There has been a lot of discussion of the value of a humanities PhD. Thomas Benton’s An Academic In America columns in the Chronicle of Higher Education have made the case against particularly strongly.
In her reply to Benton’s most recent installment, Julie from Escaping the Ivory Tower points out that even when made aware of the dire post-PhD situation, many students are not dissuaded. As a sociologist, I am also quite partial to her analysis of the structural and systemic issues at the root of the problem.
So, in the full knowledge that you might ignore any and all of this information, I present you with some things to think about as you consider going on to a PhD.
Do you want to study for a PhD?
I know this seems like an odd question to ask, but the first step is to actively make a decision about whether you even want to do a PhD. Not a “well, it seems like a good way to go and I have no idea what else I’d do” decision. But a real decision. One that you can look back on in 3 years time and say “Oh yeah, that’s why I started this thing.”
In many cases, the idea has been suggested to you by a professor. Or you are in an environment where that seems to be the expectation. Looking back on my own situation, the process of going on to a PhD was very similar to the process of going to university in the first place. It was the expected next step in the environment that I was in at the time.
I’ve been where you are. I know that the “real world” feels really scary.
You are really good at school. You study a subject you are passionate about, even if other people think it is obscure. There are more things you want to learn about that subject. You might even have an important contribution to make to debates.
Before you rush headlong into that next academic step, let’s step back and examine the terrain from a different perspective for a bit.
Interpret your professor’s encouragement as a compliment.
They are not making that recommendation based on an analysis of all the options open to you.
They are just saying, from the position of someone in the field, that you would make a good candidate. That’s all.
They think you are a good student with good ideas, someone who would make a good academic.
Have you even considered other options?
It is worth at least doing some research on other options. Just for information.
You are good at research. Consider it a little research project of your own.
You aren’t looking for a job. You are mapping out some possibilities.
Moving from this view
Photo from wildxplorer
to this one.
artwork by Christine Martell
Some places to start this research
The careers centre at your university will have staff who specialize in making decisions about career directions. Depending on your institution there may be someone who specializes in helping graduate students and/or someone who specializes in helping humanities students (or whatever it is you do). Their approach might not feel quite right but remember you are looking for information on possibilities.
The alumni association may be able to connect you with people who have studied the same subject or graduated with a similar degree. You can then contact some of those people and talk to them about what they’ve done since they graduated. This will give you a better sense of what people actually do with a degree in whatever-it-is-you-study.
Your department administrator is also a potential source of this kind of connection. She may still be in touch with former students and may suggest people you could talk to.
If you were to pursue an academic career, where might you end up working? Can you have an information interview with a junior faculty member in a couple of those places to find out more about what it’s like to work there, what their experience of the academic job market was like, etc. It is often assumed that because we are in academic institutions we know what it is like to work there. But the transition from graduate student to academic is a significant one. Try to learn something about that now.
Brainstorm some areas where people might use degrees like yours and then use your connections (family, friends, the alumni office, etc) to find out more about what people who do those jobs really do and what backgrounds they have. You are more interested in learning about the individual experiences even if they deviate from the “standard path”.
You might look at a book like What Color Is Your Parachute?
*That’s an affiliate link. But your public library will have copies. It doesn’t really matter which edition.
Why would you do a PhD?
In addition to getting a better sense of what your other options are, it is also worth really thinking about your own motivations for doing a PhD.
I know it is flattering to have someone you respect suggest it, but have you really thought about the reasons you would do this?
Get out a piece of paper or a notebook and list some now. You might find these questions helpful
- What do you think a PhD will involve?
- What do you want to learn?
- Do you have a research project in mind?
- What do you think you might do afterward?
You are making a map
At the end of the day, you can only focus on the bit of the road in front of you. You have a sense of where it might lead you, but you may never get there. And that is okay.
Nevertheless, it is useful sometimes to try to zoom out and look at where this road is on the map.
I believe that even if you don’t get an academic job afterwards, doing a PhD might be a good idea. I’m not trying to dissuade you from going forward. This might be a good road for you.
But I also think it is worth actually stopping the car and looking at the map before you decide to continue on this road. And to have a sense that this road could fork off in several directions. Knowing you have options makes it more likely that you will find the experience of studying for a PhD more satisfying, even enjoyable.
You are at a crossroads. You’ve finished (or almost finished) your MA. You could go down the PhD road but you might want to actually look at the other possible roads, too.
The bits of those roads that are immediately in front of you might be a bit potholed and unattractive, but those potholes might be worth driving over if they are going to interesting places. And who knows, there might be smooth new pavement not that far along.
Right on, Jo. I know of so many students who went on to an MA and then a PhD because they didn’t know what else to do, or because they thought that being a professor was a cushy job. My feeling is that doing a PhD should be a compulsion, not a lark, because only a burning compulsion to do it will get you through all those years of poverty, self-doubt, and all the other downsides of the PhD process. Also I think many faculty are too afraid of hurting students’ feelings to tell them they don’t think they should do a PhD, so interpret professors’ encouragement with caution. I’d suggest asking your professors to be *brutally honest* with you about what it’s like to be a professor now, what it’s like to do a PhD, the drop-out rates in most PhD programs (it was 70% in mine, and some of the smartest people dropped out), and most of all, whether you have what it takes to get through the PhD. That won’t guarantee they won’t softsoap their responses, but it might encourage them to be honest with you.