6. "Should I Do a PhD?"

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A common question I have been asked since completing my PhD is “Should I do a PhD?” PhDs are the highest degree you can achieve as an academic. You need a PhD to apply for grants. But the number of researchers with PhDs has increased exponentially in the past decade or so. In this week's blog I share my thoughts on whether you actually need, or should do, a PhD.

My Experience:

I can’t even remember where I was when I experienced my epiphany:

“Research is the career for me!”

I do remember I had recently finished my Masters in Criminology and was working at the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) when the epiphany hit me. I am quite an impulsive person and quickly found myself sitting across from my manager, excitedly telling him about my epiphany and my decision to do a PhD in crime research.

My manager said: ‘if you want a career in research, you need to do a PhD. But doing a PhD in crime research will reduce your job prospects as there aren’t many jobs in this field in Australia. Do your PhD in another field, like psychology, and make sure it has a crime element. Then, if you apply for a job in crime research, you have a translatable skill set.’ His advice was my first glimpse I had into the strategy behind a long research career.

This was sage advice, and I followed it.

I approached my manager at Sydney University and asked if she would supervise me in a PhD. After the initial shock of my request. She asked me a number of questions about my motivations for doing a PhD and what I wanted to get out of the PhD. I have outlined these questions and others in ‘The PhD Questions’ section below.

Ultimately she decided to be my PhD supervisor (I will explore this conversation in more detail in a future blog post). Her area of expertise was prescription drug data and utilisation. So together we decided on my PhD topic of prescription drug misuse. I felt misuse would be the ‘criminal’ element I needed to have a shot at crime research jobs after I finished the PhD.

The Lesson:

One of my motivations for creating my blog is to give younger researchers the information they need to make an informed decision as to whether they want a research career. Reflecting on my career, I started in research when I was 22 years old, and I stayed on this path without questioning whether it was the right one for me.

Today, one of my passions is personal growth. To better understand myself I now analyse my current beliefs and past decisions to decide what the best choice is for me based on who I am today. I am still working on this skill. Undertaking my PhD is one decision I have reflected on, and am still processing 4 years later.

As you can probably guess, I have mixed feelings about my PhD.

My PhD made me the researcher I am today, and I am so proud of who I have become. I am a stronger person. I have let go of a lot of doubt about my self-worth, my intelligence, my resilience and I now know I am an expert. My PhD gave me a confidence in my research ability that still astounds me.

But PhDs are hard. My PhD nearly broke me. Despite my epiphany and certainty about my future career, about halfway through my PhD I knew research was not the career for me. I told my supervisors: “Research sux”. And questioned, “Why would anyone ever want a career in research?” Although I knew research was not for me, I am no quitter so I kept on going. I completed my PhD and by the end of it I loved research, especially data and could not think of a better career for me.

The 7 Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before Considering a PhD:

So I am writing this post telling you that every researcher needs to decide if a PhD is for them or not. There is no glory or shame in your decision, whatever you decide. In this post, I will ask you the questions all researchers should ask themselves before committing to a PhD. As ultimately, you are the one who needs to do the work for the PhD every day, and only you can decide if that is what you want.

1. Why do you want to do a PhD?

This is the biggest question you need to ask yourself, and take the time to really understand your motivations for doing a PhD. When answering this question, also consider the personal and career implications of completing a PhD. Knowing all the related factors will help guide your decision.

Only you can decide what the personal implications of a PhD are for you.

For career implications, my advice is to only enrol in a PhD if it is a requirement for your chosen job or career path. A PhD takes up to 4 years to complete, if you have a specific job in mind, you can work in that field and up-skill substantially in 4 years.

My answer: I chose to do a PhD because I wanted a career in research; nowadays, if you don’t have a PhD you will likely have a short research career. I also believed I would end up teaching at a university, which also requires a PhD.

Task: Physically write down the reasons why you want to do a PhD. Reflecting on these reasons for doing a PhD will help you during any dark PhD days you experience.

