🎓 𝐈𝐬 𝐚 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫?

[Susanta]

𝐈𝐬 𝐚 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫?

Consider two PhD scholars.
𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀
Completes a full-time PhD in 4 years.
Dedicates those years entirely to research.
Earns a PhD.

Begins their academic career as an 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫.

𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁
Joins a teaching position.
Pursues a part-time PhD while working.
Completes the PhD in 5 years.
By then, they have:
A PhD
5 years of teaching experience

Now this combination can make them eligible for 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 roles or faster career progression often with a higher pay scale.

Both have earned a PhD.
Both have worked hard.
Yet their career paths can look very different.

For students who genuinely dream of teaching creates a difficult choice:
𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡?
𝐨𝐫
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?

I’d genuinely like to hear from faculty members, PhD scholars, researchers, academic leaders and policymakers.

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬?

MBH/PS

[RatnaK]

PhD is done by research, and without doing full time research how would anyone be expert in a particular stream. Research needs time and energy to expand your thinking abilities as well as career horizon. To compete with pressurized field of research and academia, I don’t think part time PhD is a good option.