Hello, and a very warm welcome to the DRS podcast, the podcast of the Dahlem Research School at Freie University in Berlin. I’m Dr. Marlies Klamt, your host for this episode, and I’m really, really glad you tuned in today, because I will be delving into a very important topic. Should you pursue a doctorate or not?Maybe you have just completed your master’s degree, or perhaps you have had the dream of doing a doctorate for many years, even though you finished your graduate studies a while ago. Regardless of your situation, it is crucial to make an informed decision, one that aligns with your personality, your hopes, and your dreams for the future, among other things.

The goal of this episode is to assist you in the decision making process. To achieve this, in this episode I will explore the pros and cons of doing a doctorate, what kind of motivation can contribute to a happy and successful PhD journey, and other factors you should take into account. Now, let’s jump right into the topic.

In order to take a well informed decision about whether or not pursuing a doctorate is the right choice for you, it’s a good idea to begin by examining the pros and cons of undertaking a doctorate. Let’s start with the cons. The first downside is time, and by that I mean the time it takes to complete a doctorate.
However, I’m not just referring to the actual number of years it will take you to do your doctorate. And of course, these are years in which you will not gain practical work experience outside of the university, so those are important. But when I talk about time, I’m also referring to the time it costs you on a weekly and daily basis.

You might wonder if these are not essentially the same thing. So let me clarify. It’s highly likely that you will have to sacrifice leisure time, free time, especially when working in a lab where it’s not uncommon to be required to work outside of regular hours and also on weekends. But in any case, in any field, pursuing a doctorate involves a substantial workload and even with excellent time management (and that’s one of my focus topics, so I really know what I’m talking about here), so even if you have excellent time management, your doctorate, your dissertation, will consistently demand your time and energy.
Another point to consider on the downside of doing a doctorate is the financial aspect. Depending on your field, you might potentially earn a significantly higher income in a non academic job. This means for each year you spend on working on your dissertation, you could be missing out on higher earnings.
Obviously, that’s not always the case, but it can be the case. Sometimes it can also be challenging to find funding for your doctorate. Landing a scholarship or also a job as a doctoral student can be really competitive and varies greatly depending on your field. And you can already see, it’s difficult to make general statements here about this.

So it’s essential that you research the funding opportunities available in your specific field and that you take them into account. The third drawback of doing a doctorate is that you may find yourself far away from home, friends, and family, having to adapt to a new culture. Obviously, this is especially true for international students coming to FU in Berlin from abroad. But it can also be relevant if you, for example, are coming to Berlin from another region in Germany that significantly differs from the capital city.
The fourth and last reason against pursuing a PhD or doctorate is the difficulty factor. What do I mean by that? You can expect to encounter numerous challenges and crises during your journey.
And there may even be moments when you think about giving up. So, you’re in good company, you would definitely not be the first one if that are feelings you have. You might feel lonely, you might feel stuck, you might be annoyed with yourself, you might be annoyed with your supervisor, your fellow doctoral students, and with your thesis. This is completely normal.

However, it’s important to recognize that these obstacles can be overcome and there’s help and support available. So take the challenges into account, but also evaluate their significance in the context of your own priorities and your own goals. Now let’s shift perspective and explore the positives of pursuing a doctorate. Because it can also be an incredibly special and rewarding experience. Why can it be a rewarding experience? Because you gain new findings and new insights, and you actively contribute to the creation of knowledge. And that can feel really, really good. The second pro reason is that it can be enjoyable. If you have a passion for scientific work, for academic writing, for the tasks that come with working in the academic field, then you’re likely to find satisfaction in doing your doctorate. Despite the ups and downs involved.
The third reason to consider is that new job opportunities become available once you obtain your doctorate and these opportunities may potentially come with a better income. However, as you remember, I’ve already said this on the con side, it largely depends on your field of study if that’s the case or not.
Another pro argument for doing a doctorate is that you will become an expert in your field and you have a title to prove it. As I’ve mentioned earlier, doing a doctorate in a new country can have its challenges, however, it can also be viewed as an adventure, an opportunity to get to know a new country, city, make new friends and gain new experiences. So this could also serve as an argument in favor of doing a dissertation in Germany if you’re coming from abroad. Another compelling reason for doing a doctorate is that you gain numerous valuable soft skills, and there are so many that it’s impossible to list them all. But I want to give you a few to provide you with an idea. There’s critical thinking, there’s communication skills, self discipline, teamwork, problem solving skills, project management, and many, many more.

The final advantage I’d like to emphasize might not be as widely discussed, but in my opinion it’s incredibly important. You will grow as a person. Obviously, this shouldn’t be the sole reason for pursuing a doctorate, as there are many avenues for personal development, but it’s a significant and often overlooked, I would say, side effect. I like the idea that all the challenges and troubles that you’re going through are not in vain, but actually lead to a personal transformation. You won’t be the same person after finishing your doctorate as you have been before. You’ll have acquired not only knowledge, but also a deeper understanding of yourself, of your strengths, and your limits. It’s very likely that your communication skills with peers and supervisors will have improved. You’ll have developed resilience, self confidence, and many other skills I’ve just mentioned, all contributing to your personal growth and development.
So you have seen that there are a lot of pros and cons when considering doing a doctorate. And I think it’s important to consider those, that’s why we just talked about them, but I also think that a pro and con list alone will most likely not help you make your final decision.

However, there is another area you should check, which I would say is at least as important. Actually, one of the best predictors of whether your doctorate will be a happy experience or not is your motivation. Depending on the reasons you have for doing a dissertation it is more likely that you will have a positive experience or not. That’s why it’s well worth examining your motivation.
So let’s do a brief motivation check. I will ask you five questions and you can answer them either in your head or by pausing the podcast to record your answers as numbers. Because you will answer each question as a number. I actually do recommend writing down your numbers so that you can calculate them afterwards.
Ready? Let’s begin.

The higher the numbers you have assigned, the greater your intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a significant factor for success in your doctorate, because it indicates that you’re likely to enjoy most aspects of your doctoral journey and that you will have the determination to overcome obstacles and challenges.
Now, if you assigned a very low number to one of the questions, don’t worry at all. It simply suggests that you might not enjoy that particular aspect as much, and it might require more of your time and energy to complete it.
However, if you’ve given very low numbers to all of the questions, it might be a good idea to reflect on why you want to pursue a doctorate, if your motivation is primarily driven by external factors, such as obtaining a title, impressing others, improving career prospects, or earning more money. This could increase the likelihood of encountering difficulties and even lead to you dropping out.
Don’t worry if your motivation is a mix of internal and external factors, that is entirely normal and it can still provide a solid foundation of doing a doctorate. And a small disclaimer, the five questions I’ve presented are merely indicators of the quality of your motivation. Five questions is not enough to really dive deep into the topic.
So it’s a good idea to delve deeper into this subject by reflecting, by reading about the topic, by discussing it with others, or perhaps even attending a workshop that addresses this issue, this topic of motivation in more detail.
Before I share some aspects with you for further investigation, I want to mention a few other factors you might want to consider when making your decision: Distinguish between what you want and what other people think is good for you.
While seeking input from those who know you well can be valuable when contemplating a doctorate, it can also be a distraction, and it can complicate the decision making process. So keep in mind that others have their own experiences, they have their own agenda, for example they might not like the idea of you moving away, and they also have their own limiting beliefs.
So take this into account when you discuss the decision with others. And pick a good time to do so, to talk to them, based on the clarity that you have already gained in regards to your decision.