Hi Navin, thanks for the article. It's so good to read it and clarifies many lingering doubts. Meanwhile could you please advise if its okay to do PhD while working or should one do it full time? My goal is to work in academic environment eventually.
Unfortunately, I think the answer to this question is that it depends on a lot of factors. In general, I feel you should do a PhD from a very good university otherwise don't bother. This will put constraints on whether you can do a PhD while working: first, because there might not be a university of that caliber in the city where you work, and second, because the university might have some stringent requirements about whether you're allowed to work while doing a PhD. Usually, it is my understanding that you might have to take some time off around the beginning of the PhD to complete the coursework and residency requirements, after which you can go back to work.
Thank You Navin. Your right about the residency requirement of a part time PhD. I have a following question. Is doing a PhD post retirement from IT industry, say 50-55 yrs frowned upon ? or even not considered by institutions ? For E.g.: Someone who has deep desire to do PhD but never got chance to work on it due to hectic career.
Very interesting article. After my CS engineering, I worked for 2 years to really get a sense of the industry and then did an MBA from IIMB. I would now like to peruse a PhD in CS (or in some field of Business Analytics where CS and business really meet). Do you think it is a good idea to do a PhD at this point after an MBA?
I don't know. Since you've done an MBA, I assume you are not interested in really being technical in the long-term, and hence your PhD is likely to be more of a management PhD and not a CS PhD. (The fact that you want to apply the business concepts to CS as a domain doesn't really make this a CS PhD; it is still a management PhD.) I really don't have a deep understanding of PhD in non-CS/non-engineering fields.
Any thoughts on when/why it would be okay to quit a PhD program? I have seen some students struggling with this question and it is hard to distinguish between giving up during a dip vs quitting for right reasons.
This is a tricky question and there isn't a really good answer. Here are two possible answers I can think of.
1. If you do your homework right and pick a good university and an advisor who is not an asshole, then the advisor becomes your guide in the true sense of the word. If you're getting stuck or burning out, the advisor guides you on how to make progress. If the PhD is just a bad fit for you, then the advisor will suggest that you give up and also help you land on your feet.
Agree if you picked your advisor right, they can be your guide in this. From my own experience and experience of some others in similar situation - one thing that helps is taking a break away from your research for a while e.g. doing a non-research internship. If you are genuinely interested in PhD but were just frustrated by the dip you will soon be excited to go back. If your heart is simply not in it anymore you'd realize it - I have seen people taking internship in industry, discontinuing PhD and were happy (I assume) with the decision.
I myself took a non-research internship about year and half before I eventually graduated and I feel my most productive work happened after that break :)
Interesting! I was curious about your opinion on the "right time" for a PhD. Do you recommend diving into a PhD right after your masters? Does that run a risk of getting too intense too quickly or result in a possible burnout in a couple of years?
Good question. For computer science (which is the only area I really understand) I think it is fine to do a PhD immediately after a Masters. Good advisors are good and ensuring that it doesn't to too intense too quickly or result in burnout. (As indicated in the introduction to this article, I believe this advice will mostly apply to other engineering disciplines also. I don't really know the answer for non-engineering)
Navin, have you ever written around research itself, as in how one does it?
No. I haven't really done enough research myself to be able to write about it.
Hi Navin, thanks for the article. It's so good to read it and clarifies many lingering doubts. Meanwhile could you please advise if its okay to do PhD while working or should one do it full time? My goal is to work in academic environment eventually.
Hi Abhijit,
Unfortunately, I think the answer to this question is that it depends on a lot of factors. In general, I feel you should do a PhD from a very good university otherwise don't bother. This will put constraints on whether you can do a PhD while working: first, because there might not be a university of that caliber in the city where you work, and second, because the university might have some stringent requirements about whether you're allowed to work while doing a PhD. Usually, it is my understanding that you might have to take some time off around the beginning of the PhD to complete the coursework and residency requirements, after which you can go back to work.
Thank You Navin. Your right about the residency requirement of a part time PhD. I have a following question. Is doing a PhD post retirement from IT industry, say 50-55 yrs frowned upon ? or even not considered by institutions ? For E.g.: Someone who has deep desire to do PhD but never got chance to work on it due to hectic career.
I don't think educational institutions would particular be against an older person doing a PhD. However, for senior people I am more in favor of them writing a book than doing a PhD. See a detailed discussion here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/navinkabra_if-youre-a-senior-professional-and-feel-activity-6897773289104900096-e_LT
Hi Navin,
Very interesting article. After my CS engineering, I worked for 2 years to really get a sense of the industry and then did an MBA from IIMB. I would now like to peruse a PhD in CS (or in some field of Business Analytics where CS and business really meet). Do you think it is a good idea to do a PhD at this point after an MBA?
Hi @Jeevan,
I don't know. Since you've done an MBA, I assume you are not interested in really being technical in the long-term, and hence your PhD is likely to be more of a management PhD and not a CS PhD. (The fact that you want to apply the business concepts to CS as a domain doesn't really make this a CS PhD; it is still a management PhD.) I really don't have a deep understanding of PhD in non-CS/non-engineering fields.
Hi Navin,
Any thoughts on when/why it would be okay to quit a PhD program? I have seen some students struggling with this question and it is hard to distinguish between giving up during a dip vs quitting for right reasons.
This is a tricky question and there isn't a really good answer. Here are two possible answers I can think of.
1. If you do your homework right and pick a good university and an advisor who is not an asshole, then the advisor becomes your guide in the true sense of the word. If you're getting stuck or burning out, the advisor guides you on how to make progress. If the PhD is just a bad fit for you, then the advisor will suggest that you give up and also help you land on your feet.
2. More generally, when and how to decide to quit a non-trivial project is a difficult question, and I've tried to give some general principles in the second half of this article: https://futureiq.substack.com/p/how-to-become-an-expert-the-hard
Anyone else have any other suggestions? Please post a reply here.
Hi Navin. Thanks for the response.
Agree if you picked your advisor right, they can be your guide in this. From my own experience and experience of some others in similar situation - one thing that helps is taking a break away from your research for a while e.g. doing a non-research internship. If you are genuinely interested in PhD but were just frustrated by the dip you will soon be excited to go back. If your heart is simply not in it anymore you'd realize it - I have seen people taking internship in industry, discontinuing PhD and were happy (I assume) with the decision.
I myself took a non-research internship about year and half before I eventually graduated and I feel my most productive work happened after that break :)
Interesting! I was curious about your opinion on the "right time" for a PhD. Do you recommend diving into a PhD right after your masters? Does that run a risk of getting too intense too quickly or result in a possible burnout in a couple of years?
Good question. For computer science (which is the only area I really understand) I think it is fine to do a PhD immediately after a Masters. Good advisors are good and ensuring that it doesn't to too intense too quickly or result in burnout. (As indicated in the introduction to this article, I believe this advice will mostly apply to other engineering disciplines also. I don't really know the answer for non-engineering)