Considering quitting

[plants45]

I know that this is a topic that has been amply addressed, but would some feedback.

I'm in my third year of a doctoral program in sociology. My funding is okay, the faculty that I work with are generally supportive, and I have an exciting dissertation project beginning to be lined up (though it's very much covid pending). The thing is, I have really grown to hate academia. I love reading and teaching sociology, but I hate the disciplinary field itself. Everything seems quite cut throat. I've pretty much decided that I do not want to stay in academia after/if I finish. But I'm also not sure how much longer I can go on. I'm pretty tired of the nature of the work - which has definitely been made worse by covid - and have a very difficult time concentrating and being productive. I find myself longing for a job where I can more easily leave work at work and have more of a semblance of a personal life, without the constant cloud of needing to be productive hanging over me.

I considered mastering out when I received my master's degree last year, but decided that job hunting in the middle of the pandemic would be a nightmare. I have mixed feelings about leaving. I think that I would enjoy doing my dissertation research and that it would be a welcome change from the coursework and other training that I've done to date. But I'm wondering if it would just be smart to totally get out of academia now, rather than continue through. I keep trying to set more boundaries (setting cutoffs for amount of work done, trying to take a bit more time off), but I find myself feeling guilty for not being maximally productive. Beyond that, I'm also just tired of making so little money and constantly being quasi-broke, and the possibility of entering into the academic job market is just pretty depressing. If I get the PhD and leave academia, I would certainly have some options, but I'm not sure it's worth sticking it out.

I would love to hear advice, particularly if you've been in a similar situation. 

[denify]

15 minutes ago, plants45 said:

I know that this is a topic that has been amply addressed, but would some feedback.

I'm in my third year of a doctoral program in sociology. My funding is okay, the faculty that I work with are generally supportive, and I have an exciting dissertation project beginning to be lined up (though it's very much covid pending). The thing is, I have really grown to hate academia. I love reading and teaching sociology, but I hate the disciplinary field itself. Everything seems quite cut throat. I've pretty much decided that I do not want to stay in academia after/if I finish. But I'm also not sure how much longer I can go on. I'm pretty tired of the nature of the work - which has definitely been made worse by covid - and have a very difficult time concentrating and being productive. I find myself longing for a job where I can more easily leave work at work and have more of a semblance of a personal life, without the constant cloud of needing to be productive hanging over me.

I considered mastering out when I received my master's degree last year, but decided that job hunting in the middle of the pandemic would be a nightmare. I have mixed feelings about leaving. I think that I would enjoy doing my dissertation research and that it would be a welcome change from the coursework and other training that I've done to date. But I'm wondering if it would just be smart to totally get out of academia now, rather than continue through. I keep trying to set more boundaries (setting cutoffs for amount of work done, trying to take a bit more time off), but I find myself feeling guilty for not being maximally productive. Beyond that, I'm also just tired of making so little money and constantly being quasi-broke, and the possibility of entering into the academic job market is just pretty depressing. If I get the PhD and leave academia, I would certainly have some options, but I'm not sure it's worth sticking it out.

I would love to hear advice, particularly if you've been in a similar situation. 

I am not an expert but try and hang in there, it may be challenging now but I would suggest you finish up. You have already put in so much work , I don't believe quitting is the best way to go. 

Go for counseling if you can, try and relax, take a deep breath. You got in for a purpose, don't quit now! 

[GradSchoolGrad]

3 hours ago, plants45 said:

I know that this is a topic that has been amply addressed, but would some feedback.

I'm in my third year of a doctoral program in sociology. My funding is okay, the faculty that I work with are generally supportive, and I have an exciting dissertation project beginning to be lined up (though it's very much covid pending). The thing is, I have really grown to hate academia. I love reading and teaching sociology, but I hate the disciplinary field itself. Everything seems quite cut throat. I've pretty much decided that I do not want to stay in academia after/if I finish. But I'm also not sure how much longer I can go on. I'm pretty tired of the nature of the work - which has definitely been made worse by covid - and have a very difficult time concentrating and being productive. I find myself longing for a job where I can more easily leave work at work and have more of a semblance of a personal life, without the constant cloud of needing to be productive hanging over me.

I considered mastering out when I received my master's degree last year, but decided that job hunting in the middle of the pandemic would be a nightmare. I have mixed feelings about leaving. I think that I would enjoy doing my dissertation research and that it would be a welcome change from the coursework and other training that I've done to date. But I'm wondering if it would just be smart to totally get out of academia now, rather than continue through. I keep trying to set more boundaries (setting cutoffs for amount of work done, trying to take a bit more time off), but I find myself feeling guilty for not being maximally productive. Beyond that, I'm also just tired of making so little money and constantly being quasi-broke, and the possibility of entering into the academic job market is just pretty depressing. If I get the PhD and leave academia, I would certainly have some options, but I'm not sure it's worth sticking it out.

I would love to hear advice, particularly if you've been in a similar situation. 

It might help if you knew that Sociology PhDs are rather super marketable these days outside of academia doing customer experience / user experience work. You are leagues above History or English PhDs in non-academic career opportunities.