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[virmundi]

Distinguished Forum Members,

Salutations! I am currently an undergraduate student in history. I will be finishing my undergraduate degree in the next year, and I am facing a fork in the road. I am hoping that some of you will be kind enough to give me the benefit of your wide range of experiences, and help me to gain clarity.

I am wrestling with a dilemma. I am twenty-nine years old, and currently working on my bachelor's degree in history so that I can complete my transition from being a dissatisfied employee in the I.T. sector to embrace my passions of teaching and researching history. I have been considering applying to PhD programs in history, but my dilemma is that I have a three-year old son. I do not wish to be unavailable during his formative years, so I am considering pursuing teaching social studies in a secondary school setting until he is an adolescent.

This has raised several issues for me. While I desire to pursue my PhD for primarily personal reasons, I am wondering about the impact on my job prospects in academia (already generally difficult as it is, from what I have read) if I do not actually receive a PhD until my mid-40s. Also, I was curious about letters of recommendation. If I am going to delay going to graduate school for 10-12 years, should I ask them to write me letters now, and then show them portfolios of my work in ten years to remind them of my potential, or should I consider pursuing a masters degree prior to the PhD, so that I will have more recent relationships with professors and more recent work?

I will close by saying that the pursuit of a PhD in history is something that I am very passionate about (but obviously not passionate enough to want to sacrifice my son to the altar of my ambitions). The experience of working on original research in a dedicated environment is very exciting to me, even if I never have the opportunity to become a tenure-track professor. So the question is not really "should I go to graduate school", but a question of approach.

I would like to express my gratitude in advance for any opinions, or advice that anyone can offer to me.

Regards!

[larryc]

Ask for letters now, the school will be able to keep them on file for you. Why not enter grad school when the boy goes to school? Sure grad school is hard but it is also flexible and I knew plenty of fellow grad students with children.

[renee]

For whatever it is worth, I have friends whose parents were in grad school while they were in elementary school and those parents seemed somewhat more available than my own working parents. What I mean by this is that while grad school takes a lot of time and energy, you will likely have more flexibility to see your child off to school than you would as a K-12 teacher. My mom was (and is) a teacher and she has to be at school from 7-3.30 pm, and that's just the contact time with her students. Add faculty meetings, planning, prep, teacher development workshops and all the rest, and she rarely makes it home before 7 pm.

As a graduate student, you could find ways to make your schedule so that you work while your child is in school, at soccer practice, etc, and then still make it to those soccer games (for example). In addition, modeling good studying/working skills, not to mention passion about a subject, as a graduate student may set a great example.

Finally, many of the grad students I know with kids are some of the most efficient workers. They have 4 hours to work, they work for 4 hours. This is certainly not a universal condition and there are plenty of people without kids who are very productive with their time, but you may be able to channel your desire to be present with your child into really good working time as a graduate student. Just something to consider.

[larryc]

Plus your kid will still be little enough that you can buy clothes and toys at thrift stores and garage sales without them noticing. And so what if sometimes you tell junior that no you can't go to the park, you have to go to the library? My wife went back to school as a single mom with two kids just starting school. What they took away from the experience is a tremendous value for education. They are both college graduates now and they agree that they had rich childhoods in which their mom provided an example of the value of learning.

[imawakenow]

Finally, many of the grad students I know with kids are some of the most efficient workers. They have 4 hours to work, they work for 4 hours. This is certainly not a universal condition and there are plenty of people without kids who are very productive with their time, but you may be able to channel your desire to be present with your child into really good working time as a graduate student. Just something to consider.

I agree with this observation. If you want to finish grad school but also spend time with your child, you will find ways to get things done. That includes reading/writing before child gets up and/or after child goes to bed (depending on your preference).

Also, most large universities have somewhat affordable on-campus childcare. This can also make life a lot easier.

I've met a few people along the way who are pursuing a Ph.D. for "primarily personal reasons." Not a big fan, really, but at least don't lead with that on your application.

