data, and making formal presentations to governments or business groups. You may also contribute to publishing findings and recommendations in scholarly journals.

4. Scientific Researcher

These jobs may give you a chance to use the specialized knowledge and the advanced research skills you developed in a science- or technology-related PhD program to conduct lab-based, statistical, or clinical research.

This kind of work may be public-interest focused or have commercial applications, may land you a job in a government agency, a research university, or in a business entity doing research for product development or for commercial patents.

5. Consultant

If you are an expert in your field of research, you may want to market your knowledge and expertise as an independent contractor or by working with a small or large consulting firm.

As a consultant, you may come alongside other busy professionals who need help with evidence-based planning and decision making and want ready-made tools and data sets for modeling, forecasting, and implementing change-focused initiatives, for developing business strategies, or for improving governance structures or organizational processes.

PhD Degree Alternatives

Whatever your thoughts about getting a PhD, you may want to consider professional degrees as an alternative. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, professional degrees often offer above-average earnings, comparable to those earnings attributable to holding a PhD.

Here are some examples of professional degrees based on different occupational fields:

• Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) . If you are interested in law but want to practice in a law firm or seek a judgeship, a JD may be a good alternative.
• Medical Doctor (MD), Veterinarian (DVM), Pharmacist (DrPH), or Dentist (DDS) . If you want to work in one of these lucrative medical professions, professional degrees may provide the best option in many cases.
• Doctor of Education (EdD) . If you love teaching, but are interested in moving up into a leadership position in public K12 school system administration or policy, the most practical route in many cases may be to pursue an EdD, rather than a PhD.

In short, for high-level careers in humanities fields, there are few substitutes for the PhD since you’ll probably want a college teaching career.

In more regulated or commercial fields, such as medicine, law, publishing, finance, accounting, public health, and public education, you may often find professional degrees make more sense, unless your sights are set primarily on jobs in academia.

PhD Careers & Salaries

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , getting a PhD can help you get a job that allows you to teach and continue researching in your field of interest and often allows for a good salary.

As you can see, for some professionals, it’s probably worth getting a PhD, but the commitment it takes pays off, in many cases, only in part by how much you can boost your earnings…the other rewards are likely to be intellectual curiosity and professional status.

Getting Your PhD Online

For students who are ready to turn an intellectual passion into a life-long intellectual pursuit, advancing from a masters and getting a PhD from an accredited institution is worth it for many students. In fact, you may even want to consider an online PhD program.

Getting a PhD online may provide you more options than you imagine. Think about it before you leap… but if you’re feeling bored at your desk and longing for a return to college life and intellectual growth… well, getting a PhD may be just what the doctor ordered!

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Is a phd worth it, published by steve tippins on may 26, 2020 may 26, 2020.

Last Updated on: 30th August 2022, 04:22 am

Is a PhD worth it? That depends on who’s asking. If you’re talking about the educational benefits, the opportunity to make new discoveries, or the chance to make a difference, then the answer is almost always a resounding “yes.” However, if you’re talking about purely economic benefits, the answer is almost always “no.” A combination of them both? It depends.

In this article, I’ll explore two answers to the question, “Is a PhD worth it?” and the reasons for each. Ultimately, whether a PhD is worth it for you depends on your reasons for getting it. So let’s dive into those.

A PhD is worth it when what you gain–by way of knowledge, experience, credentials, and opportunities–is more valuable to you than what you gave up in order to get it. In terms of time, money, cost to relationships, and stress, a PhD costs an incredible amount. So what makes it worth the cost? Let’s explore that below.

When a PhD Is Worth It

Here are some of the reasons a PhD is worth it for some people.

Is a PhD worth it if you’re motivated by learning? Absolutely. A PhD program is one of the most intense learning opportunities available anywhere. If you are passionate about a certain subject and want to work at a high level in the field, then a PhD program is the right bet. 

As one former PhD candidate said to me, “There’s so much learning that happens. I didn’t finish but I still think it was worth it to do the program because of all the things I learned about my subject area and about research and about myself. All the things I learned about how I related to the topic.”

