Is a PhD Worth Pursuing?

[lionqueen]

Hello, 

I am looking for some advice when it comes to deciding whether pursuing a PhD is worth the time, effort, and so on that it entails. A bit of background first: I earned my BSc in biology in 2015 with a minor in psychology and (minor) research focuses in animal behavior and evolution. I simultaneously worked as a veterinary technician while in undergrad and for 2 years after graduating from undergrad, so for a total of almost 5 years. During this time I decided that vet school was not for me and decided to apply for a MS biology degree program, of which I was accepted into and am currently studying at. This is a two-year program and by the end, I will have finished a thesis that is ecology related that will hopefully be published and/or presented. I finally decided that I wish to pursue a career involving behavioral ecology, evolution, and conservation biology/management. I am now researching Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution PhD programs and plan to apply this fall. 

My concern is that I am troubled by the depressing salary information I have been reading for some positions related to what I want to study. My main question is would working toward a PhD in this field be worth it financially? It should seem that the greater educational background you have, the greater salary one should receive, but from what I have read, biologists with PhD's and even some biology professors salaries are not as significant as what some may assume they are. I would love to be able to work for conservation organizations and/or be a professor, but I am troubled by the low salaries I have been finding and worry that even though I may have a PhD (which by the way, I have always planned on finishing my education with a doctorate degree, just one of my many goals in life), it will be difficult to pay back what student loans I have and to be able have financial stability. Of course, they say it is not always supposed to be about the paychecks, and you need to find a career that makes you happy and lets you carry out your passions and interests, which I believe working in this field will let me do, but as many Americans are right now, I am concerned about the job market and financial planning for the future. 

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[hurryskurry]

For the professor part I think it depends. Adjunct professors get paid very poorly. But at one of my undergraduate institutions instructors made ~70k, and at my current institution assistant professors make ~120k. That's not bad. Even 70k is enough really to raise a family on if you're responsible (at least in Texas it is), even without a partner. I think the questions to ask are 1.) how competitive those jobs are, 2.) what are the steps it takes to be competitive for them, and 3.) how much work is involved. Then you could weigh the answers against your interests and passions to get an idea of how feasible it is for you, or whether you want to pursue that path or not. Off the cuff, I would assume the job market is tougher and more competitive for behavioral ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, because those fields have less direct biomedical or industry relevance. 

Edited January 14, 2018 by hurryskurry

[FishNerd]

I really think what @hurryskurry said is a good point. I don't think you wouldn't be able to live a comfortable life on a professors salary (also long as your are not an adjunct professor) even with student loans (my current masters advisor is doing it). However you do have to take into account how competitive these positions are as hurryskurry says. I come from a conservation, ecology and evolutionary biology background and I know for a fact professor positions in these fields are competitive because there are fewer positions and fewer grant opportunities for this type of research. I am currently applying for a PhD in this type of work and that alone has been very competitive and I know it is going to be even more competitive trying to get a position as a tenure track professor and I'm going to work my butt off to be as competitive as possible. Also if you are geographically limited by where you would want to pursue a PhD or eventually live as a professor academia can be very difficult because many academics have to be willing to move across the country for positions sometimes for even only 1-2 years for those working as postdocs--which by the way most people I know who have graduated with an degree in ecology, evolutionary or conservation biology have to pursue a post doc. I know it's gonna be a long path for me to eventually get the job I want but I am willing to move as much as necessary and try over and over to eventually get the type of position I want. It can be done but sometimes it just takes time and who knows exactly how much time.

As for working for conservation organizations I don't know a lot but I have heard they are also hard to break into (again there is always less funding for conservation biology compared to medical based biology) -- see https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/a-rich-persons-profession-young-conservationists-struggle-to-make-it/

I'm not sure how much people in conservation organizations make once they're in but when you read the above article it can be very difficult (and sometimes very expensive) to break into those type of organizations.

The only other job prospects I know of with people with PhDs in this field is government work but again there are relatively few positions compared to those that want those positions. I don't think these jobs are poorly paid (salary may not be enormous but most government work comes with a lot of really good benefits - good healthcare and such) so if you were able to obtain one I'm sure you could pay off your loans.

I know this all sounds kinda doom and gloom and super competitive but I just know that this is what I have always been told and have personally experience through friends and acquaintances and I'm still crazy enough to try. So it can be done but it does take hard work and persistence and if you are extremely passionate about this type of work the long road can be worth it. It will be financially hard though until you secure one of the competitive positions.

Hope my insight provides a bit of help and feel free to ask me any more questions you have @lionqueen.

Edited February 3, 2018 by FishNerd
Clarifications and typos