[secretweapon]

If you start when your son goes to kindergarten, you shouldn't finish your PhD in your mid-40s.  You certainly could, but you shouldn't.  For the sake of your finances and your mental health you'll need to ensure that your PhD doesn't drag on forever.  Job prospects are grim and, if you are doing the PhD for 'personal reasons', ask yourself if you think you would be happy teaching high school after the PhD. 

If you've done an undergrad degree with a little guy, you can do a PhD.  Good luck!

[virmundi]

Thank you all for the replies! I am definitely going to seriously consider going to graduate school sooner than later!

Secretweapon:

Actually, the idea of finishing in my mid-40s was predicated on the notion that I wouldn't start "until [my son] is an adolescent", which is about ten years away! If I start within the next year or so, I definitely do not plan on finishing in my 40s!

rusleeping:

As far as "primarily personal reasons" are concerned, that was short-hand for: I burn with a passion to do original research under the
auspices of an expert in my field. I am filled with joy when I pour over primary sources and try to synthesize a reasonable thesis from them. The idea of spending several years of my life grinding away at writing a dissertation on an obscure subject that perhaps only myself, my advisor, and my committee will ever read doesn't fill me with dread, but rather excitement. The notion that I may have the opportunity to regularly speak with colleagues who are as excited to discuss nit-picky historiographical details of history as I am is one that makes me smile as I sit here thinking about it.

Would I like to have opportunities when I am finished to work in academia? Sure! But I'm absolutely not going to let the job market, or the bone-crushing despair that I have heard can descend on grad students at times, dissuade me from pursuing something that excites me more than the idea of winning the lottery. If I end up earning a Ph.D. and working in a non-academic field, that's okay, I still expect to be very enriched by the experience!

That's what I meant by "primarily personal reasons".

Regards!

[hollow_man]

One more serious suggestion: Look for a program where as many of the faculty and students as possible have children. It may sound superficial, and no doubt some childless faculty are very sensitive and sympathetic to parents (and some with kids may be unsympathetic). But your faculty will largely determine your experience, so I would play the odds on this one. If no one in the program has kids, they may treat you as a slacker or a weirdo for having parental responsibilities.

[secretweapon]

Would I like to have opportunities when I am finished to work in academia? Sure! But I'm absolutely not going to let the job market, or the bone-crushing despair that I have heard can descend on grad students at times, dissuade me from pursuing something that excites me more than the idea of winning the lottery. If I end up earning a Ph.D. and working in a non-academic field, that's okay, I still expect to be very enriched by the experience!

You go Lordy!

[t_r_b]

Another thing to keep in mind as you explore your options: you don't have to go to graduate school in history to do historical research and writing. There may be other career paths that would similarly satisfy your passion for research and analysis while giving you more options for future employment. You could also consider pursuing historical scholarship as an avocation while doing something else for income.

I say this because grad school in the humanities is a very long, emotionally and financially exhausting process. The joys of research are balanced by the grief of everything else you have to deal with along the way (which can at times suck the joy out of the good parts). The only reason to take all that on, in my view, is to pursue a career that requires a PhD in history, and that generally means teaching in higher ed. It sounds like you're primarily interested in the experience of historical scholarship, rather than college-level teaching per se, and I think you can get that experience in various ways without taking on the agonies and the debt of grad school.

[katherineparr]

Perhaps you should consider an MA in public history. There are a number of very well-regarded programs which would offer you a graduate degree in 2 years with an internship and job-placement assistance.

You could still teach school (with more money, since you'd have an MA) but you could also work in museums, archives, and other research facilities. Your love of research could thus be satisfied in the short term and yet the committment would be shorter and probably less writing-intensive. Many MA programs provide for working adults, as well, which would increase your flexibility to be with your son. And, finally, you'd have letters attesting to your graduate performance, which would be more helpful later on should you pursue a PhD.

[hmaria1609]

I agree with the last two posters. What area of history are you interested?  Before you invest money and time in a PhD, look into a Master's program too.