Critical Thinking

When you go through a PhD program, you become a much better consumer of information–and not just academic information. You begin to question, “where did that come from? What’s the source?” This includes advertisements, news, and anything else you may be reading or listening to.

You also understand what studies are actually saying. You’re better able to understand research and consider its implications and shortcomings.

Respect 

Just having a PhD affords you a level of respect and assumed expertise that is difficult to come by. We used to have calling cards–that was the way people introduced themselves to a new place, which would come along with recommendations from friends. Now a PhD takes the place of that. 

Generally, people have positive assumptions about you if you have those letters after your name. You’re controlling what people think about you just by having those three letters after your name. 

For example, If you want to publish a book, having a PhD in the field you’re writing about you’re much more likely to be published. And once you’re published, more likely to be promoted, interviewed about your book, etc. Having a PhD can also open you up to grant opportunities, giving you credibility for these types of opportunities.

Social Change

For better of for worse, having this credential is one of the ways that people run the world. It gives you more social capital and economic power. If used for the betterment of the community, this can be a huge opportunity to affect positive social change. It puts you in a position to make changes to some things. In education, it can put you into leadership positions.

Besides being recognized as an expert, having a PhD can also give you the confidence to go out and do things that you wouldn’t have done before. As one of society’s experts, you are trusted to be on the cutting edge of your area of expertise. Whether that means starting a business or non-profit, writing a book, giving talks, or something entirely different, you can make great strides. It’s not just because society trusts you, but having a PhD increases your trust of yourself–and your moral responsibility to use the power of your position to benefit others.

Ability to Get Through Anything

A PhD program is one of the most challenging experiences you can put yourself through . By going through the rigorous process of getting a PhD, you gain the confidence and experience necessary to handle challenges in just about every other area as well.

Academic Career

If you want an academic career today, you’ll pretty much need a PhD. Community colleges used to hire people with master’s degrees. Now when they’re searching, they pretty much ask for a PhD. While a PhD can’t guarantee an academic career, it is a prerequisite. 

Non-Academic jobs

If you want more flexibility in the work that you do, a PhD helps. Many PhDs go on to do consulting work in their field.

A lot of organizations need people with PhDs for accreditation purposes. This is true of colleges, of course. But there are also other organizations, like consulting firms. They need a high number of people with PhDs to give the organization credibility.

Intrinsic Reward

A PhD program is a level of rigor that not many people get to. Finishing it produces an intrinsic reward that comes from accomplishing something extremely difficult. There’s a feeling of accomplishment that you don’t get with anything else. It’s not an easy thing to do, and there’s some reward in that. 

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When a PhD Is not Worth It

The rewards for a PhD may be great, but it can also cost an incredible amount, in all areas of your life. Let’s consider these costs.

The Cost of Not Finishing

Fifty percent of the people who start a PhD program don’t finish. Nobody goes into it thinking “i’m not going to finish,” but half of them don’t. It’s incredibly expensive to not finish since you don’t get the payoff that comes with the degree. 

“I got a lot of psychic rewards, but I’m still paying lots of money in student loans and will be for the rest of my life–and will be for the rest of my life,” said one former PhD candidate who did not complete her program. 

Will you be totally devastated financially or otherwise if you don’t finish? That’s a very real possibility, so it’s important to consider what the consequences would be, even if you fully intend to finish. You have to ask yourself that question, is it worth it if I don’t end up with a degree? 

Family Sacrifice

Sacrifice to the family is a big reason why a PhD program may not be worth it. Some people get divorced during the process–not only because it’s so much time away from the family but also because the person getting the doctorate is very intellectually focused, and that can be hard on a relationship .

If you have children, the sacrifice can be double. You will miss baseball games, recitals, vacations, and weekends. You’ll be in your PhD program for several years, and you won’t be able to be as present in your children’s lives for that time period. While many parents do successfully complete PhD programs and manage to be wonderful, loving parents at the same time, it’s an incredibly difficult balancing act.

