PHDandTEACH

The plan is to get my PhD and then apply to tenure track positions. I'm currently a teacher in a K12 classroom and was planning on remaining in the classroom, turning down the funding opportunity, and paying my own way through the program. Financially I'll make more money doing this, but I'm curious about what others think about how it affects my ability to be competitive for tenure track positions.

X-Post from Decisions, Decisions Board - Got little response there. Hi Grad Cafe, I applied to a local Curriculum and Instruction PhD program a few months ago. I just found out that I've been accepted! However, when I applied, I had done some research on continuing to teach while turning down funding (tuition waiver and stipend) because financially it would make more sense to remain in the classroom. I have a wife and two kids, so I'd want to maintain our quality of life as much as possible. The numbers make more sense to take out loans in the long run as getting a PhD automatically gives me an $8000/year raise, which would pay off the loans in about a decade after completion. I'm tenured, so there's little worry about ever losing my job. What I'm concerned about though is that I've read posts about how students without funding have pretty much zero shot at landing a tenure track position. I know of two local tenure track professors at small schools who worked and earned their PhD at the same time. So I know it's possible, but I'm curious about others' perspective. Especially from those in the field of education where teaching in a classroom is basically the "lab" for the field. Thanks!

I'm tenured. Almost impossible for me to be laid off.

Hi Grad Cafe, I applied to a local Curriculum and Instruction PhD program a few months ago. I just found out that I've been accepted! However, when I applied, I had done some research on continuing to teach while turning down funding (tuition waiver and stipend) because financially it would make more sense to remain in the classroom. I have a wife and two kids, so I'd want to maintain our quality of life as much as possible. The numbers make more sense to take out loans in the long run as getting a PhD automatically gives me an $8000/year raise, which would pay off the loans in about a decade after completion. What I'm concerned about though is that I've read posts about how students without funding have pretty much zero shot at landing a tenure track position. I know of two local tenure track professors at small schools who worked and earned their PhD at the same time. So I know it's possible, but I'm curious about others' perspective. Especially from those in the field of education where teaching in a classroom is basically the "lab" for the field. Thanks!