|
|
|
|
|
|
by SquibblesRedux
1615 days ago
|
|
|
A doctorate is a nice personal achievement, but the opportunity cost is more than money. A PhD is a ticket that opens opportunities for teaching and research. (Mostly teaching.) You can do research on your own, without the costs of a PhD. You can strike up intellectual relationships with other researchers today. You can invent things and file your own patents. You can create your own businesses, selling products or services. You can deep dive into any subject on your own, today, and build yourself into a world-class expert. > I’ve heard horror stories about abusive advisors, mental health struggles, low stipends, burnout, and lack of support systems. Yes, it's a marathon. Some people really want to win that race. It is an accomplishment. A PhD might make a nice trophy, but tread cautiously down that road unless you very much want to slide into academia. |
|
|
The down sides are significant and should be considered very carefully.
However, universities can sometimes be attractive and motivating work environments, especially if you are tired of tech companies and startups and don't need or care about the money you'd get from working there. As noted, you can try an MS (ideally completing a master's thesis which is something like a mini-dissertation) and see if it's something you like.
And I don't know how it is in your company, but sometimes interesting research jobs in industry are easier to get if you have a graduate degree.