Foregone Earnings

When in a PhD program, you don’t get to work full time at your regular job for around 3-6 years. There are PhD programs that allow you to work while you’re doing it, but it’s very difficult. And if you have a family too? That’s incredibly difficult. There are some professions where people make enough yearly income where it’s not financially worth the lost income to get a PhD. That’s why you don’t see many Accounting PhDs.

Proving Yourself

If you’re getting a PhD in order to prove to parents or an ex-boyfriend that you have value, that’s not going to get you through it.  It doesn’t carry you through the whole degree. It might give you a lot of energy at the beginning, but it won’t last for three or six years. It won’t provide you with the resilience and fortitude necessary to make it through the toughest times. And anyway, counseling is cheaper.

Other Costs

I know from experience that getting a PhD increases your cheez-it consumption. Alright, that may just have been me. But it is important to consider what the costs will be to you in your particular situation. Give these costs serious consideration.

Is a PhD Worth It? An Economic Perspective

Will your salary go up enough to justify the cost? The answer is almost universally “no.”

If you’re going to continue working for the same company, you could ask them how much more your pay would be (if they would raise it) if you had a PhD. You could amortize that over how many years you plan to work.

However, generally speaking, the economic gains do not justify the economic costs .

If you can combine the economic and psychic reasons, it can be worth it for some people. But if you’re just doing the numbers in terms of how much you’ll make and how much you’ll pay, it’s probably not worth it.

Getting a PhD will likely boost your income and it does give you more options, but that may not justify the costs, economically speaking. Unless there are other bolstering reasons, I’d say it’s not worth it.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Is a PhD the right option for you?

Too often starry-eyed students rush into a PhD without knowing what it entails or how useful it will be. Daniel K. Sokol discusses what you need to consider before taking the plunge.

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Embarking on a PhD is a big decision. Not only will it consume three to five years of your life but, in some UK institutions, the failure rate exceeds 40%. During that time, the 'great work' (ie the thesis) will hover above the candidate like the sword of Damocles, even in moments of supposed rest. So when students say they are thinking of doing a PhD, I ask them why.

For most jobs, a PhD is unnecessary. I, and many of my PhD friends, dropped the title soon after our release into the real world. The initial buzz of having Dr before your name dims with time, and using the title in a non-academic context exudes more than a whiff of self-importance.

People also equate the prefix with a medical degree. On a plane back from Australia one year, I heard the call dreaded by doctors and title-wielding PhDs alike: "is there a doctor on the plane?" Sensing that my knowledge of grounded theory would do little to assist the feverish passenger, my wife, a medical doctor, volunteered to save the day.

If future income is a consideration, a PhD is worth little more than a master's. According to Bernard Casey, who published a study on the economic contribution of PhDs, male PhDs earn 26% more than those who could have gone to university but did not. However, men with a master's degree earn almost as much, with a 23% increase. For women, the difference is smaller still. Variations also exist within individual disciplines. Casey concludes: "PhDs in social sciences, languages and arts do not enhance earnings significantly for either sex."

When I enrolled on my PhD, I didn't care about so distant an issue as future income. Armed with three years of funding, I cared only about my subject and pushing the frontiers of knowledge, however modestly.

Enthusiasm fills the heart of most prospective PhD students, but this enthusiasm can soon fade. The drop-out rate for PhDs is high. In the United States, only 57% of PhD students obtained their PhD 10 years after enrollment. In the humanities, the figure dropped to 49%. In my department, four of us enrolled on the PhD programme in medical ethics; two completed it. Contrary to popular belief, a PhD is not intellectually difficult but it calls for discipline and stamina.

A PhD, especially in the humanities, is a lonely affair. Days are spent alone in front of a computer. Antidotes to the common ailments known as PhD fatigue and PhD blues are, first, choosing a subject that can sustain interest for several years. Often students realise after a few months that their topic is not as gripping as initially believed. An additional consideration, when selecting a topic, is whether the choice will bolster an academic career. Some topics lie on the fringes of the field and may raise eyebrows in reviewers of articles and conference abstracts and in interviews for lectureships. An obscure PhD is also poor preparation for teaching a broad curriculum to undergraduate students.

