How does PhD in sociology make sense for you?

[SocioEd]

I have been working on the personal statement for several weeks--starting several drafts but could finish none. (Of course I have been doing other work also.) Here I feel I have got stuck in this question: is PhD really what I want? Put in other words: how can I be sure that I want to end up being a professor in this life, while I am still in early twenties?

It seems that I still could not grasp what "commitment" needed in PhD application really means. Personally I have always thought a research career would fit into the lifestyle I like, and teaching at college looks like an enjoyable thing; but I feel that I am not fully ready to settle in an all predictable life course (of researching and teaching). I come to wonder, how does PhD in sociology make sense for other applicants, e.g. you? (You could not expect too much on career possibilities other than faculty when you apply for PhD, right?)

[socialcomm]

Faculty isn't the only path you can take with a PhD in sociology. Depending on your specialization, you could go into the business world and do research there or work in the government/policy realm. Other people might be able to provide more specific examples, but I don't think you're tied to only going into academia (although going into a program most will tell you they want to train their students to be effective academic researchers and your SOP should probably reflect that even if you're not 100% sure that's what you'll do at the end of the program).

[jacib]

I have been working on the personal statement for several weeks--starting several drafts but could finish none. (Of course I have been doing other work also.) Here I feel I have got stuck in this question: is PhD really what I want? Put in other words: how can I be sure that I want to end up being a professor in this life, while I am still in early twenties?

It seems that I still could not grasp what "commitment" needed in PhD application really means. Personally I have always thought a research career would fit into the lifestyle I like, and teaching at college looks like an enjoyable thing; but I feel that I am not fully ready to settle in an all predictable life course (of researching and teaching). I come to wonder, how does PhD in sociology make sense for other applicants, e.g. you? (You could not expect too much on career possibilities other than faculty when you apply for PhD, right?)

We were explained in our first pro-seminar with faculty, "If you don't want to be a tenured faculty member at a research university, don't tell us. Clearly we are all faculty members at a research university and for better or worse, we think we made the right choice. Research universities are good at reproducing the structure of research universities. If you tell us you're not interested in this track, we will give less attention. And if you're not interested this track, that's fine. You can tell each other even, just don't tell us because we have an inherent interest in reproducing ourselves." Even if we wanted to teach at a liberal arts college, we were supposed to hide that from the faculty. He said that all more articulately, but you get the drift. This might differ at other schools, but at my school this has been made clear to us again and again. Some schools might emphasize teaching more.

Especially if you're going directly from undergrad, or even without a break undergrad-masters-PhD, you should seriously consider if this is what you want though. Have you tried anything else? I know I was not ready to apply out of undergrad, but after three years of teaching and living abroad and just doing other things in general, I was sure, and I was in a better spot to research the topic I had wanted to start three years ago. That said, one kid in my cohort is direct out of undergrad, and another did the undergrad-masters-PhD thing. They are both definitely ready to be doing their PhDs, and are in fact probably further along with the researcher mentality than I am. Then again, other two people are 30, and had actual careers that they gave up to do this. Another kid had applied for a PhD two times in anthropology before getting it right with sociology. It really varies person to person, but I think we are all ready to be researchers, and I think that's a clear common trait that we share. This might just a particular emphasis of my school, but i would bet that this is a more general thing.

Edited October 15, 2010 by jacib