2. What skills do you want out of your PhD?

If you have a specific job in mind for after your PhD, before you enrol in a PhD speak to people who have that job to see if a PhD is required. If so, ask where they did their PhD and who was their supervisor. Also ask them about the specific skills they need to do their job. If you choose to do a PhD, write your PhD plan based on acquiring these skills.

My answer: The skill I wanted out of my PhD was to be a better researcher, which I could not define before I started my PhD. My PhD supervisor reviewed my CV and told me the skills I needed to develop to be a successful researcher, and we planned my PhD papers around me learning those skills.

3. What content area do you want to focus on for your PhD?

Do you know what area and question you want to do your PhD on? Or will you allow the right supervisor to guide you on this? If you know what content area you will focus on, you should speak to academics and other people who work in that field to see who they would recommend to be your supervisor.

My answer: I was not committed to a specific content area for my PhD. I have a curious mind, so I believed I would find any topic interesting enough to study for 4 years. For me, the most important factor was finding a supervisor I could work effectively with who would train me to be a better researcher.

4. Who will be your PhD supervisor?

When choosing a PhD supervisor you should consider their: area of expertise, research skill, ability to work together and their reputation.

My answer: I chose my supervisor based on her research skills and our ability to work together. Having worked for her for about a year, I knew she would train me to be a better researcher. Ultimately she taught me how to think critically. I was ambivalent about her area of expertise, but she had a stellar reputation in that field and only put her name on research she knew was scientifically robust.

5. Do you think you can do a PhD?

In your heart of hearts, do you think you will complete your doctorate?

My answer: Prior to starting my PhD I had complete faith that I would be able to finish it. I had been working in research full time for 8 years, and didn’t think it would be that different. (This certainty quickly changed once I started my PhD, but that is a story for another week).

6. Will you do a PhD via publication or thesis?

Depending on your chosen research field, you may be able to choose whether to complete your PhD via publication (publish your papers as you write them during the PhD) or thesis (each experiment/study is a chapter, then you choose whether to write up each chapter as a published paper after you submit your PhD).

My answer: I only wanted to complete my PhD via publication. My supervisor would only supervise my PhD if I completed it via publication. However, it is more time consuming to complete a PhD via publication as your papers need to be accepted by journals before submitting your thesis. (This factor added about 3 months to my submission date as I waited for one final paper to be accepted).

Completing a PhD via publication demonstrates the skill of writing research studies up to a publishable standard. It also improved my track record by adding multiple publications to my CV as a first author. (More about authorship in upcoming posts). And remember, outputs/publications are the number one criteria by which academics are judged!

Also, to be awarded a PhD, each PhD reviewer must agree that you made an ‘original and significant contribution to the field of knowledge’. Having each chapter of your thesis published in a peer-reviewed journal objectively demonstrates this criteria. As a reviewer, they will likely read these already published chapters will a less critical eye, as they have already been peer-reviewed, and would be unlikely to suggest additional corrections to this chapter.

7. Is a PhD financially viable?

This is a practical question, but you need to consider your ability to support yourself during the PhD. If you have been working full-time and then enrol in a PhD, it is likely the PhD will put a strain on your financial resources. If you are planning to do a PhD, do the figures. Create a budget to understand how much money you require to cover your rent, groceries, university related fees, and living expenses. Discuss this with your parents, family or partner, any person who will be affected by the decision to do a PhD.

My answer: I started my PhD in my late 20s, which was beneficial as I didn’t have a mortgage or any other significant financial commitments. My partner and I did the figures, discussed the impact of my reduced income on our lifestyle, and decided we could afford it. I was also lucky enough to sustain employment throughout my PhD, working 1-2 days per week, to supplement my PhD scholarship.

Where were you when you had your research career epiphany? When you were considering doing a PhD did you go for it or decide against it? I would love to hear your stories. Please comment below or email me at authenticresearchexperiences@gmail.com.

BB

Photo by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

Related posts:

"When Should I Do My PhD?"

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