The second antidote is choosing good supervisors. Knowledge aside, a good supervisor should be willing to devote time to the thesis. Beware the elusive professor, however stellar his or her reputation. It is worth talking to a supervisor's past or current PhD students before making your request.

Sadly, stories of disastrous PhD experiences abound. Unsupportive or bullying supervisors, lack of institutional support, late or radical changes of topic, poor advice, unfair viva voce examinations – the list of potential woes is long. So common are such problems that, after representing an aggrieved PhD student at an appeals hearing, I founded a service to help university students appeal unfair decisions. A frequent fault of students is allowing problems to grow rather than nipping them at the bud; early intervention is key. When I ask eager students their reasons for enrolling in a PhD programme, I do not seek to dissuade them. My own PhD experience, and those of countless others, was positive. Meetings with my supervisors were regular and enjoyable. The viva (or oral examination), which lasted three hours, went smoothly. Although academic jobs were scarce, I was lucky to obtain a lectureship immediately after the PhD. My thesis may even have contributed, microscopically, to the field.

Too often, however, starry-eyed students rush into a PhD program with scant knowledge of what it entails or how useful it will be in the future. The drop-out rate would be reduced, and much misery avoided, if prospective students possessed a more balanced view of the challenges, as well as the joys, of the PhD.

Daniel K. Sokol PhD is honorary senior lecturer in medical ethics at Imperial College and director of Alpha Academic Appeals

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Is a PhD worth it now in 2023? [the data]

Deciding to pursue a PhD is a decision not to be taken lightly. Whether or not it is worth it for you depends on a number of circumstances such as your career goals, financial stability, stage in life, support networks, interest in the subject, ability to self-motivate and so much more.

Arguably, for most people, a PhD is not worth it. If you want to enter academia you have no other option than to do a PhD. However, there is often a much better return on investment from other educational pathways such as master’s, professional degrees and work experience.

For some people, the act of getting a PhD is more than for financial return or reward. They have a deep connection with the subject and want to research it. They are willing to put up with the sacrifices required to do a PhD because of their drive for a particular research field.

 These types of researchers are relatively rare.

This article will go through everything you need to know about whether or not PhD is worth it in 2023 and the most important things you should consider before launching into your PhD application process.

Should I Get A PhD?

Deciding whether or not to pursue a doctoral degree is a huge life decision. It can easily take up to 7 years to get a PhD in some countries.

This is a time when others are laying the foundations of their life and have a job starting to build up experience in their professional field.

Doing a PhD delays adult life for most young PhD students.

PhD regret is a real thing and in my youtube video, I share all of the things you need to be aware of when making the decision to do a PhD.

Study referenced in the video: click here.

A doctorate requires an immense amount of work and dedication. And therefore you need to be absolutely certain it is the right decision for you.

If you have a passion for:

• teaching at a university,
• public service,
• or your job has pay scales that can only be reached with a PhD

then getting a PhD may be a perfect choice.

On the other hand, if you are looking for career advancement opportunities or increased earning potential, then it might not be right for you.

There are other options such as a Masters, graduate diploma, or work experience that could potentially open more career advancement opportunities.

If you want to know more about PhDs check out my other articles:

• How long does it take to get a PhD? Complete a PhD quickly
• How long does it take to get a PhD part time? Complete a PhD on your own time. 
• How difficult is it to get a PhD? The real doctorate struggles.

Is getting your PhD worth it for your career?

A PhD is certainly worth it for many careers, especially those in academia, research and education.

A PhD provides you with the skills to:

• perform academic research independently,
• write for peer-reviewed publications,
• present findings to peers
• manage a multi-year project with multiple stakeholders
• teach undergraduate classes
• and much more

These skills are incredibly valuable and well compensated in some careers .

