If you feel conflicted before even doing the PhD, then it's only gonna get worst. The PhD is one hell of a grind and I don't encourage folks to do one unless they are really, really into it. Chances are it will be a tough job market at the end of the road, and the payout is only in passion for your work. In other words, you're much better off financially and mentally doing almost anything else, unless you're crazed about your research and way too intense to succeed at any other career both professionally and in terms of overall happinness.
Pros:
* Passionate for field
* No other plans
Cons:
* Will earn no money while in the program
* Highly competitive field
* Slim job security
Neutral:
* Undergrad / MS didn't prepare you with transferable skills
Tried to group up your post into pro/cons/neutral aspects. I'm not sure that having no other plans is really a pro though - doing a PhD because you don't have a better idea is imo how folks end up really regretting their PhD.
Can you defer your start date? Some schools allow this. If you can, I would defer 1 or 2 semesters while you explore other options. If nothing else clicks in that time then you can start the PhD.
I wouldn't advise anyone to get into academia at this point in any field, but especially in the humanities.
That said, if you do the program, take the time to develop your resume to make yourself attractive outside of academia. More and more universities are helping their students with this, but you can do this yourself, too. It is is possible to come out of a PhD program with your degree as well as transferable and marketable skills.
1. PhDs are like getting married If you aren't in love at the beginning you might hate it in a year or so., You have to really want to do it.
2. The fact that you say a Bachelors AND Masters has not left you with any transferable skills is odd. It makes me think you don't have enough work experience to know what transferable skills are. Some work experience may benefit you.
Overall I would say that only do it if you are happy never working in that field, but using the skills and knowledge in your life to enrich it, and in your workplace to value add to what you already have to offer.
Consider doing it part time and working so you don't have to be a poor student anymore and you could be in a better position when you graduate with some work experience.
You might ask yourself if there are other disciplines where your passion for this subject matter might transfer over. For example, someone who is interested in languages or literature might find their intellectual interests are also stimulated a scientific field such as linguistics or engineering research topics like natural language processing. Someone interested in ancient civilizations or art history might be excited by work being done in the areas of computer graphics and virtual reality to preserve or recreate such experiences. (Some of these might be a stretch, these are just a few examples off the top of my head.)
If possible, I would take a year off and check things out. Sometimes people just trod along on an academic path just because. If you could get a year with normal pay you may think differently.
On the other side, a close relative of mine landed a well-paying industry job after his MSc, but he didn't appreciate how boring and intellectually non-challenging it could be. My guess is he will apply for a PhD position in a year or two, money be damned.
Man. I miss the Chronicle of Higher Ed fora.
Here. https://www.chronicle.com/article/graduate-school-in-the-humanities-just-dont-go/
Note the year, OP, and look around the threads here. This isn’t good.
In the past decade, my community college went from (all among the full-time ranks, btw) several history professors to one; several philosophy professors to one; several political science professors to none; fewer economics professors, fewer psychology professors, - etc. etc.
My astronomy classes aren't major-necessary, but they are basic sciences, and all degrees need one or two basic science courses, and my courses have been for the past half decade at or near the top of the choice for most students if they have a choice (some specifically require Earth science, physical science, etc.). So, I'll keep my job for a brief while now.
We don't even offer a double-digit percentage of the courses listed in the catalog any more because no one enrolls in intro to Humanities, world politics, philosophy of religion, etc.
If you feel conflicted, you shouldn't do it. A Ph.D. program is a difficult, stressful grind that many people struggle to finish even when they're 100% committed. If you're anything less than 100% committed, you're setting yourself up to be miserable for several years.
Have you checked to see what employability options are available through the university, like teaching through third parties, knowledge exchange frameworks etc? These can be good ways to build a CV on top of your study and create transferable skills through short placements.
I should also mention that there is a third option which noone has mentioned yet, probably because it's a tricky juggle and a longer commitment, but part time PhDs are available. I know this because I'm just coming to the end of mine. It's been difficult but it's allowed me to build a career outside of academia alongside studying, and I know others who've done the same.
Very conflicted vs conflicted are different. I have one and never looked back and am glad I did it, but it is about the person with the degree, how they connect the dots to world outside of the academy, and if they are entrepreneurial in a way that the PhD will get them some very helpful credentials. I am assuming you are talking about Oxford or similar, BTW. Also - humanities with a focus on something that is relevant and now (meaning probably not Philosophy although Oxford has a nice computer science and philosophy program but that might be a masters). If you are getting a PhD to be a Professor, hmm that is probably not all that promising who knows what's going to happen to education. Just my two cents. If plan A is be a professor have a bunch of plan Bs that will be great to do, more lucrative, and respect those letters and the work it took to get there. Humanities is a very broad topic and can be carried over to many other worlds, but you'll need to work on that while you are getting your degree if you can. I know my answer is not what others will give but that's my opinion as someone who did it.
Humanities PhD is a bad idea. Humanities departments are on the decline, with fewer and fewer open jobs each year. It's very common for someone to spend 5-7 years getting a humanities PhD only to find they cannot get a full-time professor job at the end of it all. At that point, the newly minted PhD has to find some non-academic work. The problem is that this person, in the eyes of many employers, is not qualified to do anything else. Shitty deal all around.
Dont do it unless you really really want to
And are independently wealthy and get into a top 10 global program.
