For most people, doing a PhD is a terrible idea.
Now I’m not saying that nobody should do a PhD- for some people it’s exactly the right path and I strongly believe in the value of academic research. But a lot of PhD students do it for the wrong reasons, without really understanding what they’re getting into, and they suffer as a result.
It’s badly paid (if you get paid at all), or extremely expensive if you have to fund yourself. There’s also the potential lost earnings if you choose to do a PhD instead of entering the workforce.
You might think that it’s worth it, because having a PhD could open up the path to your dream job in academia, but there are far more students graduating with PhDs than the number of academic jobs available. Many PhD graduates struggle to find a permanent position, instead wandering from one temporary postdoc to another (often having to move cities or countries in the process). The stress from the lack of job security is multiplied if you’re one half of an academic couple.
Maybe you don’t want to be an academic, but you think getting a PhD will increase your value to an employer later, but unless you’re seeking research jobs or you’ve built up a set of other skills that are of value to an employer, you could find yourself in the awkward position of being both over-qualified and under-experienced for many jobs once you graduate.
This is, of course, assuming that you do graduate. In an undergraduate degree, the path to success is clear; show up to lectures, learn what you’re told to learn and prepare well for your exams and you’ll do well. In a PhD, though, there isn’t such a clear path and in some PhD programmes there is no structure or guidance at all. Many students either give up or – worse – spend years – or sometimes decades – wrestling with an unfinished thesis.
If you’re lucky, you’ll find a great supervisor and other colleagues to guide you and support you. But if you’re unlucky, you’ll get a supervisor who ignores you and leaves you to figure everything out yourself. If you’re _very_ unlucky you can find yourself subject to outright exploitation, with supervisors keeping students around and actively holding them back because they want cheap labour.
Of course not all supervisors are exploitative, but few are given adequate training and most are under immense pressure, with teaching, administration, their own research and supervision all competing for their time and attention. Even when a supervisor has the best of intentions, it’s easy for PhD students to end up drifting alone, wondering what to do.
Perhaps none of this puts you off and you want to do a PhD for the sake of “completing” your education or to find some kind of validation. This can be a powerful motivation, but it’s not necessarily a good one. If you think that doing a PhD is going to satisfy a sense of incompleteness, it won’t. Thinking this way pins far too much of your self-esteem on external validation and far too much pressure on the work.
If you’re doing a PhD to prove that you’re good enough, then when you face a problem, which is inevitable, it’s not just a practical issue but a threat to your sense of self-worth.
This can lead to a cycle of anxiety that’s difficult to escape, as the need for validation – or the fear of making a mistake or looking stupid – stops you taking risks or asking questions, which makes it harder to solve the problems that arise, which only adds to the sense of personal failure and increases the stress, which makes it harder to think and so on…
This is one of the reasons why some people never finish, because it’s easier to be a struggling student than to submit something and risk criticism.
But even if you get through to the end, getting the PhD certificate won’t necessarily solve that initial need for validation. You’ll get the congratulations, you’ll get the short-term high that comes from achieving a difficult goal, but then what? The high doesn’t last for long, and if you started with a need for validation, it’ll still be there when you finish.
A PhD is a means, not an end. If you can figure out what you’re trying to gain through a PhD, then you might see other, easier ways to achieve the same thing. For example, if you want to work on something important to you, it might be better to actually work in that field and have a more direct effect than to spend years reading and writing about it(fn). If you just want to continue your education because you’re interested in the subject, you can do so – without the constraints of specialisation or the demands of research – by reading. And if you’re thinking about a PhD because you need the validation, it’s probably better to try meditation and therapy to deal with the underlying issues more directly.
Too many students pursue a PhD, drawn by the perceived prestige, and end up suffering for no good reason. Unlike a job, which you can quit if you don’t like, there’s a sense that quitting a PhD is a personal failure(fn), even if the PhD isn’t giving you what you want in return. This creates a psychological trap where students are miserable but unable to finish but unable to walk away.
And yet…
Academia can give you the opportunity and freedom to work on fascinating projects, to push at the boundaries of knowledge, to challenge yourself and grow, and to meet, collaborate with and form friendships with incredible people who love what they do.
Some people say that you need passion for the work, but I think this is a bit of an ambiguous phrase. If you’re going to make such a major life decision it’s worth being a bit more specific.
If you’re thinking of doing a PhD, I’d ask you two questions:
Personally, I did a PhD for all the wrong reasons. It was a combination of ego (because some of my friends were doing PhDs and I wanted to be equal to them) not wanting a 9 to 5 job and not knowing what else to do. I suffered as a result. But I was able to reframe it, change my mindset and do pretty well in the end. So even if you start for the wrong reasons it can be worth continuing- and if you want to know what changes I made to save my PhD, check out the video linked up here and in the description below.
So if you’re thinking about applying, ask yourself, honestly, why you want to do it?
It can be immensely rewarding, but you have to know what you’re getting into, what you want out of it and whether a particular PhD programme or supervisor is right for you (as not all are equal). And if you do find the right programme for you, you need to know how to navigate the difficulties and get the most out of it.
The basic principles every PhD student needs to know
Who you work with in your PhD s just as important as what you do
I offer one to one coaching in academic writing and general PhD survival skills. Click below to learn more and book your introductory session.
PhD: an uncommon guide to research, writing & PhD life is your essential guide to the basic principles every PhD student needs to know.
Applicable to virtually any field of study, it covers everything from finding a research topic, getting to grips with the literature, planning and executing research and coping with the inevitable problems that arise, through to writing, submitting and successfully defending your thesis.
All the text on this site (and every word of every video script) is written by me, personally, because I enjoy writing. I enjoy the challenges of thinking deeply and finding the right words to express my ideas. I do not advocate for the use of AI in academic research and writing, except for very limited use cases.
See also:
Sweta Sharma says:
Hi James,
When I was in a confusing state, I came across your blog. I’m a Nutritionist and an Entrepreneur. I don’t want to get into Academia. I’m pursuing PhD just for getting a Dr. title. I’m not happy the way I’m progressing. Sitting at the laptop all day long makes me tensed. Please give your suggestions whether it’s worth doing a PhD if I don’t want an Academic career and will continue with my business after PhD. I’m in the initial stages of my PhD so I can leave without any regrets.
W4d says:
Hi, am 27 years old and have 2 years of industrial experience. I am not married and without a kid. I just got admitted into IISc’s PhD program, at first I was excited but now I don’t know if I am ready to commit all that time.
I wanna make a wise decision.
Tumushimire Lambert says:
Reading this article was vey helpful. I was/I am that kind of person who want to apply for PhD strongly or sponsorship for PhD but I really don’t know why I need that degree. One of the reasons is to increase the chance of getting a job. Is this reason wrong as long as I don’t have a good job? I am not strongly competent. If I get a PhD offer, what do think about finishing it?
James Hayton, PhD says:
If you are thinking of doing a Phd to improve your job prospects, research what jobs are available right now for those who have the kind of PhD you are interested in