In this solo episode, I share five key questions that I considered before deciding if a PhD was right for me. I had just started my graduate program at the time and had been exposed to research as a research assistant and study abroad program. After being advised by my graduate advisor to talk to several different faculty members about their journeys, I decided a PhD was right for me at the end of my first semester of graduate school. I applied to the Masters-to-PhD “bridge” program and was accepted in my second semester of graduate school. This allowed me to start my PhD coursework that summer in addition to my graduate work.
While these five questions are not all encompassing of everything to consider before pursuing a PhD, I hope they will be a good starting point for those deciding if a PhD is a good fit for them or not.
Episode Transcript
In this episode, I am sharing five questions I asked myself before deciding that pursuing a PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders was right for me. This was something I really took a lot of time to reflect on and think about. I think it’s a very personal decision and different factors will weigh more heavily for different people. Today I am sharing how I decided, but if you’re contemplating if a PhD is right for you, I encourage you to talk to several different people to hear their perspectives and experiences before making your decision.
First I want to start with a little context. I had started thinking about possibly pursuing a PhD starting at the end of my undergraduate degree. I had been exposed to research as a research assistant and through a study abroad program. As I mentioned on a previous episode, I studied abroad in Belgium and Holland the summer after my second year of college. Through this experience, I learned about the data collection process for a research study and actually collected data myself. While we were abroad, we coded and analyzed the data. Then after we returned to the US, we presented the findings at conferences and published the results. Seeing the research process through from an idea to a published journal article was really exciting to me. I have always loved learning and I saw a career in academia as a way to keep learning and growing, while also making contributions to the field.
Then during my last year of undergrad, I attended a research talk at my university by a leading child language and literacy scholar in the field. I remember thinking how exciting it was that she was able to conduct these studies on topics that were both interesting to her and also important for our field and for young children. I also thought it was neat that not only was she able to conduct the work, but she was also able to travel and share it with other people.
In graduate school, I was fortunate to receive an assistantship to help support my tuition costs. For this assistantship, I was assigned to be a graduate research assistant for a faculty member in our department. In this role, I helped with some research coordination, data collection, and data analysis tasks. During my first semester of grad school, I found myself putting off my coursework to complete the research tasks as soon as they were assigned to me. I was really grateful for the opportunity to keep learning about the research process and eager to help.
The faculty member that I was assigned to for my graduate assistantship was also the graduate program director at the time. I had voiced my interest in research and a PhD to her during my grad school application process and we continued to talk about it during my first semester of graduate school because there was an option to apply for a masters-to-PhD bridge program once accepted into the masters program. During these conversations, I was very supported to make the best decision for me. I think at times I almost wanted someone to just tell me if it was the right thing for me to do or not. But instead, I was encouraged to take time to think about it and do my research to learn more about what a PhD would entail.
This leads to the first question I asked myself-Can I picture myself being fulfilled as a professor? As I researched more and more about a PhD and talked to my assistantship advisor, I learned more about what a PhD prepares you to do in the field. The large majority of people that attain a PhD become academic faculty in CSD departments. While there are other avenues that you can take, PhD programs in our field are mainly structured to prepare you for the three main responsibilities of an academic faculty member, research, teaching, and service. Of course there really was no way for me to know for sure at 21 years old if being a professor would make me feel fulfilled, but I did know that I would have to really enjoy reading, writing, teaching, and mentoring others. For me, reading, writing, and teaching had always been things that I enjoyed doing. So the answer to #1 was a yes.
Then came question #2 which actually came from my advisor. In one of our weekly meetings for my assistantship, she asked me what my family thought about me potentially pursuing a PhD. And to be honest, that question really took me by surprise. At the time, I saw this decision as a personal one. I would be the one that actually had to put in all the work! But looking back, I think this was actually one of the most important questions to consider. There’s a reason that you’re given space for an acknowledgement section in your dissertation. You really cannot successfully complete a PhD program without a whole army of people supporting you. For this reason, I really took time to talk about the possibility of me pursuing a PhD and what that would entail with several different family members and it was helpful to hear their perspectives.
