There's a possibility of a funded PhD coming up.. not a cert but I'm exploring some options. I'm also a self employed single parent with an emotionally abusive ex.. So i come with baggage.
I've been talking to people about how feasible this would be. The response is a mixture of 'do it, you'd be great at it' and 'are you mad?!'
I am also 44 so would be looking at finishing around the back end of my 40s if i did it.
I'm at a weird point in my life given separation, money worries and generally being a bit worn out so need to be clear about possible reasons for doing so.
I'm not an academic though i am academic iyswim. I'm running a small company at present which could really feed into the PhD and vice versa so would be quite an applied one although what i do need is some kind of clearer income stream or clarity about career.
I do however think it would be great to get my brain working, feed into existing work, develop new partnerships, projects and explore new funding streams.
But I don't want to get to 50 with no pension, being over qualified, exhausted from phd, disillusioned and also feeling like i won't have spent sufficient time with dc but actually no better off financially.
Would i be mad to do a PhD given all this?