Would I be mad to do a self funded PhD?

[FucksBizz]

Hi all,

This is my first post here. I‘m in the process of applying for PhD studentships. I was rejected by the ESRC in January (fair enough, very competitive). I’m now applying for one or two other studentships funded by a different body, however as insurance I applied in January for an unfunded place on a PhD programme, and have been given an unconditional offer. If the funded opportunities don’t come off, I am considering applying for a doctoral loan and accepting this place. I’m mid twenties, married, with no children. I work part time in a university, but because of corona there is no guarantee I will be returning to this in the next academic year.

Would I be mad to take this route?

I'm guessing it's an investment.

What do you expect to get from this investment, how likely are you to achieve that and what are the next best uses for the resources you would invest?

Simples.

So, when I was looking at starting my PhD I talked to my Masters supervisor. She said in her experience about 25% of PhD students are fully funded, about 20% are entirely self funded and nearly everyone else is somewhere in between and get bits of funding and top up from difference places here and there.

Some people I knew started off self funding and got grants later on? Others started off funded and then lost their grants for various reasons. So, no, you're not mad to do this, or even very unusual. But definitely ask yourself if it will be worth it.

I recently (don't ask me why) calculated that my PhD in total left me about £13k in debt, and that was with partial funding and financial support from my family and working part time through all of it. It has definitely never brought me £13k back in! I don't regret doing it, but because I didn't end up going into academia it hasn't really improved my job prospects or given me much more than a nice title and some vaguely interesting facts and anecdotes about my subject. And I might be kidding myself that the facts and anecdotes are interesting.

Will a PhD enhance your job chances in the private sector? Academia is about to be hit by a funding crisis from the double whammy of covid and Brexit. I wouldn't consider it a viable career path.

No I wouldn't do it now unless you know it will make you (much) more employable outside academia. The job market is going to be absolutely dreadful / non existent for new PhDs for a while. You might be lucky and hit the upturn in 3-4 years time but I would def not go into debt for it.

Hmmm I would advise against it unless you were doing a PhD just for fun? What sector are you in?

I'd advise against it. It is hard enough to do a PhD with funding, and without funding you will just have additional stress. However, having said that, one PhD student working with me started out at 50% self-funded (worked the rest of the time) and got UKRI funding in his second year. So it is possible.

I'd only do it part-time (and that is DIFFICULT as well, because you will not have the headspace required to focus on your academic work) and work the rest of the time so you at least don't have any debt afterwards.

But do not expect that it will help your career in any way, reaistically. It depends on your field (if you're a medical doctor: go ahead, a PhD as well as a medical degree might help! If you're in any other field, I'd say no). I did my PhD >15 years ago and would absolutely not do it this time around (and I am in a permanent academic post, so one of the 'lucky' ones). I also do not know of any fellow academic in a permanent post who self-funded, tbh. But that coudl be because we're all getting older and funding might have been easier to get when we were younger. I suggest trying again to get funding next year, but have a backup plan.

It does help that you'll at least never have so declare that you're Miss/Mrs/Ms as you can now click the 'Dr' box. That's the biggest benefit if you're a woman. ;-)

Thank you all for your wise words. For context, I have been working as an Associate Lecturer at a post 92 uni for a year, and will likely be able to continue this during a PhD if I decide to do one. The discipline is Public Health with an interdisciplinary aspect of social science.

Hmmm if you're already lecturing I'm not sure how the PhD would help you really unless it is pure interest. If you are doing it for work reasons it won't pay off. You'll spend much more than you'll gain from it.

You may be better forming relationships with fellow academics and colleagues at your institution (and beyond) and writing papers together. There is absolutely nothing stopping you doing your own research in your free time and no need to pay for the PhD fees.

I'd try this for at least a year and see if you can get some publications to your name as if so, you might be able to secure some funding on the back of this.

Are you already published? You could take the PhD by publication route in that case.

Thanks for clarifying Juanmorebeer, that's really relevant. Are oyu in a permanent teaching position?

In that case, I would suggest talking to your line manager and see if they would support your PhD, e.g., by allowing you to use paid time to work on it plus reduced fees.

However, if you are on a fixed contract, you might be able to go part-time (and maybe negotiate extending your fixed term) and work on the PhD in the meantime?

In any case combining a PhD with teaching is really hard work, as I said before, as it is really hard to get the mental freedom to work on your PhD. As a permanent member of staff, I find that whenever additional work comes in, research time is the first thing to go. So you would have to be really strict about protecting the time for your PhD and separate it clearly from your other work.

I'm not no as I left academia as it was not the world for me!

I did however secure a fully funded studentship and in fact, had the choice of 3 funded PhDs to choose from that had been offered to me. I chose the one at the closest institution with the most money attached. It was a good department and I'd worked for YEARS on track to get to that goal. But the reality of doing the PhD and the prospect of staying in academia was not what I wanted for my future, in the end.

OP if you really do want to do one and see yourself lecturing long term then apply for advertised projects, don't just apply with your own proposal.

I did my PhD part-time while working full-time at a university. It was part-funded (tuition only), and I was allocated a few hours a week to work on it. Of course, it took many more hours than I was allocated! If you are in academia already, I would say working towards your PhD (or a PD if that's your preferred route) is essential in order to give you any kind of career
prospects. If your institution won't consider a tuition waiver, perhaps they will at least offer you some time? Every little helps ... I completely self-funded a part time Masters degree while working in a different sector, and while it's not nearly as challenging, I found it very manageable, even with a young family and a full-time job. I'd say if you want to do it, go for it! I'd advise the opposite from Juanmorebeer, btw - you are going to be working on this project for what will feel like a lifetime - don't pick a topic you're not 100% invested in just because someone's offering you some finance.

Yes @TooSadToSay my sister is a post doctoral researcher and her contract will not be renewed in September due to the virus. She's not sure what she's going to do.

How much would it improve your job prospects? Is it necessary to have one to move up in your field? If not I wouldn’t bother. In my field there are nowhere near enough permanent jobs for everyone with a PhD and it’s only going to get worse.

Talk to people who are where you want to be. But also talk to people who left after a PhD, or at least try to calculate how many there are. Compare the number of paid PhDs to the number of jobs needing one. In many fields it just doesn’t add up.

Hi everyone,

I was the OP and have name changed. Just thought I’d update; I have been offered a fully funded scholarship with stipend. Thank you all for your wise words.

well done!