0 PhD or Not???? (pt.2) - Encourage them to be poor ...

"Encourage them to be poor for a few years to go to graduate school."

For many of the speakers at the CRA-W Graduate Cohort Workshop, this quote summed up their (somewhat biased) perspective. They want to encourage women (and minorities) to go to graduate school, regardless of the students' personal and/or career objectives are. While I think that a PhD is a significant accomplishment I don't think it is for everyone - not that everyone can't obtain it, but that it is not everyone's true desire.

There were several students that asked questions regarding whether to pursue a PhD or go into industry. Since most of the women mentors here are in the academy and obviously have a PhD, they were very closed minded in regards to anything BUT pursuing a PhD and becoming a Professor. Let's face the reality - being a Professor isn't for everyone. So why "encourage them to be poor ..." without considering the student FIRST.

So in one of the sessions, I asked a question regarding the drawbacks of an academic career path (the question was addressed to two people - one from a research university and another at a teaching university) and the first answer was "NOTHING - this is the best job" - and they said this with a straight face. Lets just be real - there are drawbacks to every career.

While I think that YES, we need to motivate and attract more minorities to pursue graduate study, we need to also consider the personal and professional career objectives of these students as well, before we push them into a 4 to 6 year PhD commitment.

The perception seems to be that they think women don't pursue PhDs because they lack motivation, but aren't there other (legitimate) reasons women and minorities don't want to pursue a PhD?