Doing a PhD isn’t just something that comes to your mind at the end of your undergraduate studies because we’ve all been thinking about it for a long time.
However, when deciding whether or not to do a PhD, you must ask yourself some serious questions.
Should I do a PhD? It seems rather a simple question to ask yourself, but if you dive into it, you’ll find that it’s a lot more complicated than you anticipated.
There are many compelling reasons to do a PhD. However, there are also some not-so-good reasons to do a PhD.
Related article : 5 Reasons Not to do a PhD (With an Assessment Quiz)
You do not want to find yourself in the middle of a PhD doing nothing but worrying about the decision that you made to do a PhD in the first place.
But, apart from all the complexity and pressure of a PhD, people still go for it. And they thrive on it because they are doing it for all the right reasons.
Here are those ‘Right reasons’ to do a PhD. If you find yourself asking the question, “Should I do a PhD?” this blog post will help you make your final decision.
You have a passion for writing
If you are a PhD holder, you are a licensed writer.
If you are doing a PhD, you are getting paid to write knowledge systematically. If you don’t realize this earlier enough, you will probably change your mind halfway through to your PhD, and you will be glad to take your master’s degree and move out. I’ve seen so many people do this over the years.
So if you don’t love writing, you should probably rethink going into a PhD.
Also, if you plan to stay in academia after completing your PhD, you must have a passion for writing because you will be writing articles probably each day, every day.
Even if you plan to go into a cooperate job after completing your PhD, you still have to write a lot both during the PhD and after the PhD.
If writing about things you are most passionate about is something you’re looking forward to, doing a PhD will not be a hardship.
You want to teach
Though there are some teaching positions at universities for people with master’s degrees, there’s undoubtedly more for those with PhDs.
This is also something where you might want to find out how important it is for your particular discipline to have a PhD for the kind of teaching you want to do.
But particularly at research universities and tenure track professors, you have to have a PhD.
To add knowledge to the world about a thing that you are passionate about
A PhD is different from an undergraduate degree, where you spend all of your time learning about the things that other people have already figured out. Instead, you will figure things out that nobody knew before so that other people can understand them.
It’s about finding questions, asking them, and answering them yourself.
If you are not passionate enough, you will find yourself stressed out, especially when you have to start writing your dissertation at the end. And, that is not a good time to move backwards.
It is intellectually rewarding to get a PhD if you are really passionate about your field of study. But vice versa is always true. You will be miserable if you are not passionate about what you are doing. And, that’s a general fact that is not just applicable for a PhD degree.
Try to choose a subject you really love. It will probably help your career since the best researchers are motivated by a passion for their field, and if it doesn’t lead to a glittering professorship, at least you’ll know you spent that time doing something worthwhile because 4 to 5 years of your life is a long time.
And if you don’t know what that thing you really like is yet, this is the best time to figure it out because you might also not even know what discipline you want to get your PhD in yet.
You want research to be an essential part of your career
Definition of “Research” is extremally subjective. It depends mainly on the field you are working on.
It would be best if you had a clear idea about what research means for your discipline before stating or even deciding to go for a PhD.
If you plan to move into the industry and think that the research will be a big part of your career, a clear understanding of “Doing research” in your specifically chosen field will come in handy.
This advice seems a little out of place as you are only trying to decide whether or whether not to do a PhD. But, if you look at the bigger picture, your entire professional life will be influenced by your PhD.
So, whatever you do in your professional life after completing your PhD, you will find your PhD footprint for the rest of your life.
This is why a PhD is more of a life-defining choice.
Final words
If you are still thinking about the question, “Should I do a PhD?” and if you fall into one of those (Or several of those) categories, you are more than ready to go ahead and start your PhD. But, if you want to make your PhD life more enjoyable, make sure you choose your PhD supervisor for the right reasons.
If you are still not entirely sure to take that decision, here’s something Albert Einstein said:
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”
If you’re a current PhD student or already have a PhD, why did you decide to pursue your PhD? Let us know in the comment section.
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