PhD

[iKobrakai]

Good luck with your research and contribution, bros.

Me, I cannot even imagine staying in academia more than I already put in. During my masters I could never relax and distance myself from studying/thesis. There was always more pages to rewrite, more articles to read, more angles to consider. My mind was racing all the time. Now, I can just leave work at work.

But I'm glad there people like you around.

[Made In China]

congrats on your accomplishments and decision.

like anything that requires as much time, effort, and commitment, only start on this path if you believe in the inherent value of the work--anyone who has skated for any significant amount of time, should be able to relate. getting paid in a solid career down the line is a fine goal, but if you don't believe in the value of the endeavor it will be hard to see it through.

i’m in the Humanities (because i want to research, write, publish, and teach), and i started with a pretty generous 4-year GTA package where I taught a 2-1 class-load, and which paid for everything including health benefits. i earned my MA at the University of Chicago, and i used to always hear people say there that you "should never pay for a PhD," which oddly seems like solid advice--if you have the luxury of sending out more than one round of applications, do so, because many schools/departments will have competitive packages for the PhD students they accept.

all of this being said, there are obstacles that can come out of nowhere and can unfortunately be beyond your control. case in point--i’m ABD and working on the second chapter of my dissertation, and in the past couple of weeks i have found out that one member of my committee is resigning from the department (still waiting to find out if the department is going to allow him to stay on my committee, which he said he’s willing to do) and the chair of my committee is currently dealing with a serious professional "crisis" which I can not go into any kind of detail about, but it is definitely adding to how precarious things feel at this late point in my work. in general, as my work has progressed, i've realized that my committee seem to have a lot of issues with each other, which especially came to light while i was trying to get my prospectus approved (it took two tries).

in this regard, i can tell you this--especially in the humanities and the social sciences, it’s not uncommon for petty beefs between faculty to play out through their interactions with the graduate students they work with, so put a lot of thought and effort (ask around and do your own research) into deciding on who you’re going to work with for this 7- to 10-years of your life…I’m learning the hard way right now.

best of luck with everything...

If you don't mind saying, what is your subject and your research on? I'm just very curious about all of this and would love to learn more!

I met with my TA earlier today and talked to her about her experiences with grad school and her research project, which is on skateboarding as a counter culture in her home country. I love that skateboarding can be incorporated into academia and be a serious topic of research.

[Deputy Wendell]

Expand Quote

congrats on your accomplishments and decision.

like anything that requires as much time, effort, and commitment, only start on this path if you believe in the inherent value of the work--anyone who has skated for any significant amount of time, should be able to relate. getting paid in a solid career down the line is a fine goal, but if you don't believe in the value of the endeavor it will be hard to see it through.

i’m in the Humanities (because i want to research, write, publish, and teach), and i started with a pretty generous 4-year GTA package where I taught a 2-1 class-load, and which paid for everything including health benefits. i earned my MA at the University of Chicago, and i used to always hear people say there that you "should never pay for a PhD," which oddly seems like solid advice--if you have the luxury of sending out more than one round of applications, do so, because many schools/departments will have competitive packages for the PhD students they accept.

all of this being said, there are obstacles that can come out of nowhere and can unfortunately be beyond your control. case in point--i’m ABD and working on the second chapter of my dissertation, and in the past couple of weeks i have found out that one member of my committee is resigning from the department (still waiting to find out if the department is going to allow him to stay on my committee, which he said he’s willing to do) and the chair of my committee is currently dealing with a serious professional "crisis" which I can not go into any kind of detail about, but it is definitely adding to how precarious things feel at this late point in my work. in general, as my work has progressed, i've realized that my committee seem to have a lot of issues with each other, which especially came to light while i was trying to get my prospectus approved (it took two tries).

in this regard, i can tell you this--especially in the humanities and the social sciences, it’s not uncommon for petty beefs between faculty to play out through their interactions with the graduate students they work with, so put a lot of thought and effort (ask around and do your own research) into deciding on who you’re going to work with for this 7- to 10-years of your life…I’m learning the hard way right now.

best of luck with everything...

[close]

If you don't mind saying, what is your subject and your research on? I'm just very curious about all of this and would love to learn more!

