Although experiences vary, and the opinions put forth may not speak for everyone, here are some thoughts that resonate with many individuals who have faced an emotional roller-coaster ride that is a doctoral degree.
The frustrations with science, especially when carrying out a doctoral degree seem to be universal. Just google PhD frustrations and you will come across several blogs that scream out the discontent in the hearts of many students, who find it very difficult to cope with what rather feels like a psychological ailment than a doctoral study. Words like depression and frustration pop up in everyday conversations amongst students of science, and the scientific community seems to care far less about it. If PhD were not frustrating enough, you will find blogs describing what are called the post PhD blues. Too many PhDs, too little jobs – academia churns out PhDs in diverse fields, a marvelous feat indeed, but often the PhDs are ill-adapted for facing the challenges of the actual job market. There is unfortunately very little sympathy for PhD students even within the academic environment. Students are often blamed for pursuing doctoral study without giving it a clear thought. Moreover, if you do not publish, you most likely do perish!
In academia, you are to plan every step of your career in advance. To make a career out of science, you need to be smart enough to network, be up-to-date with happenings of your field, and publish your research in as many ways as you can. Not a lot to expect out of an average student; but in reality, once you start your work in the laboratory, especially as a PhD student, you are faced with so many different obstacles that you were never trained to tackle. For example, dealing with an uncooperative supervisor, the ability to judge whether your project is going in the right direction or not, saying no to methodologies that you feel are inappropriate for the study, etc., etc. These are some situations you face primarily during your PhD. You make mistakes, you make cowardice decisions, and you sometimes sacrifice your personal beliefs for the sake of finishing your PhD. And when it is all over, you may surprisingly emerge out a strong-hearted, self-assured individual, or in complete contrast, a devastated and broken mess.
Scientific research takes its own course: you can never coax the experiments to favour your theories no matter the amount of troubleshooting you do, and time is never an ally! Hence, you might as well write a manuscript during your PhD, but you may end up never publishing it. And being denied a postdoctoral job due to the mere fact that you lack a publication is plain unfairness. Apparently, the primary screen for most of the postdoctoral positions is to check the resume for at least one published first author paper. Isn’t the book (thesis) written by the student a sufficient proof of scientific prowess? I once had a conversation with two young eminent scientists at a conference. We spoke about the significance of publications, and they open-mindedly reaffirmed the pitiful state of publications playing the upper hand in research these days and their grants having to depend on the quantity of the papers they publish and the impact factors of the journals they publish them in. And when asked if they would hire a person without a publication for a postdoctoral position, there was a slight hesitation. I was expecting at least a courteous yes. But obviously, they would like to hire someone with all the skill sets required for the job and of course, at least one publication even if it is irrelevant to the project. In the end I can only appreciate their honesty.
What is more gut-wrenching is the ineptitude and indifference amongst PhD advisors. I know not a handful but sadly many who have been forced to go to the unemployment office even before finishing their thesis. It is not a rosy picture. Aren’t the students the responsibilities of their supervisors? The PIs are often too happy to let students into their labs with their own fellowships – with no proper plans for a project. And when the project goes nowhere and the money runs out, the student is left with no choice but to hurry up and finish the thesis without receiving any payment. In some cases that is 3-5 months of actual work without a paycheck in the pocket! To work at a coffee shop or a super market is not the dream that one had when one consciously chose to do the highest degree that the education system can provide with.
One is thus left to wonder what will happen to the individuals with the so called pity PhDs? – the ones who have been forced to go to the unemployment office even before finishing their thesis, the ones sent home without publications. These are not people who are incapable of performing scientific research; these are people who have regretfully been failed by an improperly monitored education system. For a few years now the faults in the PhD system have been openly recognized and widely discussed amongst the scientific community - I only wish they (universities, educational institutions, etc.) would make it clearer to the general public that it is not all that fine and dandy in the world of science.
False advertisements spring hope in the hearts of students, who think that focused lab work and good grades will see them through to a career in academia, when in reality there are several other factors that come into play. Science is no longer the romanticized haven for lab rats. You need to have the sales skills of a successful sales executive, the tact of a politician, the writing/poetic skills on par with Shakespeare and Wordsworth, a Babel fish in your ear, and any other extra qualification that can come in handy. So if academia fails you, you can at least jump onboard the money-making industries of science. For some, however, the advice of having to redefine their personalities at the age of 28+ comes a little too late. Unemployment office, a total dislike of a subject once so loved, and a society that fails to comprehend their circumstances are what some disheartened researchers are left with.
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