Are you thinking about applying to a PhD program? Are you already a doctoral student? PhD is a huge investment of time and money. So make sure you spend 15 minutes of your time reading this blog devoted to PhD program success and survival tips. I'm confident that these tips can save up to 10 years of your life, up to $1,000,000 of your money, and, most importantly, your physical and emotional health.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Why it is hard to stay motivated in a PhD program

Completing a PhD can be one of the most difficult tasks in your life due to the fact in many cases it's simply impossible to keep yourself motivated to do the task. Here's why:

  • Research is hard. It is hard to come up with something even marginally novel. It is very hard to adhere to the high standards for theoretical/logical strength of your arguments and empirical rigor of your field work. You have to work very hard, sometimes 7 days a week to adhere to those standards.
  • Despite the fact that those standards are high, they are often ambiguous and subjective. It is not uncommon to receive completely orthogonal evaluations of your work. Some people will say that what your wrote doesn't offer any valuable contributions and lacks the rigor. Others will say it is great work and should be published immediately. I once wrote a paper that my adviser thought was worthless - it did not offer anything new. I sent the paper to a well-known journal and the senior editor told me it was very interesting and she will publish it immediately. The bottom line is that no matter what you do, you will be criticized.
  • Despite the high standards that most researchers try to adhere, deeply inside you understand that most of the research produced in your field is really worthless. Deeply inside you understand that much of research is highly regarded only because it is produced by people who have a lot of power in your field. Nobody really reads those papers outside of your field, so there's no market validation of their value. The only people who read those papers are the ones who have to read and cite those "ingenious" papers if they want to get their own stuff published. So you start to doubt yourself and the field as a whole. If the most respected people in your field produce worthless crap, how can you produce something valuable?
  • Despite the fact that you have to work hard and deal with lack of any intrinsic motivation, you have to live with no extrinsic motivation as well. You are paid peanuts for what you do. You are worth as much as a minimum wage laborer. Even if you succeed in completing your PhD degree, you will not be paid millions for your work. Most likely, you will end up with an average paying job, just like millions of other people.
In the light of these issues, one cannot help but ask himself or herself: "Why am I doing this?". Sometimes I think that in order to be successful in academia, you have to be somewhat of an arrogant imbecile. A person with deep intellectual and emotional understanding of these factors will never complete his or her PhD. So if you wonder why so many professors are arrogant and self-centric, this can give you a possible explanation. People who are not like that do not survive.

19 comments:

  1. I love this blog... you are awesome and speak the truth. When I need to feel that someone else in the world understands what getting a PhD is really like, I read your blog.

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  2. excellent. working in academia it's so good to hear someone saying much of it is worthless crap, so true! only thing is most jobs outside the ivory towers are worthless crap too...ah to see through the fiction of human enterprise is not a happy place to be...

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  3. I totally agree. You got my support.

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  4. Yes, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way!

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  5. I agree with you,
    Thanks

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  6. God, sooo true. This was written a few years ago and it is still inspiring those of us who are struggling years later. Thanks for this uplifting piece so that I can acknowledge this and move forward in completing my doctorate work - of which I am so far along I can't just quit now. Must keep plodding...but not thinking about this!

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  7. I started my PhD 6 months ago, I was offered the scholarship by my professor without even having to apply, so I thought "why not?". Besides, I've always been a good and motivated student, so I thought this would perfectly suit me.
    Now, I'm seriously applying for jobs in the industry, because I've been realizing exactly all the things you wrote above. Congratulations and thanks for phrasing them so clearly.

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  8. I agree completely....I often wonder why did I do this to myself, followed by a huge desire of quitting, but I'm on my 3rd year and it feels like if I'm in the middle of the ocean equal chances of drowning trying to get back to shore as there're going forward, so I keep swimming.

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  9. I feel now much better after reading your post.....although there are some exceptions: you're so right about the character of the so-called sucessful academics.....:D :D

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  10. The 4 reasons you pointed out completely resonate with my painful, frequent self-doubting and "should I stay or should I go" mind-flipflopping moments! It's soon to be my first year in a PhD program (in total 3 years but 4 is often the realistic case for many other phd students). Thanks for your post! Maybe I can find ways to feel more motivated by targeting those reasons above.

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  11. I'm working a full-time job and pursuing my PhD at the same time. It is exceedingly stressful. I have finished the course work and I am in a funk for months now and can't seem to get on track with writing the PhD proposal. I start and stop and in the past 10 months have had more stops than starts. I think my professors see me as a loser and probably want me to leave. I've given serious thought to quitting the doctoral program but have already invested so much time (5 years!) and money. I'm feeling like a real loser. If I stay in the program how do I get started on my proposal? Can't seem to nail down a specific reasearch question. If I throw in the towel and walk away I will feel like an even bigger loser. I'm not an "arrogant imbecile" like you describe so does that mean I should quit now?