It is also important to consider that a PhD can also help you develop specialized skills and knowledge that are highly valued in certain industries, such as data science and analytics.

A PhD can open up doors to new opportunities that undergraduate and masters degrees do not.

However, a PhD doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to be compensated better in the workplace with a higher salary.

Let’s take a look at whether or not a PhD is worth it for your finances.

Is a PhD worth it for your finances? Whether a PhD will boost your bank balance. 

Whether or not a PhD is worth it for your finances highly depends on what you’re using your PhD for.

In my experience, a PhD does not guarantee higher wages upon graduation. In fact, it is often a better return on your investment to get a master’s degree and a couple of years of experience in a career to maximise your earning potential.

This is backed up with data.

You can see in the graph below that, on average, the maximum earnings someone can make is with a Masters or professional degree.

Across all of the different subject areas, it is often better to get a professional degree that is directly related to your career rather than pursue a PhD.

It takes many more years to get a PhD and quite bluntly – it does not make financial sense to do a PhD.

For many, the stipend associated with being a PhD student can help to pay for grad school and other expenses during their studies but there is a huge shortfall compared to the wage if you had started a job.

Even if you don’t go into academia, many companies recognize the value of having a PhD but may not offer a financial benefit.

Why is a PhD a bad idea for most people?

Arguably, a PhD is a bad idea for most people because it requires a tremendous amount of time, effort and money to complete, and there are very few job opportunities in academia available.

Also, as we have seen above, it is quite often not financially sensible to pursue a PhD.

Many students embark on a PhD program with the expectation that they will get an academic job upon completion of their studies, but this is not guaranteed. And, is in fact, the exception.

The competition for postdocs and other academic jobs is high and there is no guarantee of job security once you get one.

Having an undergraduate degree already makes you eligible for many jobs outside academia so getting a PhD may not be the best use of your time or resources.

For all these reasons, many people opt out of getting a PhD and pursue alternative career pathways.

What are the Risks of Getting a PhD?

Earning a PhD can be costly both in terms of time and money, and it may take several years to complete a successful doctoral program.

Also, there are many other risks and costs associated with getting a PhD that are not talked about.

These include:

• return on investment
• opportunity cost
• reduced earning potential in early years
• reduce networking with professionals
• and many more.

In my YouTube video below I talk about whether or not get a PhD is worth the effort:

Furthermore, there are risks associated with getting a PhD. One risk is that the long timeframe of earning a PhD may lead to burnout or fatigue for the PhD student.

Another risk is the fact that the value of a particular Ph.D may fluctuate over time, so it’s important to consider whether or not the Ph.D will be worth it in the long run.

There’s always a risk that humanity’s understanding of certain fields could change suddenly, rendering an individual’s doctoral degree obsolete or less valuable than anticipated.

For these reasons and more, individuals considering getting a PhD should evaluate their options carefully before making such an important commitment.

Have you thought realistically about your job prospects?

Some people can get very excited thought of doing a PhD. However, this excitement is incredibly short-lived once they realize that there are no job prospects upon graduation.

When considering job prospects, it is important to think realistically about the opportunities available for when you graduate.

For many PhD students, the dream is to secure a tenure-track position in academia. However, this can be difficult with so many PhDs vying for limited positions in universities and colleges.

Therefore, it is important to consider other options outside of academia as well. This isn’t something that many young PhD students want to hear – but it is where most of them will end up.

Many PhDs have found success in fields such as healthcare, finance, and technology.

Additionally, some PhDs have even gone into non-traditional fields such as teaching English abroad or starting their own business.

I chose the pack of starting my own business and have had a much more fulfilling life and satisfaction from that than I ever did during my years in academia.

No matter what path you choose after completing your PhD, it’s important to remember that there are many opportunities out there for PhD students – both inside and outside of academia.

They may not be obvious at the beginning – just keep searching into you find one that excites you.

PhD Degree Alternatives

There are many alternatives to getting a PhD that can still lead to successful career paths in different fields.

