Quitting Graduate School- I Didn't Do It, Should You?

Despite a continuing number of hits to this blog from individuals considering "quitting graduate school," I acknowledge that I am no longer an expert on this topic. I consider only those poor, overly tortured saps currently in school to be experts on this topic. Did you graduate? Then you don't know what you're talking about anymore. (HELLO, recall and Pollyanna biases.) Did you quit already? Recently or many years ago? Then you're clearly not an expert either. (Quick, what type of bias is this?)

Anyway, I still get a lot of hits on this so I thought I'd revisit how I feel about not quitting graduate school. Clearly, as a disclaimer, this is pretty field-specific. I have the (um? luxury?) perspective of working in a relatively interdisciplinary field with connections to both hard and squooshy and very very fluffy sciences, so while that gives me some options, it also shows me that in terms of faculty appointments and expectations, that while I someday (Imshallah) may have it much easier than some, I may have a much harder academic life than others. (As in, there is no program in my primary field in which I could ever have a summer break. I know, boo-hoo!)

Did I quit graduate school? No. Am I glad I finished? Abso-fucking-lutely. Will I actually be able to use the knowledge and skills that I was taught in graduate school? Only time will tell (so far I've been lucky on this and the answer is "yes" but I'm still only a postdoc.) Am I still considering "quitting" academia? Yes, just not as often as I once did. Am I trying to gain some realworld skills just in case? Yes.

...and now, more about you:

Should you quit? Odds are, yes. Why should you quit? This depends on your goals. Have you always thought you would be able to grow up and be just like your professor? Hey, you might, but don't hold your breath. If you think you can apply the knowledge and skills and socialization you gained in school in a number of different environments and toward different ends...well, more power to you. Keep going. If you just want someone to call you "Doctor" someday? Then keep going, you can totally make it and get what you want from the experience. If you seriously think you'll get tenured someday? Take an informal poll of assistant professors out there. If you want to stay in academia but can't stand the thought of adjuncting or remaining research faculty? Consider a different field or get ready for disappointment.

Quitting Graduate School

Recently, fabio from orgtheory posted Grad School Rulz #21 on a topic of interest to 99% of all graduate students: quitting graduate school. It provides a good look at reasons to stay or quit the Academy.

I know this is of interest to my readers as it's probably the #3 reason search string that brings people to this site. For example, I get these a lot (insert various spelling errors): "graduate school cult" or "quitting graduate school". Even a good friend of mine (T-2 days from his defense) just posted on his FB that, following his advisor's criticisms at the 11th hour, he was planning to drop out.

Clearly, it's too late for me to drop out. BUT YOU MIGHT STILL HAVE A CHANCE!

Graduate school and the academy are quite cultish and as such, frank discussions about "quitting" are few and far between. Just this weekend I attended the National Postdoctoral Association annual meeting in Houston. For those of you unfamiliar with the organization, be sure to check out their website but do keep in mind the fact that the organization is heavily geared toward biomedical/science postdocs. Anywho, this meeting did a wonderful job presenting career development, networking, goal-setting, and job-landing opportunities OUTSIDE the Ivory Tower. My favorite part is when a group of recruiters from the [INSERT BIG FEDERAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION HERE] asked, "Why on earth do you people do this to yourselves? For Christ's sake, I pay my secretary more than you make!"

The meeting was great and I encourage you all to look into it. Let me know if you want more info on it, and I'll be happy to share some of the things I learned. Basically, I was newly inspired, filled with big thoughts and dreams, until I got back to my cube on Monday, and I realized I don't know how to do anything else.

What do you guys think about the re-entering the "Real World?" Worth it? Not? What about telling your mentor? (Now that would not be a discussion I would look forward to!)

GRADual Progress

The Carnival of GRADual progress is up at lines ever more unclear.

To All: Take Note

Some graduate school etiquette for all of you, from Phd, Piled High & Deeper, a grad student comic strip.

This ABD reflects on yet another graduation season

So yet another graduation season has come and gone. Yet more pomp and ceremony and "Dr." calling that has passed me by…

Last Friday was the commencement ceremony. Two of my friends graduated, one of which started the program at the same time I did. With each passing year, watching friends and acquaintances and strangers and total jerks graduate while I am still slumming ABD, my feelings about the ceremony and the whole PhD process seem to change. The ceremony itself seems to grow more and more like a meaningless show full of bogus pomp and circumstance marking the end of the long, frustrating, and bureaucratic freakshow we call grad school and yet at the same time, it strikes me as more meaningful, touching, and impressive. (I mean, those hoods and sash-y things!)

Friday night one of my graduating friends had a huge party, with margaritas and an entire mariachi band. It was fun but I kept wanting it to be my party. My party, damnit! This sucks. So, to prepare for my future party, I spent (at least) 10 minutes hunting down next fall’s academic calendar to look up the dissertation deadlines. I even wrote them on my calendar:

First dissertation deadline: October 12, 2007
Final dissertation deadline: November 9, 2007

These were the only deadlines available at this time. Needless to say 25 more bureaucratic, administrative, and dissertation formatting deadlines will crop up between now and then.

The Cult of Graduate School and the Decision to Quit (made by someone else)

Here is a great post in which Scrivener explains why it’s just not worth it to finish the dissertation. This was a frightening post to me (because I really don’t want to quit at this point but I definitely entertain the idea on a regular basis) but it’s well written and obviously the result of a lot of soul searching. Does the dissertation relationship always have to be dysfunctional? Do our identities have to become so conflated with the diss? .

In the post, Scrivener directs us to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Educaiton about the cultish nature of graduate school. More to chew on.

These discussions are even more devastating in a field like mine in which there are no instructor or research faculty positions for ABDs.

Understanding the Doctoral Candidate, or, It's Not Just Me

This morning, as I was busy putting together a poster demonstrating the results of a fun little study I did on factorial validity and invariance(yawn), I started to think about something FUN to write. I have an idea for a book about PhD candidates and the dissertation process.

So I did some googling to find out if anything like it had been done before and I came across a citation for the dissertation, "Understanding the ABD (all but dissertation) doctoral candidate: A phenomenological approach" by Manuel G. Ramos Jr. Here's an excerpt:

"The findings of this research suggest that the phenomenon of the ABD doctoral candidate can best be described as a phenomenon which results in leaving the individual experiencing feelings, emotions, or in a state of: isolation; doubting one's own ability; at a loss (how to approach the dissertation); guilt; frustration; embarrassment; powerlessness; vulnerability; fear; and insecurity."

Well, I can certainly relate.

I think all of these creative ideas I have about fun writing projects stem from the powerlessness and frustration I feel when I reflect on my dissertation. The diss is represents the last and biggest project for which the writer is still just a helpless peon (aka student). As such, it blows. As much autonomy as we have, we still aren't entirely in charge. And we all know that academics LOVE being pushed around.

More on the book idea later.