I met with my TA earlier today and talked to her about her experiences with grad school and her research project, which is on skateboarding as a counter culture in her home country. I love that skateboarding can be incorporated into academia and be a serious topic of research.

my area is "American Cultural Studies," which in my case is how i am trying to disciplinarily balance the cultural texts i study, with the historical, political, social, and geographical interests/concerns i have. simply put, i'm an urban and suburban historian, i just approach these spaces and histories through a cultural lens (literature, music, and film primarily).

to at least try to be concise, my dissertation is basically a cultural history of the single family house and lot--through various cultural texts, i'm looking at the past century of class and race issues in and around Detroit, by focusing on the ways the single-family house and the lot on which it stands (and access or lack of access to it) continues to be the repeating site at which these conflicts play out. i guess the main intervention i will be making regarding Detroit and its surrounding inner ring suburbs, is drawing a historical lineage between the systemic racism (at both de jure and de facto levels) that kept black families out of white neighborhoods in Detroit in the mid- to late 20th century, and the working-class racial politics of whites in Macomb County and why they politically supported George C--"segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" Wallace in the 1970s, were "Reagan Democrats" in the 1980s, and why they are a bastion of Trump fervor now. in other words, by looking at the single-family house and lot as a political economy of its own, i'm trying to illustrate a connection between--for instance--the white mobs that would show up in front of a house where a single black family dared move into an all-white neighborhood in the 1950s, to why a predominantly working-class suburb like Macomb County supports someone like Trump.

i hope that all makes sense...and yeah, skateboarding is fertile ground for study, no doubt, especially the way it challenges and redefines the "public" in public space in this age where public and private space is being blurred in cities. i never chose to focus on skating, because its too near and dear to my heart and it's how i clear my head.

what are you studying/your interests?

[iKobrakai]

Your topic sounds a tiny bit cooler than "IAS38, intangible assets".

[Mark Renton]

Update: application sent.

I also surprisingly got an interview for a job in the industry (graduate, maritime) with a good firm just to confuse things more. I think I’ll use it as a plan B.

When I started this topic I didn’t think I’d get so much people connected sharing their stories. I think it’s sick. Weird there wasn’t a thread before but hell yeah well done guys.

Hi, I had the impression you were from Barcelona.

I wish man haha I’d probably be tanned all year round and good at skating if I was from there.

[Turtle Boy]

I finished my PhD at the end of 2017. I'm an industrial Engineer and the topic was about developping participative design processes for social housing projects. I did my Post-doc before ending my PhD because I had a good opportunity at one of the biggest french universities with the biggest Construction company in France and possibly Europe. I needed 4.5 years to be able to complete my PhD during which a lot of things happened in my personal life (Death of my father, breaking up with a gf, falling in love with my current gf, moving between Biarritz, Bordeaux and Paris).
Completing the PhD was one of the most satisfying thing I had to live in my life due to the constant pressure I had on myself since day one.

Once I got to travel a bit for vacations and rest a bit from all that work I started to look for a job. Living in the South of France and not wanting to go back to Paris where I was born and raised (And where I feel I did everything I needed to do), it was really hard to find a job that would benefit from my learnings in my PhD. After searching for 6 months I ended finding a job as a project manager for the Rail Industry in the North of Spain. Appart from being paid poorly, the hardest thing was employees and bosses not valuing a PhD. In some countries, Engineers and industry think engineers with PhD are just Engineers who didn't want to work and wanted to stay at school studying and not really working, doing close to nothing.
I remember being asked if I would be able to endure the pressure of a real work in the real industry...which is a funcking joke comparing to what I lived during my PhD.
I've been working there for close to 7 months there, did some interviews for other jobs hoping to find something more fitting with my knowledge and objectives.

Yesterday at work, I was called by the Bordeaux Agglomeration telling me I was chosen to be in charge of the program for the energetic refurbishment program of the housing of the agglomeration. I'm so fucking hyped, it's one of the best day ever, and it feels like all the hard work finally paid.



TLDR
Doing a PhD is hard, a lot of things will happen in your life during that time, and once you end it, there's no warranty it will help you find a better job.
Nonetheless I learned so much things about different topics and myself that I think it worth it at a personnal level at least, and with that new job coming I hope it will worth it on a profesionnal level too.

If you do it, do it because you want to learn about that specific topic and about yourself, don't do it due to to profesionnal goals, unless you're totally sure a cool job is guaranteed at the end of the PhD.

