Graduate School

Political Palace is just not the right place for this topic.

That bein said, what are you lookin at grad school for? I'm attending a graduate program (haven't decided which one yet) for physics in the fall.

Some programs (particularly the sciences) have much more job opportunities with a PhD even if you're not going into academia.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

From just a quick glance around, if you're pursuing a doctorate in humanties, a tenure track position should not be your only option. Here's a New York times article which says more or less the same thing as the previous article (even cites it).

Another article, also penned by Thomas H. Benton, stresses the importance of planning on not being able to get a job within academia and to consider other options.

In my eyes, there's nothing wrong with trying to achieve an tenure track career. However, you can't fixate on that goal to the point where you cannot put your PhD to good use elsewhere.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Tamburlaine

What do you mean, cannot? A lot of graduate programs simply prepare you to be a professor.

Well, I was suggesting that you have a contingency plan in which you haven't wasted the last 10 years of your life. Basically, I think that it's quite difficult to predict how competitive someone is in the academia job market unless you come from a top tier institution. In physics, over half of the tenured professors have come from a total of eight universities.

Given that it's hard to be confident that you'll get a job in academia, I'd think it prudent to ensure that those years spent achieving a PhD will be put to use, even if it turns out not be in an academic setting.

Also, does it really often take ten years to get a doctorate in humanities? I'm hoping to be done with mine in five at most.

How ya doing, buddy?

No, more than that is on the line. 7-10 years of a career would likely get you what you're putting away for graduate school. So in fact, you're losing out on quite possibly the million dollars that you would have made in addition to a decade of job experience. That is a huge price to pay for a PhD that, it seems at least, isn't going to give you that much right away.

In fact, (at least in the sciences, don't know about Lit) even after you get your PhD, the typical tenure track trajectory these days is to accept a Post-Doc position, which may last you 5+ more years. In these positions you aren't paid more than you would expect right out of college, in the hope that you can be one of the privileged few who eventually ascend to a tenured position.

I don't think that's a commitment I personally could make. The job you end up doing is but one aspect of your life and, sure, you might idolize being a professor. However, not living like a pauper until your mid-30's may very well bring you a lot more enjoyment.

How ya doing, buddy?