Second Thoughts Before Starting Doctorate

[SSFL]

So, I'm having considerable doubts about starting my program in spring. To provide background, I got my MA a few years ago in a liberal arts field and began teaching through my alma mater as a part time instructor online right away. I've been managing a class a semester pretty regularly at my old school, but haven't broken into any other colleges yet - and other than I few job applications here and there, I haven't really tried due to family restraints up until recently.

Well, last fall, I decided I was ready to move forward with the PhD as my kids were getting older, and I felt I had the time and energy to devote to studies again. My reasoning for getting the PhD is that I would like to teach full time in my field. I love learning about it, and I REALLY enjoy teaching it, and it seems if I ever hope to have a full time teaching job, a doctoral degree is a must. That said, I much prefer the broad study of my field generally as I have many interests verses the focused, narrowed research necessary for the PhD. This professional doubt has been compounded by the fact that right after applying for my doctorate, I found out I was expecting baby #5. So, while I was accepted into my chosen program, I deferred my enrollment until spring since the baby was due just a week before my fall classes would have started. Thus, my own reservations about spending so many years devoted to one, narrow topic combined with my new family obligations are making me wonder if I should delay or completely disregard my pursuit of the doctorate. 

Has anyone else gotten into their program of choice and chosen not to go forward with it? What were the deciding factors, and did you regret your decision? Honestly, I'm just not sure I want to devote the time and energy away from my family to pursue one, narrow line of research when there's so many broad avenues of interest I'd love to learn about in my field. However, the thought of not being able to go further professionally is frustrating, too. I'd just appreciate getting some additional perspectives. 

P.S. Tuition costs aren't a huge factor in my decision. My husband works full time in addition to my instructing, and we were planning to fund my doctorate - at least for the first few years - ourselves. 

[juilletmercredi]

Wait, did you get into an unfunded PhD program? Even if your husband and you can afford to fund your PhD program yourselves, I wouldn't do that. You should at least be getting a tuition waiver. A good program in your field - one that will enable you to find full-time teaching positions in your field - will most likely be fully funded.

What field are you in? Liberal arts encompasses a lot of fields - the social sciences, natural and physical sciences, and the humanities. A lot of people mean the social sciences and humanities when they say that, but even then, there's a difference between academia in economics or political science vs. academia in history or English literature. The reason I ask is because if you're weighing going or not, one of the deciding factors may be the difficulty of finding a job in your field, given that the entire reason you are returning to PhD study is because you want to teach full-time. There are two major elements here:

1) In almost all humanities fields and most social sciences fields, the job market is pretty bad. Even students from elite PhD programs compete to find good positions, and students from non-elite programs struggle more. In fact, chances are good that the average person who begins a PhD program won't actually get a tenure-track teaching position anywhere. Are you content with the idea that you might spend 5-10+ years and thousands of dollars getting a PhD that may never lead to a full-time teaching position?

2) Even if you do get a position, unless you live in a large city with lots of teaching positions AND are a superstar, you'll likely have to move. Are you geographically mobile and willing to move somewhere else?

I would also say that if you are already not really interested in narrow study in a particular area...you may not be happy with doctoral study in your field. Early on in the program you'll have a little more freedom to explore multiple areas through coursework and exams, but as time goes on you'll be asked to narrow your focus.

[Quickmick]

Just a thought, if you love the teaching aspect (as opposed to the research), have you considered teaching other age groups? In some states you can pick up a teaching cert over the course of a summerm and you would be in business. You would have less time in school, and probably a greater shot at employment--employment which would keep you on the same future schedule as your baby. You could even make the case that by avoiding the years of additional school, and spending that time teaching, your efforts may have greater impact (in terms of sheer numbers of students you taught).

Edited October 25, 2016 by Quickmick