[Eds_gallerist]

Congrats on the decision! Don't know much about the conditions of doing a PhD in engineering but I am quite sure it will pay off in the future if you want to go back to industry work.
2 things to consider from my side: if you want to stay in academia, prepare yourself for harsh competition for few positions available and temporary contracts. People also expect you to be flexible geographically. Plus, if you go back to the Industry you will most likely have to apply for high level jobs that require 60h of work per week. No more mid-level jobs.

I obtained my PhD in 2013 in Environmental Microbiology and I am still in academia. I am trying to get a permanent position soon which is not easy to come by. It is cool to work on heart-and-soul projects but at the same time it requires a lot of dedication to keep up with all the recent developments and research trends. Hierarchy is pretty much dependent on your institution. Make sure to ask peers about their experience with your direct supervisor. It is VERY important that you get along well. I wouldn't consider myself the most dedicated researcher out there but so far it has been a good ride and it allows me to juggle work and family with 2 young kids and skating twice a week.

[notmikerusczyk]

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

@Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein is currently working on theirs

I was so close to doing one at UCLA but i flaked for the same reason. Didn't see myself going to stoner a lot, just toiling in the lab. Some advice; I
if you end up going to industry, make sure it's for a legitimate company that has subject matter experts employed or a safe f500 imo.

[Mark Renton]

Ah shit I feel such a moron cos then I got accepted and pulled out back then.

Went on working in the industry. It is what it is.

Still feel I did the right thing cos I didn’t feel any vocation for it and you really need it.

[Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein]

@notmikerusczyk yeah I've been on it for 4 years, I'm in materials science
It all depends if you have financing, lots of experimental work, need to participate in academic stuff, need a lot of sleep or not...
For sure you're gonna experience a bit of fomo if your friends are living the skatelife, but that's true with any 9to5.
I'm sure it varies with every lab, team, research director, but I've been able to skate 2-3 times a week and enjoy my week-end.

Shoot me a dm if you want to discuss it some more

[TwisT]

I considered getting my PHD 2 years ago, but I haven't seen many decent PHD opportunities in my field outside of higher education. I just interviewed a bunch of people with multiple masters or a PHD for an associate spot on my team that only pays 50k. Some of these people have years of experience. It doesn't ad up to me.

So i guess the financial incentive for getting a PHD is not there for me yet. I would be interested to know what subject matter/salary ranges you all are looking at.

[notmikerusczyk]

@notmikerusczyk yeah I've been on it for 4 years, I'm in materials science
It all depends if you have financing, lots of experimental work, need to participate in academic stuff, need a lot of sleep or not...
For sure you're gonna experience a bit of fomo if your friends are living the skatelife, but that's true with any 9to5.
I'm sure it varies with every lab, team, research director, but I've been able to skate 2-3 times a week and enjoy my week-end.

Shoot me a dm if you want to discuss it some more

@Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein respect, that shit is tough. i know it's an engineering degree, but i'd imagine there's some chemistry overlap? what do you wanna do with it? industry or academia?
if i were to get a phd it would likely be in organic chemistry as that's the lab i'm working in throughout undergrad. graduation is still a little over a year away tho so my thoughts could very well change by then. i want to work in academia but i guess i'm just scared of the lack of job security pre-tenure...as well as the competitiveness. it would suck to put in all the work for a phd and then either struggle to find a job, or have to take a job at some random university in the middle of the US
thanks for the replies dudes!

[Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein]

Expand Quote

@notmikerusczyk yeah I've been on it for 4 years, I'm in materials science
It all depends if you have financing, lots of experimental work, need to participate in academic stuff, need a lot of sleep or not...
For sure you're gonna experience a bit of fomo if your friends are living the skatelife, but that's true with any 9to5.
I'm sure it varies with every lab, team, research director, but I've been able to skate 2-3 times a week and enjoy my week-end.
Shoot me a dm if you want to discuss it some more

[close]

@Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein respect, that shit is tough. i know it's an engineering degree, but i'd imagine there's some chemistry overlap? what do you wanna do with it? industry or academia?
if i were to get a phd it would likely be in organic chemistry as that's the lab i'm working in throughout undergrad. graduation is still a little over a year away tho so my thoughts could very well change by then. i want to work in academia but i guess i'm just scared of the lack of job security pre-tenure...as well as the competitiveness. it would suck to put in all the work for a phd and then either struggle to find a job, or have to take a job at some random university in the middle of the US
thanks for the replies dudes!