Sure, they may not be as prestigious. They may not even be particularly exciting – but for your career, they offer a much better return on your investment both in terms of time and money.

 We have seen, above, that it is actually much better to settle into a career with a Masters and then upskill with various professional degrees until you reach your desired earning potential.

It PhD is not a guaranteed ticket to a higher-paying job – building up credibility and experience in a particular role is.

There are many other degree alternatives including:

• graduate diplomas
• professional degrees
• vocational courses
• a much more

that can help boost your earning potential.

However, there truly is no alternative to a PhD if you want hard-core research experience and to open up the career pathway to lecturing and research.

For people that want to enter academia I often say that they should have a fallback plan so that when their ideas of becoming a researcher fall away they have a comfortable and realistic backup plan that they would enjoy.

You’ll be amazed how many people don’t know what they would do if they won’t in academia. In today’s highly competitive world that is not good enough.

It is important to explore all of one’s options before committing to pursuing a PhD degree so that they can make an informed decision about their future career path.

Wrapping up

This article has been through everything you need to know about whether or not a PhD is worth it now and all of the important questions you need to ask yourself.

You need to look at your career goals, the financial gains you expect to make with a PhD and what other opportunities open up upon graduation.

However, there are some extreme costs that come with letting a PhD including reduced earning potential for many years, stressing and anxiety, reduction in professional experience, and many others which will need to be addressed if you decide to go down the postgraduate PhD route.

Whatever you decide I hope that this article has provided you with enough formation to help make a decision one way or another.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

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Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time

The disposable academic.

The Economist

This article originally appeared in the 2010 Christmas double issue of The Economist.

On the evening before All Saints’ Day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. In those days a thesis was simply a position one wanted to argue. Luther, an Augustinian friar, asserted that Christians could not buy their way to heaven. Today a doctoral thesis is both an idea and an account of a period of original research. Writing one is the aim of the hundreds of thousands of students who embark on a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) every year.

In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction to the world of independent research — a kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by an apprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one vary enormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first have to spend two years working on a master’s degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend; others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes and examinations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozens of pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can be as young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings.

One thing many PhD students have in common is dissatisfaction. Some describe their work as “slave labour”. Seven-day weeks, ten-hour days, low pay and uncertain prospects are widespread. You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is better decorated than your home and you have a favourite flavour of instant noodle. “It isn’t graduate school itself that is discouraging,” says one student, who confesses to rather enjoying the hunt for free pizza. “What’s discouraging is realising the end point has been yanked out of reach.”

Whining PhD students are nothing new, but there seem to be genuine problems with the system that produces research doctorates (the practical “professional doctorates” in fields such as law, business and medicine have a more obvious value). There is an oversupply of PhDs. Although a doctorate is designed as training for a job in academia, the number of PhD positions is unrelated to the number of job openings. Meanwhile, business leaders complain about shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. The fiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

Rich pickings

For most of history even a first degree at a university was the privilege of a rich few, and many academic staff did not hold doctorates. But as higher education expanded after the second world war, so did the expectation that lecturers would hold advanced degrees. American universities geared up first: by 1970 America was producing just under a third of the world’s university students and half of its science and technology PhDs (at that time it had only 6% of the global population). Since then America’s annual output of PhDs has doubled, to 64,000.

Other countries are catching up. Between 1998 and 2006 the number of doctorates handed out in all OECD countries grew by 40%, compared with 22% for America. PhD production sped up most dramatically in Mexico, Portugal, Italy and Slovakia. Even Japan, where the number of young people is shrinking, churned out about 46% more PhDs. Part of that growth reflects the expansion of university education outside America. Richard Freeman, a labour economist at Harvard University, says that by 2006 America was enrolling just 12% of the world’s students.

But universities have discovered that PhD students are cheap, highly motivated and disposable labour. With more PhD students they can do more research, and in some countries more teaching, with less money. A graduate assistant at Yale might earn $20,000 a year for nine months of teaching. The average pay of full professors in America was $109,000 in 2009 — higher than the average for judges and magistrates.

