DOCTORAL STUDENTS, Working or Not, PLEASE BEGIN Your Degree with YOUR END IN MIND.
What do I mean by this? No matter what:
TYPE of institution (brick and mortar vs online university),
HOW YOU ATTEND (full-time grad student with little to no outside employment vs. full-time employee doing school on nights and weekends),
DEGREE (PhD, EdD, PsyD, etc.) or
DISCIPLINE (Humanities, Social or Natural Sciences, Nursing, etc…)
in which you do your PhD, please have an idea of what you would like to do with your degree afterwards and research the feasibility of this goal for the institution, degree, and discipline.
For example, is it typical for a teacher who does a PhD at an online university to become a college professor at a brick and mortar university? If this path is typical, there will be others who have done it previously and your institution should refer you to those people as resources or examples for your own personal research.
As a prospective student for any degree program you should research what the graduates of the program are doing after they complete their program.
Do you want to do research, work for the federal government, or progress in your current profession after completing your doctorate? Whatever your goal, complete a degree that will allow you to accomplish that goal. Do not get a doctorate just to get a doctorate. The process is too stressful to not be intentional.
The following advice column is excellent for full-time graduate students but also has important points for anyone working on a doctorate. Check it out! https://www.chronicle.com/article/Odds-Are-Your-Doctorate-Will/246613
For you working PhD students out here or those considering a PhD, in search of more advice, comment below with your questions! I’d love to hear from you!
Dr. Frances, Your Dissertation Coach
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