I study the mechanical properties of 3D printed metals, so a mix between mechanical engineering and metallurgy.
I personnaly enjoy research and lab work very much, I love cutting stuff and looking at it under the microscope.
At the moment I'm aiming for industry positions but I haven't started sending resumes yet. For sure the lack of jobs in such specialized fields is stressful. I was offered the PhD position and took it as an opportunity to change continent and pursue what I like in my field, despite not knowing exacly what's next.

[TheLurper]

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

As long as your only bills are related to keeping yourself alive (no mortgage, no family, etc.), it is an opportunity to extend the whole skate life way of being.

Yeah, you can't chill in the shop quite as long as all the people who aren't going to school, but you can chill more than the people working 8-5 or the people with families.

I think the absolute worst part of doing a fancy degree (or life after obtaining the fancy degree) is the time suck of writing shit. It takes a long time to get into the right head space and there is intense guilt of going out to do fun shit if you haven't made progress on your writing.

[Deputy Wendell]

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bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

As long as your only bills are related to keeping yourself alive (no mortgage, no family, etc.), it is an opportunity to extend the whole skate life way of being.

Yeah, you can't chill in the shop quite as long as all the people who aren't going to school, but you can chill more than the people working 8-5 or the people with families.

I think the absolute worst part of doing a fancy degree (or life after obtaining the fancy degree) is the time suck of writing shit. It takes a long time to get into the right head space and there is intense guilt of going out to do fun shit if you haven't made progress on your writing.

very well put here @TheLurper , and this happens to speak pretty directly to my own experiences as of late.

my prospectus was approved a couple of years ago, and i'm two chapters in--the nagging burden that any time i have even a moment of "free time," i'm blowing it because i am not writing, has really become an issue, and i just realized how over it i am lately. i can't believe how "normal" this stress has become for me at this point. Lurper is spot on, it's fucking hard to just sit down and pick up where you left off, when you haven't even been able to look at your current writing/chapter in a week, let alone longer. in addition to some of the obstacles i mention above, since we lost my mom to COVID back in October 2020, i've been responsible for my developmentally disabled sister who had live with my mom her whole life--this, combined with the fact that i've been teaching at least two classes a semester all along (in a department and university that i love actually), has really made it difficult to find time to write, which also means getting my head in the right place, reviewing material i haven't looked at in a while, and picking up where i left off--at times--weeks ago.

again, as i mention above, for me, this goes back to the fact that my first prospectus did not get approved by two of the instructors on my committee, and it's clear to me now, that was more a "fuck you" to the chair of my committee, than it was issues with the project i was mapping. the PhD process for me has been significantly lengthened because i see now that the two younger professors on my committee, clearly hate the chair of my committee. do your research ahead of time, and try to make sure your committee at least appear to be able to work together...

[L33Tg33k]

Why come I'm smartest when I barely even gradumated high school?

[Eds_gallerist]

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

Fun fact, researchers with serious hobby (i.e. skating here) are more likely to get a nobel prize than others. Doing a PhD and continue skating works well, much better than working and skating imo.  Academia is more flexible with regard to working hours, at least that is my experience.
 (European perspective). It totally depends on your lab/Institution though.

[pugmaster]

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

It is manageable but there are times where you really have to work hard because of looming deadlines.

[somethingmustbreaknow]

It is manageable but there are times where you really have to work hard because of looming deadlines.

the pugmaster gets it.

[pugmaster]

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It is manageable but there are times where you really have to work hard because of looming deadlines.

[close]

the pugmaster gets it.

I forgot to mention that the looming deadlines are almost constant.  It really depends on what type of institution you are at (e.g., R1 vs. R2 vs. R3, etc.). If a person is in the process of completing their degree, they are likely at an R1.

The hardest part is getting used to teaching so many classes and preparing for new courses.  Once you get that ironed out, then it isn't so bad.  If a person is in the process of completing their degree, it is worthwhile to teach in order to get experience.  I recommend teaching graduate students and undergraduate students. Also, teach in person classes, online asynchronous, and online synchronous and hybrid if possible.  It will really help you out in terms of understanding the differences in the modality of instruction and the capabilities of students.

Then... there are the obligations for COMMITTEES.  It really isn't too bad, but some people in academia have very unique personality types.  What I mean by that, is that you will figure out who you do NOT want to be on committees with.  Make sure to self advocate for yourself.  Don't say yes to everything. Talk to your dept chair to get their feedback, especially if you are TT.   