Indeed, the production of PhDs has far outstripped demand for university lecturers. In a recent book, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, an academic and a journalist, report that America produced more than 100,000 doctoral degrees between 2005 and 2009. In the same period there were just 16,000 new professorships. Using PhD students to do much of the undergraduate teaching cuts the number of full-time jobs. Even in Canada, where the output of PhD graduates has grown relatively modestly, universities conferred 4,800 doctorate degrees in 2007 but hired just 2,616 new full-time professors. Only a few fast-developing countries, such as Brazil and China, now seem short of PhDs.

A short course in supply and demand

In research the story is similar. PhD students and contract staff known as “postdocs”, described by one student as “the ugly underbelly of academia”, do much of the research these days. There is a glut of postdocs too. Dr Freeman concluded from pre-2000 data that if American faculty jobs in the life sciences were increasing at 5% a year, just 20% of students would land one. In Canada 80% of postdocs earn $38,600 or less per year before tax — the average salary of a construction worker. The rise of the postdoc has created another obstacle on the way to an academic post. In some areas five years as a postdoc is now a prerequisite for landing a secure full-time job.

These armies of low-paid PhD researchers and postdocs boost universities’, and therefore countries’, research capacity. Yet that is not always a good thing. Brilliant, well-trained minds can go to waste when fashions change. The post-Sputnik era drove the rapid growth in PhD physicists that came to an abrupt halt as the Vietnam war drained the science budget. Brian Schwartz, a professor of physics at the City University of New York, says that in the 1970s as many as 5,000 physicists had to find jobs in other areas.

In America the rise of PhD teachers’ unions reflects the breakdown of an implicit contract between universities and PhD students: crummy pay now for a good academic job later. Student teachers in public universities such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison formed unions as early as the 1960s, but the pace of unionisation has increased recently. Unions are now spreading to private universities; though Yale and Cornell, where university administrators and some faculty argue that PhD students who teach are not workers but apprentices, have resisted union drives. In 2002 New York University was the first private university to recognise a PhD teachers’ union, but stopped negotiating with it three years later.

In some countries, such as Britain and America, poor pay and job prospects are reflected in the number of foreign-born PhD students. Dr Freeman estimates that in 1966 only 23% of science and engineering PhDs in America were awarded to students born outside the country. By 2006 that proportion had increased to 48%. Foreign students tend to tolerate poorer working conditions, and the supply of cheap, brilliant, foreign labour also keeps wages down.

A PhD may offer no financial benefit over a master’s degree. It can even reduce earnings

Proponents of the PhD argue that it is worthwhile even if it does not lead to permanent academic employment. Not every student embarks on a PhD wanting a university career and many move successfully into private-sector jobs in, for instance, industrial research. That is true; but drop-out rates suggest that many students become dispirited. In America only 57% of doctoral students will have a PhD ten years after their first date of enrolment. In the humanities, where most students pay for their own PhDs, the figure is 49%. Worse still, whereas in other subject areas students tend to jump ship in the early years, in the humanities they cling like limpets before eventually falling off. And these students started out as the academic cream of the nation. Research at one American university found that those who finish are no cleverer than those who do not. Poor supervision, bad job prospects or lack of money cause them to run out of steam.

Even graduates who find work outside universities may not fare all that well. PhD courses are so specialised that university careers offices struggle to assist graduates looking for jobs, and supervisors tend to have little interest in students who are leaving academia. One OECD study shows that five years after receiving their degrees, more than 60% of PhDs in Slovakia and more than 45% in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain were still on temporary contracts. Many were postdocs. About one-third of Austria’s PhD graduates take jobs unrelated to their degrees. In Germany 13% of all PhD graduates end up in lowly occupations. In the Netherlands the proportion is 21%.

