Why getting a Ph.D. SHOULD be a let down
I recently saw this post by Marc Kuchner on his facebook group, Marketing for Scientists. Marc kindly agreed to allow me to re-post the following article in which he discusses why he feels getting a Ph.D should be a let down.
Scientists,
I just went to a thesis defense; I bet many of you have done the same thing this spring. Anyway, after the defense (he passed, with flying colors) I had some strange thoughts about how we reward each other in this crazy business of science that I thought you might find amusing.
I found myself telling the new Ph.D.: make sure you plan a vacation for yourself for after the final version of your thesis is accepted. Because getting a Ph.D. sure can be a let down!
A let down? A Ph.D. is the pinnacle of our education, the prize we give to people who spend years and years mastering a subject, until they become world experts, and complete a major piece of research that pushes the boundary of our knowledge forward in a grand and glorious way. But I found myself saying that it’s a let down.
And this is why. By the time you get your degree, you’ve already moved on. Half of the papers that are in your thesis were published years ago. You’re well aware of their inadequacies, and you’re thinking about the next problems in your field. You’ve already probably accepted a postdoc position somewhere, and you think of yourself as a postdoc now.
When I thought of this I was momentarily angry at the educational system. Why can’t we reward people better for their toil by giving them the positive feedback when they need it, instead of months and months later? But then I realized that the way we do it is the right way: getting a Ph.D. SHOULD be a let down.
Here is why. The sense of disappointment in the process of being named a Ph.D. is training for everything else that comes afterwards. Whatever else you do with yourself in science, you won’t get rewarded—if you ever get rewarded—for months and month, maybe years later. You might be writing the best paper of the year, but you won’t find out till the following year, when everyone at the conference you’re at lines up to criticize it and say why their work supercedes it. You might be doing Nobel-prize-worthy work, even, but you won’t get that Nobel probably till you’re 60.
As a scientist, you’ll never get the right credit at the right time.
So you’d better learn to plan your own celebration, plan your own vacation, pat yourself on the back when you’ve done a good job. Ultimately, you’ve got to do science to please yourself, not someone else. And when you get your Ph.D. is a good time to learn that.
What do you think? Should getting a Ph.D. feel like an anticlimax? As scientists, do we give each other proper credit for our work? Do you wish you could change the system?
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June 08, 2010 at 8:38 pm, Christopher Dieni said:
Allow me to summarize, day-by-day, the week which followed my thesis defense:
Monday, August 18th, 2008 – defended Ph.D. in the morning. Professors on examination committee and labmates were kind enough to come by for quick piece of cake and congratulate me. Then, immediately got to work with my grad PI looking over any needed corrections for my final version of thesis.
Tuesday – went to nearest border crossing to get my visa sorted out. Once completed, went back to work finishing thesis corrections.
Wednesday – printed out necessary number of copies of my thesis and collated chapters, figures, and signatory forms, for submission to departmental office.
Thursday – sorted out any loose notes, technical bulletins, and equipment and training I was responsible for passing on before I left the lab. Oh I should mention… any free moments during these days were spent packing up my residence.
Friday – logistically dotted all i’s and crossed all t’s in my lab, said final goodbyes. Began loading up the van with my dad, who had come to help me out in moving down the State College.
Saturday – made the long, long drive down to State College. Began unpacking necessities upon arrival.
Sunday – began shopping for anything I didn’t already have.
Monday, August 23rd – showed up to my postdoc lab, even though my appointment didn’t officially begin until September 1st (being the keener I am), to see if there was anything “unofficial” I was allowed to begin to sort through before my appointment began a week later.
Did getting my Ph.D. feel like an anticlimax? Well, if there’s any doubt, go ahead and re-read the summary above.
But unfortunately, Mark is right- this is the “norm” in science and the way the system is set up. In the “real world” we won’t receive credit until months (or years) after we’ve accomplished something- and even then it’s subdued by the aforementioned people lining up to debate your work with you. So, yes, perhaps it should be a let down… if only for the sake of not giving false hope of an idealized version of your career.
That being said, do I wish I could change the system? Absolutely! Looking back on it, I would’ve loved more back-patting (from others AND from myself), and maybe a little vacation… at the very least something small to enjoy, rather than relocating myself within five days of my defence. This is yet another reason, among many others, why I am a firm believer in having a life outside of science, as I indicated in my interview as featured postdoc ( http://bit.ly/cdieni ).