Question #3 was a practical, logistical one. Can I afford to do a PhD?
In my conversations with my advisor, I learned that my tuition would be fully paid for if I applied for, and was accepted into, the bridge masters-to-PhD program at my institution. I would also receive a stipend during the program for working about 10-20 hours a week for the department as a graduate assistant. So, if I wanted to pursue a PhD and was accepted into the program, the department would really be investing in me and my success. The fact that I would not have to take out any more loans, which I was doing at the time to pay for graduate school, was really appealing.
Then came question #4, knowing that my tuition would be paid for, and talking to family about the possibility of pursuing a PhD, another important question came up-Is this the right time for me to start a PhD program? To answer this question, I was advised to talk to several different people in my department that had gone down different paths to getting their PhDs-some that had gone straight through from their masters into their PhD programs and others who had gone back to school for their PhD after work clinically for various amounts of time. So I scheduled meetings with different faculty members during my first semester of graduate school to hear my professor’s stories and insights about the best timing for a PhD program. These meetings were really helpful. I learned that there really isn’t one standard “best time” for everyone-and it really is more about a personal “best time” depending on your goals and other personal factors and priorities. After these faculty meetings, I decided that since I was only 21, wasn’t married, didn’t have children, and was still in the groove of going to school, now seemed like a good time for me.
As I started feeling more confident that I wanted to go ahead and apply to pursue my PhD, question #5 came next-What area of the field do I want to become an expert in? When you pursue a PhD, you really hone your skills and expertise in one very specific area of the field. Unlike a masters program where you learn about all different areas of the field, the PhD is where you really narrow in on one area and dig deep. While many people choose a PhD program based on their interest area and identify mentors first before choosing a PhD program, it was the reverse for me. Since I was only considering staying at my current institution for a PhD program, my primary mentor would be someone in my current department. At the point that I applied to the program, I knew that I wanted to become an expert in child language development and disorders. But I didn’t know much more than that. And that was ok. The exact topic of my dissertation became clearer as I continued my graduate program and continued getting exposure to different clients through my clinical experiences.
Thinking through these five questions really helped me determine that pursuing a PhD was the right decision for me. As a recap, the five questions I asked myself were:
- Can I picture myself being fulfilled as a professor?
Pursuing a PhD really prepares you for going into an academic faculty position. It really doesn’t make sense for people that only want to work clinically during their career. A PhD is really a good fit for people that want a career conducting research, teaching, and training students. - What do my family and friends think about me potentially pursuing a PhD?
Consult with family and friends about pursuing a PhD-you’ll really want their support during your journey and they will have unique perspectives to help you make the best decision.
- Can I afford to do a PhD?
Research tuition costs and stipends of PhD programs. Many PhD programs in our field cover most, if not all, tuition costs. But it’s also important to know about stipend opportunities and what kind of work you may be required to do to earn that stipend. This can range depending on the program, from clinical supervision expectations to research lab responsibilities.
- Is this the right time for me to start a PhD program?
Take time to reflect on the timing of a PhD program in your life considering your priorities and responsibilities. Also, unlike graduate programs that accept new cohorts annually, because of the funding and mentorship aspects of PhD programs, often times the admission process is less predictable for PhD programs. If it’s a good time for you to pursue a PhD, or you think it will be in the next year or two, reach out to the programs you’re interested in to find out when they will be accepting new PhD students in your area of interest.
- What area of the field do I want to become an expert in?
Pursuing a PhD is a process of becoming an expert in one specific part of the field. You aren’t expected to know your exact dissertation topic when you apply to PhD programs. But you should have one or maybe two areas of the field identified that you are passionate about so you can find a mentor that is a good match for you and your interests.
While this list of questions isn’t all encompassing of everything you should think about before pursuing a PhD, I hope it’s helpful to hear some of the main things that weighed into my decision if you’re also considering this path.
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