A very slim premium

PhD graduates do at least earn more than those with a bachelor’s degree. A study in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management by Bernard Casey shows that British men with a bachelor’s degree earn 14% more than those who could have gone to university but chose not to. The earnings premium for a PhD is 26%. But the premium for a master’s degree, which can be accomplished in as little as one year, is almost as high, at 23%. In some subjects the premium for a PhD vanishes entirely. PhDs in maths and computing, social sciences and languages earn no more than those with master’s degrees. The premium for a PhD is actually smaller than for a master’s degree in engineering and technology, architecture and education. Only in medicine, other sciences, and business and financial studies is it high enough to be worthwhile. Over all subjects, a PhD commands only a 3% premium over a master’s degree.

Dr Schwartz, the New York physicist, says the skills learned in the course of a PhD can be readily acquired through much shorter courses. Thirty years ago, he says, Wall Street firms realised that some physicists could work out differential equations and recruited them to become “quants”, analysts and traders. Today several short courses offer the advanced maths useful for finance. “A PhD physicist with one course on differential equations is not competitive,” says Dr Schwartz.

Many students say they are pursuing their subject out of love, and that education is an end in itself. Some give little thought to where the qualification might lead. In one study of British PhD graduates, about a third admitted that they were doing their doctorate partly to go on being a student, or put off job hunting. Nearly half of engineering students admitted to this. Scientists can easily get stipends, and therefore drift into doing a PhD. But there are penalties, as well as benefits, to staying at university. Workers with “surplus schooling” — more education than a job requires — are likely to be less satisfied, less productive and more likely to say they are going to leave their jobs.

Academics tend to regard asking whether a PhD is worthwhile as analogous to wondering whether there is too much art or culture in the world. They believe that knowledge spills from universities into society, making it more productive and healthier. That may well be true; but doing a PhD may still be a bad choice for an individual.

The interests of academics and universities on the one hand and PhD students on the other are not well aligned. The more bright students stay at universities, the better it is for academics. Postgraduate students bring in grants and beef up their supervisors’ publication records. Academics pick bright undergraduate students and groom them as potential graduate students. It isn’t in their interests to turn the smart kids away, at least at the beginning. One female student spoke of being told of glowing opportunities at the outset, but after seven years of hard slog she was fobbed off with a joke about finding a rich husband.

Monica Harris, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, is a rare exception. She believes that too many PhDs are being produced, and has stopped admitting them. But such unilateral academic birth control is rare. One Ivy-League president, asked recently about PhD oversupply, said that if the top universities cut back others will step in to offer them instead.

Noble pursuits

Many of the drawbacks of doing a PhD are well known. Your correspondent was aware of them over a decade ago while she slogged through a largely pointless PhD in theoretical ecology. As Europeans try to harmonise higher education, some institutions are pushing the more structured learning that comes with an American PhD.

The organisations that pay for research have realised that many PhDs find it tough to transfer their skills into the job market. Writing lab reports, giving academic presentations and conducting six-month literature reviews can be surprisingly unhelpful in a world where technical knowledge has to be assimilated quickly and presented simply to a wide audience. Some universities are now offering their PhD students training in soft skills such as communication and teamwork that may be useful in the labour market. In Britain a four-year NewRoutePhD claims to develop just such skills in graduates.

The interests of universities and tenured academics are misaligned with those of PhD students

Measurements and incentives might be changed, too. Some university departments and academics regard numbers of PhD graduates as an indicator of success and compete to produce more. For the students, a measure of how quickly those students get a permanent job, and what they earn, would be more useful. Where penalties are levied on academics who allow PhDs to overrun, the number of students who complete rises abruptly, suggesting that students were previously allowed to fester.

Many of those who embark on a PhD are the smartest in their class and will have been the best at everything they have done. They will have amassed awards and prizes. As this year’s new crop of graduate students bounce into their research, few will be willing to accept that the system they are entering could be designed for the benefit of others, that even hard work and brilliance may well not be enough to succeed, and that they would be better off doing something else. They might use their research skills to look harder at the lot of the disposable academic. Someone should write a thesis about that.

Written by The Economist

Insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology, books and arts.

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