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[thoughtfull]

Hi,

So I'm about to visit prospective PhD programs. They are all top-tier programs with decent funding. As I've been doing some research on exactly what I'm getting myself into, I've found all of the advice AGAINST doing a PhD in the humanities. Sociology seems to be less bleak--shorter time to the PhD, a few more jobs, some marketability outside the academy, etc.

I was wondering what you all think? Is the advice against going to grad school the same for the social sciences as the humanities?


Thanks!

[merinoblue]

I hope that you get many replies to your post, because it's a question that all prospective PhD students should be asking themselves: is a PhD worth it, particularly in fields where the market has shrunk?

Here's one perspective, from a social scientist. If you're going to do a PhD in sociology, I think it's critical that you're willing to pursue a dual search strategy when you exit, with the non-academic market as your Plan A, and the academic market as your Plan B. You're setting yourself up for disappointment and poverty if not. There are few academic jobs, and it's short-sighted to go into a PhD in the social sciences thinking that a job in higher ed awaits. You might be lucky, but most likely, you won't be. Think of the PhD not as a Gold Card that gives you entree to your chosen academic career, but as a very nice business suit that can make you more appealing to academic and non-academic employers. You need to be strategic as you go through the degree in acquiring marketable skills  (writing, editing, presentation, research design, teaching, grant-writing, project management, and possibly supervision) that many employers value, identifying what industries you'd like to work in, and learning how to market yourself in your cover letters and CV with employers' needs in mind.  At the same time, you need to be publishing and credentialing yourself as a researcher / teacher / scholar if you want to be on the academic job market. It can make one crazy to have both job markets in mind while doing the PhD, but I don't think focusing only on becoming an academic is viable any longer.

I think you also have to think about whether a PhD is what would make you more employable for the non-academic fields you can see yourself working in. If not, you might want to think instead about getting a professional degree.

Then there's the opportunity costs of taking 8-10 years out of your life to get a PhD.  Ask yourself where you'd like to be in 8-10 years, what kind of lifestyle you'd like to have, how much you'd like to be earning...and whether that vision is compatible with taking yourself off the job market for a long period of time.

Finally, life brings surprises and delays. Are you prepared for a delay in finishing the PhD from illness, childbirth, divorce, a change in supervisor, setbacks in research, or the death of a family member?  We can't anticipate these things, but sometimes, we only think about the best-case scenario when we contemplate a PhD.  I would encourage you to think about adding 2-3 years to your expected trajectory, and see if you can live with that prospect.

[miss_jane_marple]

Is the advice against going to grad school the same for the social sciences as the humanities?

It's the same for every type of PhD, regardless of the subject: a PhD is a research-oriented degree that may lead to a faculty position and may also lead to something entirely different. If you are good at and enjoy research -- however that word may be defined for your subject area -- and want to spend several years learning how to do it, including enduring criticism of yours and many sessions of giving presentations about it, then you may find a PhD program fits your goals and interests.

If a PhD program does not fit your goals and interests, none of the other stuff matters.

[imawakenow]

Some recent threads on the same topic:

Is a PhD in sociology worth it? (Slight derail because of OP's screen name)
http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,75138.0.html

PhD in sociology?
http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,28709.0.html

What kind of PhD program do I apply for? (sociology related)
http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,80783.0.html

[skeptical]

Is it worth it? It might be. These days, I would check the track record of any program you think about entering. How well have recent ph.d's been placed? Are they finding jobs? Most department keep these sort of data on hand. If they can't tell you about their success rate, that's a big red flag!

[oldfullprof]

Heavy up on quant methods and applied stuff.  Anything related to crim is still hot.  Consider going to a place where you can do demography.  It's doing a bit of a market comeback at the moment.  I'd also do global stuff, have a foreign language, and publish in grad school.   

[multinodal]

I'm in a closely affiliated field and follow the vagaries of the sociology market quite a bit - I'm also at the tale end of the PhD and have been lingering there for financial reasons (need to work for money, therefore little time to finish that last chapter and a half) for a while.

I would completely second what oldfullprof said: if you do a sociology PhD, make sure it's got a solid quantitative component. It doesn't have to be deeply quantitative, but enough that you develop strong statistical skills and deal with data and modelling. My methods are qualitative and my options are severely, severely constrained because of this. Not only are most of the academic jobs I see requiring some ability to teach quant courses, but the non-academic job market for quantitative data skills is much more vast. We are in a moment (maybe we always have been) where policy makers, think tanks, etc. really value the ability to deal with large datasets and make assertions based on statistical modelling. And at worst, you can always use these skills in market analysis jobs.

[ex_mo]

As someone who recently (2010) finished a PhD program in sociology and got a TT job, I'd second everything everyone above me has said.  PM me me if you have more detailed questions.