[RoaryMcTwang]

Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[pugmaster]

Expand Quote

Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

Expand Quote

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

[RoaryMcTwang]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

Expand Quote

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[close]

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

Usually: one (two hours per week). Sometimes none.

[pugmaster]

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Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

Expand Quote

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[close]

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

[close]

Usually: one (two hours per week). Sometimes none.

That would be amazing!

[RoaryMcTwang]

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Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

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to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[close]

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

[close]

Usually: one (two hours per week). Sometimes none.

[close]

That would be amazing!

It really kind of is. When I hear stuff from people trying to get into humanities positions in other countries… sweet deal for sure.

[TheLurper]

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Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

Expand Quote

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[close]

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

[close]

Usually: one (two hours per week). Sometimes none.

[close]

That would be amazing!

[close]

It really kind of is. When I hear stuff from people trying to get into humanities positions in other countries… sweet deal for sure.

1 Class per week?! Do they expect 50 publications a year?

[RoaryMcTwang]

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Good ol SLAP.  Way more people than I anticipated are participating in this thread! I'm finishing my dissertation right now.

I don't regret going for it.

So cool to see what everyone is into!

[close]

Exactly what I'm thinking as I'm reading all this, slap never ceases to surprise me.

I got my PhD in 2018, in literary studies. Similar topic I got my MA for (Madness in Shakespeare), but I had moved to China and worked here in between for six years before I started it. 4-year program. This was definitely the right move for me, when I went back to the Uni (in Hong Kong, where there's stipends you can live on, so that made the decision easier) I hadn't seen a library from the inside for a long time and was super happy to be back in an environment where I could congregate with like-minded nerds to talk about Shakespeare and Wittgenstein. At that time I also knew for sure that I wanted to work in academia long term/that I didn't have any talent to do anything in the "real world", so it all kind of fell into place.

Expand Quote

bump
to those who got their phd already or are working on it currently, how was it balancing research and skating/social life? (or was it totally impossible to balance them lmao)

[close]

For me it was perfect. I had only a very minimal course load (Hong Kong system is very nice in that way) so I basically went to the uni only about three times a week to do some tutoring and did most of the work from home. Obviously you need self-discipline, but if you have that and get a stipend it's pretty much a perfect gig - you get paid for learning and writing about stuff you're interested in, and in the end you get a PhD on top! And now as a post-doc (in China) it's pretty much the same deal, I get paid for putting out publications (and teach a very moderate load of classes), but the requirements are very benign, so I'm almost complete master of my own time.

The guilt thing about writing is real though, I've never met anyone for whom the actual process isn't, at least on some level, torture, especially if you count in the constant rejection you inevitably experience from publishers, peer-reviewers etc. But alas, at least it's creative work and it's an excellent school for persistence (so very much like skating). All this may be very different for different fields and places, obviously. So as everyone else said, make sure you do your research about the institution, people, field etc. For me it's been the right choice for sure.

[close]

Regarding the minimal course load: How many classes do you have to teach per semester?

[close]

Usually: one (two hours per week). Sometimes none.

[close]

That would be amazing!

[close]

It really kind of is. When I hear stuff from people trying to get into humanities positions in other countries… sweet deal for sure.

[close]

1 Class per week?! Do they expect 50 publications a year?

They don't either! On my entire 3 year contract the official requirement is just a single article in a journal that's on the AHCI index. (Of course you're very welcome to exceed expectations but that's what you strictly speaking have to do.)
The reason for this is that China wants to catch up to the rest of the world in this area too, and one way they imagine they can measure that is by international scientific publications - which is why the government throws money at university departments for every single one they put out. And since in the humanities it's very hard for most Chinese scholars to deliver publications due to the language barrier as well as to cultural differences of various sorts, opportunities open up for those who can.

[Mouth]

If you have the right kind of brain, a Phd in mathematics, physics or computer science can be your ticket into a hedge fund, with a seven figure salary soon to follow.

Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of brain, so I just lurk on Slap.

[Mark Renton]

If you have the right kind of brain, a Phd in mathematics, physics or computer science can be your ticket into a hedge fund, with a seven figure salary soon to follow.

Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of brain, so I just lurk on Slap.

Yeah that’s true but then you’ll be a data scientist for some soulless big corp and spend 8h daily on Microsoft excel till the day you die.

My ex and few of my more educated friends are doing that but personally fuck that shit.