A full time PhD @ the cost of irreplaceable years

 

I understood much later that a full time PhD (even if it is from a higher ranking institute), won’t necessarily help you get a decent job, forget your dream career. A disproportionate number of PhD degree holders join industrial R&D labs and startups, however, academic positions still remain the foremost option for majority of PhD scholars, at least in India. Lucky few are able to enter Tier I colleges (at the cost of moving to remote places) while many end up with a position in the academic front as an Assistant Professor (with meagre perks) in Tier II colleges. You are considered as either over qualified or under experienced. You will still be hired for your PhD degree and not for your superior research skills and quality publications (Does it really matter?). Except to watch and envy your friends and colleagues already on their second or third promotion up in the ladder, you can do nothing much. If you are moving ahead with mustering spirits and many compromises, you will be loaded only with the plethora of academic responsibilities with little time to delve into research. By the end of the day, you feel you own nothing but a flimsy title as Dr. which one could have obtained part - time without losing years of experience. I pity the regular scholars, spending four years, sometimes even five or six years, (with grunts and moans from family members, sarcasms from doctoral committee, daunted by the pace of work, feeling behind in comparison with peers along with little/no income) finally culminating with a lot of catching up. Better to juggle between job and family and complete your PhD than to pursue a nerve-wracking full time research.

From an embittered former research Scholar