The funny thing is that, at the time, I wholeheartedly subscribed to the system, and believed that these were the best courses of action on my part- even in the face of my non-scientist friends who suggested I do something “crazy,” take ~4 months off and only begin my postdoc once 2009 rolled around. Since then, tempered with two years of postdoctoral wisdom, I see that there are other- arguably, better- paths I could’ve taken, which may very well have brought me to the same ultimate destination anyway, but with a smoother and more enjoyable path between origin and destination.
This isn’t to say that I haven’t enjoyed the path that I did take, or that I have any regrets. I have enjoyed both the good times and the hard times, and tried to learn as much as humanly possible from my failures (once again, reference to my featured postdoc interview). But yes- the fact that getting a Ph.D. is a let down, and that this may be perceived as “normal,” had to be addressed.
This is just my own opinion amongst many. What’s yours?
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April 04, 2011 at 3:30 pm, bedewelle said:
Right, i was supposed to get my PHD last December but was failed, as I failed to defend my thesis, I was extremely unwell, but there goes that. I strongly suspect this was a much greater anticlimax than getting one. safe to say I was teetering on the brink of suicide, considering the amount of work blah blah, you can imagine. But there was a result from that viva
- not having a phd does not make you any less of a scientist than having it
- science is relevant results and not the cat and mouse games we play, publishing rubbish and awarding ourselves brownie points in our own little universe amongst individuals who think like us.
-A PhD is a lifestyle and not a qualification…think about it, most phds cannot function in any other environment yet many people can function without an MSc
-what happens to all that work…it all just dies in literary universe, hoping someone will reference it, but really, nobody cares, until a prominent figure brings awareness to it and its trendy. and all too often the prominent figure is a university drop out.
- The best people don’t have phds.
-And maybe, after all, I don’t want it.
I know we totally agree. Perhaps the less hype about it, the better purpose it would serve.
July 24, 2011 at 9:28 pm, Loraine Dock said:
Gday Loraine Dock here. I really like what you folks are up to at http://www.postdocsforum.com/2010/06/08/why-getting-a-ph-d-should-be-a-let-down. This kind of clever work and exposure! I wish I can do the same. Carry on the excellent effort guys. I’ve you guys to my blogroll.
October 21, 2011 at 6:42 pm, Randi said:
I have just finished accrual of my interventional research- am feeling the let-down already as I head into analysis and the final write-ups and defense. It has been an amazingly lonely process. I would appreciate practical suggestions on how to stay motivated and positive in these next steps. I have done the ususal rewards like planning a special trip after this etc., but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
December 09, 2011 at 2:55 am, Lachezar Filchev said:
If one expect some kind of fireworks to start after the Ph.D. defense, more probably this one is on the wrong way. Meeting one’s expectations is not the purpose of the system. In fact, the system does need Ph.D.’s in order to function properly, and to reproduce itself. If it is not like that, than the system will fall apart into pieces. Then, what should the system do, to make us happy? I do not think that it can do something else, than to offer us the right problems to solve, as the path of a scientist is more or less battling with oneself. Then, who does know precisely, If before us will be exactly the problem we want to solve? This is again an expectation, which the system is very likely not to solve, and not to take even into account, as it needs specific problems to be solved. Thus, I do think that the crisis is arising from our expectations, and the reality. They both do not fit, as we do not have a real perception, what is the reality. However, one can say: ‘How come! We are not machines, we are humans.’, and this one is right. Here comes the tricky part of the dilemma. In fact science is not an art. We cannot change this fact. What we can change is not the system, as it will go forward in one way or another, but we can change our perception on the things that we do. The last part of your post is the best one, as it is the result of the ‘let down’. There you did realized that one have to be happy with the work done, and the results achieved in real time. What I mean is, that you have to be happy, and not to expect others to see, and to award one’s research, as probably they will not do so. The feeling of the well done job, is the only reward, that one should seek for. Of course, If the research has real social and economic impact, that changes the life of many, we have to have our benefits from that.
Last but not least, do not get overwhelmed in advance in order not to be let down after!