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    1. Hello
      Although we don't know each other but it might give you some solace that I am in a similar situation. Stuff has happened various times with starts and stops. Don't feel negatively about yourself. No you are not a loser. Its normal. Don't quit . I am sure you would be able to complete it. Its a challenge you have taken which many fear and have little idea why they fear. Few know the challenges of the phd life. Don't worry , you will make it however hard it may be. IMO, time spent is not directly proportionaly to success in phd and vice versa. You might suddenly feel invigiorated and urgent need to complete it and may finish it in shorter time than you think you might. Although you don't know me you can email me at sambuddhochakravarty [at] gmail.com.

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  12. Welcome to reality, this is what science is.

    Read this:

    http://books.google.se/books/about/Science_in_Action.html?id=sC4bk4DZXTQC&redir_esc=y

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  13. Thanks for the blog, it reminds me that I am not alone and I agree with the blog. Unlike with my previous degrees, I have struggled with completing my PhD. I feel like a loser and had two bouts of depression- but I don't work full-time, only part-time and now it's not even for the university. Since I am in year 8 I have to reapply and every time I sit down to work I find everything else more interesting. I am only 60% done and need to complete ASAP so I don't stay depressed, demotivated and like I am in limbo. I just have to force myself to complete for my own good....Even visiting the psychologist only helped so much. I asked myself so many times why I signed up, just so I can see others move on with their lives and to have people remind me that I need to get done. Thanks.... I needed to get my feelings out before I get back to timing myself when I work.

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  14. I began my PhD last fall. I had always wanted to teach literature. My undergraduate/ graduate school (the same) did not prepare me AT ALL for the research, conferences, publications, clubs, extra-curricular that was expected to boost a cv at this level. It is literally killing my love of literature. I worked as an adjunct instructor and a community college and loved it. I just thought getting a PhD would make me more marketable and that then I could work at either a university or a community college. I've done conferences, am secretary of the graduate club, an editor of the college journal, and have kept good grades all while working. However, I hate the elitist research mentality. I naively thought this mandatory "publish or perish" myth started after you got a job--not while taking classes, taking exams, and working. I worked a job and was on assistantship. I failed a first preliminary exam they do NOT prepare you for. I feel like a failure. Then, I realized I want to work JUST with students and loved teaching at the lower level. I wish I had just taken grammar courses online to make myself more efficient. I feel like my move has been a waste of time. I'm considering swapping to an EdS to get more practical classroom training and then doing what I wanted to in the first place---teach at a community college. I was always a hard worker and did well in school. This has killed my self-confidence. I do not want to wind up hating literature and becoming one of these arrogant professors. I know what I want to do. I just need to know if the EdS will be useful or if I should just start applying for community college work now. Lost/ disillusioned PhD student.

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  15. Thank you for posting this. Yes, it is a real boost to see other people on the same boat. I felt (actually currently feeling like that as well) like a loser, or a desperate perfectionist who tries to prove he is not an idiot by doing PhD. As for motivation, I think it is impossible to stay motivated for 4 or 5 (or even more) years. We just need to accept that, and appreciate how little we produce sometimes. And I totally agree with the last post and it happened with me. I can relate to that as overdoing something you like makes you hate it. It feels really bad because my field is what I liked and wanted to do. However, feeling that you have all these info crammed in your head and you can't get your head around it really feels awful. I feel myself with no passion towards anything now. PhD killed my passion towards what I liked. But don't give up. It will turn its good face some time and you will feel a bout of motivation. Keep it up PhD fellows, and Good Luck.

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  16. Thank you for your blog I like your post very much. I identify myself completely with you and all the people who have posted their experiences. Just last week my Professor asked me many questions I was not able to answer. I got desperate and many negative thoughts came to my mind that i just started crying in front of him! I felt so worthless,complete loser and no smart enough for doing this!.. Now, I feel ashamed but somehow released. I thought I should quit, but I won´t. I don´t know how but I will finish this PhD!. Despite what you say, I will try not to be an "arrogant imbecile". I don´t want to be what I don´t like. I still believe nice and kind people can be successful as well. Thanks for your words :) :)

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  17. Thank you so much for this. I have been questioning myself lately, second guessing my decision of whether or not I should continue this life-long goal of mine. I was taught by my parents that nothing worth having comes easily. It is not a question of whether or not it is difficult. Yes, it is difficult, but my main dilemma is staying motivated. I am working full time; I am married, and I am raising children all while pursuing my Ph.D. I am only in my second semester, but I feel that I have already invested a huge portion of my life thus far and I do not want to quit. I keep telling myself I can do it, but right now, I have a writer's block. I just need a break. I am contemplating quitting my job, but I have to provide for my family as well. Ah, the infamous catch 22! It is nice to know that I am not the only one who feels this way. Thanks everyone for sharing your struggles, words of encouragement, and thoughts.

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  18. Oh my god what a releif to hear you say that most of it is worthless crap! I have been feeling this way for the last 3 years of my PhD, and now don't even bother going to faculty seminars because I get tired of hearing 'highly regarded' professors talking about crap that doesn't mean anything significant for anyone. I actually think I have a good thesis that IS meaningful (and I don't think that's arrogant - i had to go against everything the staff in my faculty pushed on me to get there), but get just negative feedback or apathy from my supervisors. So hard to stay motivated to finish writing my thesis, especially since I've decided that the majority of academia is B***S*** and so I don't want to work in a university anyway!

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