7

I'm a 5th year PhD student in the US studying Experimental Psychology with an accepted Master's from a different Experimental Psychology program. I've had a fairly rough grad school experience overall, which my older posts can elaborate on. I'm currently living with my parents 4.5 hours away from where I'm doing my PhD because I'm done with dissertation data collection and my only in person commitments are for my fellowship and dissertation defense (whenever that happens).

After some discussions with others and knowing my limitations (e.g., poor abstract reasoning, poor verbal fluency), I've decided that I've wanted to be a social science research technician. I'm even open to becoming a social science research analyst as well since I recently interviewed for that position (but was rejected sadly) and was one of three who passed a competency test for that position.

Given that such a position wouldn't require a PhD, I'm strongly considering dropping from this program altogether now given the myriad of mental health, physical health, advising (my first PhD advisor dropped me), and financial issues this program's had all along. I've wanted my awful program experience to end by leaving it either after I got a job offer in hand or graduating from it.

Now that I've committed to a research technician or analyst position, I'm thinking that dropping is the best move despite working on my Results and Discussion sections. A lot of folks advise not dropping from a PhD because it burns connections, but what are the other potential consequences of leaving a PhD program for a technician position (should I get one soon working with my home state's vocational rehabilitation)? I'd like to know.

Improve this question
14
  • 5
    You should tread very carefully here. In particular, do the people you are working with from vocational rehabilitation have more than a token amount of experience working with people seeking careers requiring higher education? In many cases, degree requirements for jobs are there not because the job requires information or knowledge of specific tasks you were taught in a degree program but because the job requires abstract reasoning abilities that are correlated with earning degrees. If vocational rehabilitation doesn't understand this they may be misleading you about your chances.
    – Alexander Woo
    Commented Nov 24 at 4:16
  • 3
    "my only in person commitments are for my fellowship and dissertation defense" This sounds like you are almost done. I understand quitting half way, but you are basically standing on the finish already. At least half of your reasons for quitting, namely the advisor and financial problems, will hardly matter then. Is this me reading things wrong? How much actual time would it take to finish?
    – MisterMiyagi
    Commented Nov 24 at 6:14
  • 2
    Perhaps I am misreading, but it seems, from your comments and responses, that you have already made your decision.
    – ambiguditi
    Commented Nov 25 at 12:16
  • 1
    What is the difference between a research "analyst" and "technician"? These are just job titles.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Nov 25 at 14:38
  • 1
    @zzmondo1 You are almost certainly overqualified for a "tech" position as someone this close to defending. Can you clarify if you mean a position in a university lab somewhere, or a think thank, or what?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Nov 25 at 16:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
15

The two main consequences are likely to be:

  • You disqualify yourself from jobs that require a PhD. The job you're looking at doesn't require a PhD right now, but that might change in the future.
  • You get questions about why you didn't complete your PhD during job interviews, especially since five years is a long time to spend without getting a degree out of it.

Beyond that, in the same way your high school grades matter less once you've earned an undergraduate degree, your non-completed PhD starts mattering less once you've held a real job.

That said, I see several major warning signs in your question right now:

  • You've said you want to be a social science research analyst apparently without having been a social science research analyst before. Are you sure you want to be a social science research analyst? How confident are you that you will enjoy it? If it turns out not to be as fulfilling as you thought, then having the PhD gives you significantly more flexibility.
  • Do you know if social science research analysts require only a masters degree, industry-wide? Or is it unique only to this company? Are there different grades of social science research analysts, where having a PhD qualifies you to more advanced grade(s)?
  • You don't appear to have a job offer. Quitting your PhD before having a formal offer is very risky, since you might not find a job as a social science research analyst before you run out of $.

Not knowing your circumstances in detail, I'd lean towards completing the PhD, because it sounds like you're almost finished. You could also ask your parents, since they're likely to know the job search process well.

Improve this answer
5
  • I'll reply to each point in order: 1.) I'm fairly sure I want to be a social science research analyst since it seems like a solid fit overall. 2.) Many of them require a Master's degree at minimum, but years of experience applying certain skills matters more (which I also have
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 24 at 3:18
  • ). 3.) I don't have a job offer. Unfortunately, I ran out of funding last academic year so I've been living on savings from the full time visiting instructor position I did last year and fellowship money. If I drop out, I'll must return the fellowship money even though I fulfilled my service since graduating is required. I'm tired of being in overdrive all the time every single time I work. Regarding my parents, I'm first generation (even at the undergrad level) so my parents aren't exactly going to be much help when it comes to the job market right now.
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 24 at 3:25
  • 2
    @zzmondo1 I'm fairly sure I want to be a social science research analyst since it seems like a solid fit overall Without having worked as a social science research analyst before, this statement can be off the mark. Beware. As for talking to your parents: I'm not suggesting you ask them to help you find a job. I'm suggesting you ask them about the job search process and what they think about you quitting the PhD.
    – Allure
    Commented Nov 24 at 6:34
  • 2
    I haven't worked such a position. However, when I heard what a day to day was like during my interview for one, it seemed up my alley. As for quitting the PhD... my parent said they're not a fan of me doing that at all. They understand me searching for jobs, but even they've said that they want me to slow down and that they believe that me not getting the jobs I applied to this semester was a blessing in disguise because I'd have more time to focus on my dissertation and fellowship commitments. @Allure
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 24 at 12:14
  • *parents (typo)
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 24 at 12:25
7

If you can finish your dissertation without permanent damage (burn out, medical condition, losing spouse, fighting with parents), try to do so!

There are so many pros for having the thing finished. My personal number one: The joy of knowing it has been a success, despite all the problem, the bad odds, and the long hardship.

Improve this answer
5
  • I'm already suffering from autistic burnout (think of regular burnout but 100x times worse) and got PTSD from my program so there's already been damage done for sure.
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 25 at 0:34
  • If you can manage to finish without much additional damage, make the damage count for something!
    – usr1234567
    Commented Nov 25 at 17:50
  • The problem is that the damage has already been done though. I'm legitimately not working on anything related to my PhD at all.
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 28 at 19:14
  • If you don't want or can return to working on your PhD with the goal to finish it, there is no question to answer here. Then it is over, you have to admit it to yourself, and talk to your advisor.
    – usr1234567
    Commented Nov 29 at 7:19
  • 1
    Yeah, I'm going to talk to him this coming Wednesday officially.
    – zzmondo1
    Commented Nov 29 at 9:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .