{"id":18940,"date":"2022-07-27T06:52:41","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T14:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/?p=18940"},"modified":"2022-07-27T06:54:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T14:54:21","slug":"should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot: Should I even try to do a PhD if the job market is so bad? Here are the thoughts I shared<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Should I Do a PhD with the Job Market So Bad?<\/h2>\n

In 2009, when I was pitching my book idea to publishers, Prepare<\/em>, Succeed, Advance: A Guidebook for Getting a PhD in Biblical Studies and Beyond<\/em><\/a>, my editor friend Shirley Decker-Lucke kinda laughed and said: \u201cThe book should just have one page with one sentence: \u2018Don\u2019t do it.'\u201d She was right to be discouraged by the job market. Since 2008, new academic jobs (especially in the humanities) are very hard to find, the competition is fierce, and even if you are one of the \u201clucky ones,\u201d salaries at most private colleges are\u2026disappointing.<\/p>\n

So, I do think that it is crucially important that we current academics are brutally honest with our students about what they are up against. It is the story of many people that they spend lots of money and time on getting a bachelors, masters (or two), and a PhD, and then toll year after year applying to jobs with no positive results. Some of my friends went into ministry, some into the publishing industry, some changed careers entirely.<\/p>\n

But if a student comes into my office and tells me they want to do a PhD program, I never say they shouldn\u2019t as a matter of fact. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s my role. Who am I to say what path lies ahead for someone else? I think it is my job (as a mentor, professor, etc.) to help them understand the odds and challenges, but I never say \u201cDon\u2019t do it.\u201d If someone told me (in 2005) how hard it would be to get a job, I probably still would have tried.<\/p>\n

I think of it like this: my daughter is a very talented musician. If she said, \u201cHey, dad, I want to try to make it in Nashville.\u201d I hope I would say, \u201cHoney, you have less than a 1% chance, but if you really want to go for it, let\u2019s do it.\u201d The question is,\u00a0are you willing to spend all that time and money, knowing that it might not work out?<\/em> If the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d then I say go for it.<\/p>\n

But what I do tell PhD hopefuls is this: you need to do the best you can to set yourself up for success. That means going to a top PhD program and trying to publish an article or two with top journals. Don\u2019t settle for a low-tier program because it is easy or cheap. If you are going to seriously pursue an academic career, you need to strive for excellence and aim as high as you possibly can.\u00a0Go big or go home<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the end, some will say, \u201cI don\u2019t want to waste all that time and money.\u201d And I say, \u201cGood for you, better to decide that now than later.\u201d But others will say, \u201cI need to do this.\u201d And I will say, \u201cI\u2019ll help you any way I can. There are no guarantees in this world, but I got your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

A student recently asked me, \u201cWhy should I pursue a PhD if the job market is so bad?\u201d And I answered, \u201cMaybe the academy needs you. Maybe your unique personality, background, wisdom, leadership can reshape and elevate the academy.\u201d Yes, there are a lot of academics out there, but we need more voices and wisdom from the margins. We need more scholars who are thoughtful about disability. We need more scholars that dare to provide holistic teaching (for body, emotions, and mind). We need more immigrant scholars in the US who bring a more global mindset. We need more scholars who come from non-wealthy homes. We need more multi-lingual scholars.<\/p>\n

This is between you and God (and your family). I can\u2019t tell you if you should do a PhD. I can tell you what I think your chances are, but this is also a matter of calling. The world needs a new generation of great scholars. I won\u2019t stand in the way of that. But what I do tell people is: \u201cWould you be satisfied doing something else? Are there other ways to fulfill your calling?\u201d Those conversations are worth having, I think.<\/p>\n

If you are thinking about doing a PhD, here is my quick and basic advice: (1) Is this a calling? (2) Is your family\/community supportive? (3) Do your mentors\/teachers affirm that you have the chops and skills for this? (4) Are you willing to risk the money\/time?\u00a0 If you\u2019ve \u201ccounted the cost,\u201d then I will cheer you on.<\/p>\n

If you want more specific advice from me, check out my book.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot: Should I even try to do a PhD if the job market is so bad? Here are the thoughts I shared. Should I Do a PhD […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4302,"featured_media":18961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nShould I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live like Christ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-27T14:52:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-27T14:54:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1287\/2022\/07\/PSA.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"267\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nijay Gupta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nijay Gupta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/\",\"name\":\"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-27T14:52:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-27T14:54:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/f4681a0c4fb21471af9122b567bb5bc8\"},\"description\":\"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/\",\"name\":\"Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live like Christ\",\"description\":\"Crux Sola offers reflections on biblical studies, theological education, Christian formation, and current events\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/f4681a0c4fb21471af9122b567bb5bc8\",\"name\":\"Nijay Gupta\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/002333e1f443eec34ee0cfc4d671ce17?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/002333e1f443eec34ee0cfc4d671ce17?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Nijay Gupta\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/author\/ngupta\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?","description":"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?","og_description":"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/","og_site_name":"Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live like Christ","article_published_time":"2022-07-27T14:52:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-27T14:54:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":267,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1287\/2022\/07\/PSA.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nijay Gupta","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nijay Gupta","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/","name":"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-27T14:52:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-27T14:54:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/f4681a0c4fb21471af9122b567bb5bc8"},"description":"I was recently in SoCal talking to graduate students about higher ed and the state of the job market. One student asked a question that I get a lot:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/2022\/07\/should-i-do-a-phd-with-the-job-market-so-bad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should I Do a PhD with the Academic Job Market So Bad?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/","name":"Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live like Christ","description":"Crux Sola offers reflections on biblical studies, theological education, Christian formation, and current events","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/f4681a0c4fb21471af9122b567bb5bc8","name":"Nijay Gupta","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/002333e1f443eec34ee0cfc4d671ce17?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/002333e1f443eec34ee0cfc4d671ce17?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Nijay Gupta"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/author\/ngupta\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cruxsola\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}