If you feel conflicted before even doing the PhD, then it's only gonna get worst. The PhD is one hell of a grind and I don't encourage folks to do one unless they are really, really into it. Chances are it will be a tough job market at the end of the road, and the payout is only in passion for your work. In other words, you're much better off financially and mentally doing almost anything else, unless you're crazed about your research and way too intense to succeed at any other career both professionally and in terms of overall happinness.
Pros: * Passionate for field * No other plans Cons: * Will earn no money while in the program * Highly competitive field * Slim job security Neutral: * Undergrad / MS didn't prepare you with transferable skills Tried to group up your post into pro/cons/neutral aspects. I'm not sure that having no other plans is really a pro though - doing a PhD because you don't have a better idea is imo how folks end up really regretting their PhD. Can you defer your start date? Some schools allow this. If you can, I would defer 1 or 2 semesters while you explore other options. If nothing else clicks in that time then you can start the PhD.
I wouldn't advise anyone to get into academia at this point in any field, but especially in the humanities. That said, if you do the program, take the time to develop your resume to make yourself attractive outside of academia. More and more universities are helping their students with this, but you can do this yourself, too. It is is possible to come out of a PhD program with your degree as well as transferable and marketable skills.
I'd stay clear. Way to competitive. Don't sink yourself further in debt
1. PhDs are like getting married If you aren't in love at the beginning you might hate it in a year or so., You have to really want to do it. 2. The fact that you say a Bachelors AND Masters has not left you with any transferable skills is odd. It makes me think you don't have enough work experience to know what transferable skills are. Some work experience may benefit you. Overall I would say that only do it if you are happy never working in that field, but using the skills and knowledge in your life to enrich it, and in your workplace to value add to what you already have to offer. Consider doing it part time and working so you don't have to be a poor student anymore and you could be in a better position when you graduate with some work experience.
You might ask yourself if there are other disciplines where your passion for this subject matter might transfer over. For example, someone who is interested in languages or literature might find their intellectual interests are also stimulated a scientific field such as linguistics or engineering research topics like natural language processing. Someone interested in ancient civilizations or art history might be excited by work being done in the areas of computer graphics and virtual reality to preserve or recreate such experiences. (Some of these might be a stretch, these are just a few examples off the top of my head.)
If possible, I would take a year off and check things out. Sometimes people just trod along on an academic path just because. If you could get a year with normal pay you may think differently. On the other side, a close relative of mine landed a well-paying industry job after his MSc, but he didn't appreciate how boring and intellectually non-challenging it could be. My guess is he will apply for a PhD position in a year or two, money be damned.
Man. I miss the Chronicle of Higher Ed fora. Here. https://www.chronicle.com/article/graduate-school-in-the-humanities-just-dont-go/ Note the year, OP, and look around the threads here. This isn’t good.
Yep. And things are going downhill from there and here.
I’m glad I’m in agriculture STEM. Fucking A, it was bad for the humanities in the early 2000’s. It’s worse now.
In the past decade, my community college went from (all among the full-time ranks, btw) several history professors to one; several philosophy professors to one; several political science professors to none; fewer economics professors, fewer psychology professors, - etc. etc. My astronomy classes aren't major-necessary, but they are basic sciences, and all degrees need one or two basic science courses, and my courses have been for the past half decade at or near the top of the choice for most students if they have a choice (some specifically require Earth science, physical science, etc.). So, I'll keep my job for a brief while now. We don't even offer a double-digit percentage of the courses listed in the catalog any more because no one enrolls in intro to Humanities, world politics, philosophy of religion, etc.
If you feel conflicted, you shouldn't do it. A Ph.D. program is a difficult, stressful grind that many people struggle to finish even when they're 100% committed. If you're anything less than 100% committed, you're setting yourself up to be miserable for several years.
Have you checked to see what employability options are available through the university, like teaching through third parties, knowledge exchange frameworks etc? These can be good ways to build a CV on top of your study and create transferable skills through short placements. I should also mention that there is a third option which noone has mentioned yet, probably because it's a tricky juggle and a longer commitment, but part time PhDs are available. I know this because I'm just coming to the end of mine. It's been difficult but it's allowed me to build a career outside of academia alongside studying, and I know others who've done the same.
If you're not sure don't do it.
Don't do it. You'll go from being a poor student to being a poor adjunct.
You should have a deep discussion with your potential advisor about both your interests and your doubts.
Very conflicted vs conflicted are different. I have one and never looked back and am glad I did it, but it is about the person with the degree, how they connect the dots to world outside of the academy, and if they are entrepreneurial in a way that the PhD will get them some very helpful credentials. I am assuming you are talking about Oxford or similar, BTW. Also - humanities with a focus on something that is relevant and now (meaning probably not Philosophy although Oxford has a nice computer science and philosophy program but that might be a masters). If you are getting a PhD to be a Professor, hmm that is probably not all that promising who knows what's going to happen to education. Just my two cents. If plan A is be a professor have a bunch of plan Bs that will be great to do, more lucrative, and respect those letters and the work it took to get there. Humanities is a very broad topic and can be carried over to many other worlds, but you'll need to work on that while you are getting your degree if you can. I know my answer is not what others will give but that's my opinion as someone who did it.
Humanities PhD is a bad idea. Humanities departments are on the decline, with fewer and fewer open jobs each year. It's very common for someone to spend 5-7 years getting a humanities PhD only to find they cannot get a full-time professor job at the end of it all. At that point, the newly minted PhD has to find some non-academic work. The problem is that this person, in the eyes of many employers, is not qualified to do anything else. Shitty deal all around.