Going for my PhD
I am becoming less and less interested in getting a PhD. I used to think that getting my PhD was the way to go, but now I am not so sure.
I am really enjoying teaching high school, and my Master’s Degree allows me to teach at the college level anyway as an occasional instructor. Plus, even if I would get my PhD, my future would likely involve moving to a big city, taking low pay, and having to deal with the Academic nonsense that pushed me out of the system to begin with. Plus, I really don’t want to put myself or a family through the agony of PhD poverty.
Also, I just wonder what benefits a PhD carries anyway. With the internet, ideas are available to anyone (with a computer), written by anyone. This, of course creates problems, but it also means that a person doesn’t have to earn an advanced degree to publish information. Sure, to publish academically a person needs the advanced degrees, but to publish popularly (where the real market is anyway), a degree isn’t needed. And for someone like myself that is far more interested in discussion/writing that has an academic tone but is meant for the popular level, the time and effort needed for me to get a PhD seems like a bad use of time and money.
Sure, I am still interested in getting a doctorate. However, I am going to wait for the right program, make sure I can afford it, and make sure I don’t have to move to a ghetto with skyrocketing rents to get my PhD. Any thoughts? Keep in mind I am not saying PhDs are worthless, since I would like to get one eventually, just thinking out loud.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I am actually thinking that I might just get a DMin at some point down the road. I like what I do, and a PhD for me doesn’t seem to pass the cost-benefit analysis.
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:37 pm
LP,
I hear ya!
I wish there were a professional theological doctorate that didn’t involve parish ministry, in other words a DMin equivalent for religion teachers, catechists, and writers/speakers. As I said above, the benefit in terms of cost and location are just not there for me with the PhD. In fact, I am really losing interest in even getting the PhD. I like my job, I like my location, and I like my salary, even though it is lower than I would ideally like. I just can’t take making 12,000/year, dealing with the out-there ideas and radicals, and moving to the ghetto (where housing is overpriced to boot) for a degree I can’t even get up excitement for anymore. Maybe something online will come along!
October 24th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
There is one for religious educators through Virginia Theological Seminary, though I think it targets school chaplains. The course work looks interesting, but I am not sure that I would jump on the VTS bandwagon at the moment.
Don’t a goodly number of Catholic lay professionals earn DMins? I think you can focus on religious ed in some of them. Check out the ATS website for links to the programs.