Informational interviews<\/a>\u00a0with people and employers in the fields that interest you can help you determine how necessary the Ph.D. is for entering and advancing.<\/p>\nDepending on your comfort level, expressing your concerns to your thesis adviser can also be helpful. Your adviser could provide reassurance that you\u2019ve only hit a rough patch, or an honest discussion about your career goals could lead to negotiating a plan to finish your thesis so that you can graduate and move on.<\/p>\n
In many cases, however, advisers themselves turn out to be the source of students\u2019 doubts, or at least contributing factors. Frustration with an adviser due to, for example, conflicting expectations or working styles, or a student feeling that their progress is being held back by an unavailable adviser, is a common source of trouble that O\u2019Connell and Lane help students address. Approaching your adviser in these instances can be awkward and tense, but it frequently resolves the issue. \u201cI sometimes feel like two-thirds of the problems that are brought to me disappear with the first conversation between the student and the adviser,\u201d Lane says.<\/p>\n
In other cases, changing labs may be the solution. Doing so midway through your program may feel like a setback, but the fresh start has been the right fix for students who see value in the degree. And even though the research is new, it\u2019s not really starting over. Many of the lessons and skills learned before the move will still be applicable in the new lab, and changing labs doesn\u2019t necessarily lengthen a student\u2019s time in the program by much.<\/p>\n
If you aren\u2019t comfortable reaching out to your adviser, consider turning to other university personnel\u2014such as your program director or manager, a member of your thesis committee, or career counselors at your institution\u2019s professional development office\u2014who can offer advice and refer you to the resources you need to move forward. For instance, they may help connect you to other students who have gone through similar experiences or point you to on-campus activities, such as student clubs or internship opportunities, that can help you determine your next step. If you feel depressed or stressed, your university\u2019s mental health counseling services is another important resource. Speaking to a counselor can help you figure out whether your Ph.D. studies are the primary contributing factor and strategize about how to handle those feelings.<\/p>\n
Seeking career advice and counseling from various sources can be useful at any time, and throughout your training, O\u2019Connell says. Having a support network is critical for weathering the trials of graduate school. But the tipping point for when you really need to see someone is when your work is affected. If you\u2019re making more mistakes than usual, you\u2019re avoiding going into lab, or your anxieties are causing such emotional distress that your sleep and relationships are impacted, for instance, it\u2019s time to start making use of the resources your institution has to offer.<\/p>\n
In the end, the goal of this self-reflection and information gathering is to come up with an action plan or put together options that you can choose between so that you come out of this period of doubt with resolve. Spending the time to do so will help you make an informed decision, not a reactionary one or the one that takes you down the path of least resistance. Regardless of the outcome, the important thing is that you\u2019re intentionally choosing a path, Lane says. If you choose to stay, it\u2019s because you\u2019ve decided that you can build a better career if you get your degree and you are committed to finishing, not because you couldn\u2019t find something else to do. And if you choose to go, it\u2019s because you\u2019re leaving the program to pursue something more worthwhile to you, not because you\u2019re running away.<\/p>\n
Deciding to leave<\/h2>\n
The decision to leave a Ph.D. program\u2014even if you know that it\u2019s the right move for you to pursue your ultimate career goals\u2014can be emotionally fraught, O\u2019Connell acknowledges. There\u2019s a loss of identity, especially in students who have been planning to be Ph.D. scientists for many years. There\u2019s also the feeling that you didn\u2019t cut it, compounded by the feeling that the time you spent training to become a scientist might now be for nothing. Be kind to yourself as you\u2019re dealing with these feelings and figuring out your next move, she advises. You also need to dispel the lingering what-ifs and mentally accept your decision, Lane says. \u201cIf every time something bad happens in your life and you\u2019re looking back and saying \u2018Oh, this wouldn\u2019t have happened if I stayed in grad school,\u2019 you\u2019re not going to have a good life,\u201d she says. \u201cYou make a decision that you\u2019re not going to regret your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important to recognize that the time you spent in your Ph.D. program\u2014and the effort you put into making a thoughtful decision about leaving\u2014was not wasted. There\u2019s a lot of value in figuring out what you want to do, O\u2019Connell emphasizes. Plus, you\u2019ve gained valuable skills and experience that are relevant beyond science and research, Lane says. By troubleshooting experiments, you\u2019ve learned how to solve complex problems. From giving seminars, you know how to propose arguments and present information visually. You can work in teams, and take in and synthesize knowledge. \u201cThese are really transferable skills,\u201d Lane underscores.<\/p>\n
What matters in the end is you: The decision to leave was right for you. \u201cIt\u2019s is a valid decision. The Ph.D. is not for everyone,\u201d O\u2019Connell says. Your time in the program \u201cmeans you learned something about yourself, and you made an informed decision, and that is totally OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Original article from ScienceMag http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\/2017\/01\/how-handle-grad-school-doubts By\u00a0Maggie KuoJan. 23, 2017 , 12:00 PM Maybe your experiments for your Ph.D. project haven\u2019t panned out this week\u2014or this month, or even this year. Maybe you feel like you\u2019re spending long hours in the lab but not making an important contribution. Perhaps the frustration you see among postdocs trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phd","tag-motivation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/nurazaliah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}