To give up a stable job to do this PhD?

[HertsMum81]

I’m 38, have worked in public sector admin for 15 years and I’m thoroughly fed up of it - I earn a fair wage (£30k pro rata though I’m PT) but the work is dull with no career progression.

After having my DC (now 7 and 4) I completed a Master’s in a totally new field (a social policy type degree, which I chose purely out of interest/wanting a challenge - no prior professional experience in the field) and unexpectedly ended up doing pretty well. My supervisor encouraged me to apply for a PhD the following year and I‘ve been offered a funded place at a top 10 university with an 18k stipend. Due to my personal circumstances (DS has ADHD, DH works away a lot) I told them I was unable to study full time and they’re happy for me to do it PT over 6-7 years.

My current employers won’t let me reduce my hours so I either need to:
a) continue working 3 days a week in my job and study around that, which nearly killed me with my Master’s;
b) give up my current job and look for a 1-2 day/week job, which seems nigh on impossible for anything above MW where I live; or
c) give up work completely and focus on the PhD - so be able to devote more time to it and my DC but spend the next several years on a very low income (about 9k p.a.) that only just covers my basic living costs (DH earns slightly above average and would contribute proportionately but works fixed-term contracts so neither of us would have a permanent job, and we have a mortgage to consider).

I’m drawn to option c) but I’m scared to give up the job security and take a risk (I’m very risk averse!) For background we have very low childcare costs as MIL lives nearby and helps with the school run etc, and both she and my parents, while not rich, are comfortable enough to help us out a bit if we were ever in dire straits. WIBU to do this?

Congratulations you have done absolutely brilliantly! If you go for c) you maybe able to find earning opportunities you can't imagine now.

It might sound daft but do you have DLA for DS? Is he in any way 'registered disabled'? I don't know the facts here but if, for example, you carried on with 3 days per week of your job and asked for reduction as a carer on grounds of DS needs I wonder if you have a right to that?

Anyway it does sound as if you want to move on and I bet there will be ways to save money, earn by tutoring or other academic related work and apply for study related grants.

Good luck with making a contribution to the sum of human knowledge

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity! I can't really advice on what is the best thing to do in your situation, but in case you're leaning towards c) I would check the stipend before relying on finding other earning opportunities - many of them don't allow work outside the university, and work within is usually restricted (mine is 10h week). Most grants are for people who don't have a stipend, or for research/conference costs. That being said I've never had a difficulty getting work at the university, so I would enquire if teaching work is expected / encouraged whilst studying.

I hope you find a way to make it work out, sounds like you're ready and keen for a new challenge.

Congratulations and commiserations for the tough decision you have to make. I did a master's alongside working 12 years ago, and started a PhD last year after vowing never to go back! Is the university near home or is that why you can't be full time? One option could be to find something closer if that's the case.

My experience has been that it's really important to be in the department to chat to people and incidentally find out who's doing what and how it might be relevant to my research. I work at home two days a week and go in three.

A PhD is very different to a master's. You are really on your own and you have to make it work. Personally I would lose momentum doing it part time and the thought of it dragging on would be crap, but that's me.

Lastly, do you want to go into research/academia? If not then I'd take the masters and get a more interesting job on the back of that. I'm the same age as you and I know that I'm going several steps backwards in a way but I do want to work in research. Good luck with whatever you decide!

I have a PhD but it was completely different (STEM subject, did it in my 20s).
For what my opinion's worth, I would say go for option C. It will be hard, but focussed. Part time PhDs tend to suffer from life getting in the way; students often don't manage 20 hours a week and they drag out for years, then the money runs out, then you still need to write up.

Also, if you do it full time, you will have got through your viva and into the next opportunity at 42, which would be a lot better than 44-45

Just to add, as the pp says, losing momentum can be a big problem. Please don't underestimate the task, it's not just about doing xxx hours of work, it's also about the momentum, the relationships, the collaborative work etc.

It's totally worth it if you can make it work. Good luck.

You should think primarily about what, if anything, the PhD will do for you in your subsequent career. It’s great you’ve been offered a funded place, but think about afterwards.

What would you do with the PhD? I have a number of friends with social policy masters that work in various fields related to their degree (charities, think tanks etc) and none are paid particularly well. Would a PhD enable you to earn a better wage in your ideal field than just having the masters?

My OH has a PhD, I don't. We met at our first job after uni (same dept doing the same role) and we both earnt the same. Since then I have always earnt more. We're in a specialist technical field though and he only specialised in it at PhD level whilst I did it at undergrad so actually have more experience.

I don't really understand why full-time PhD isn't workable but part-time PhD plus part-time work (which you seem to be intending to add up to full-time working hours) is? It just seems like the obvious solution is for you to study full-time and so get the full £18k each year (it works out better than it sounds because it's tax free - you'll be taking a drop from 30k, but depending on what you pay in pension possibly not that huge a one). A PhD is really hard work but it's more flexible than an office job (unless it's a lab based PhD, which yours clearly isn't) so I don't think being around for your DC and your DH being away a lot is the barrier to doing the PhD full-time that you think it is.

I think if you give up work and focus on the PhD you'll end up putting it almost the same hours as you would if doing it full-time but getting half the stipend each year.

Thanks so much for these replies - really helpful advice and a couple of things I hadn’t considered, namely checking the stipend conditions re working outside the university, and seeing whether we’re eligible for DLA for DS (he’s only recently been diagnosed so I hadn’t even considered this). Will look into both these things!

I definitely do worry about losing momentum studying PT, but equally I’d hope it would give me a reasonable work/life balance for the next few years while my DC are young (hence wanting to study PT). I’m not 100% sure what I want to do at the end of it; I think I’d like to go into a research or policy role, but I also want to give it a go for its own sake as I feel it would be a worthwhile personal achievement. I’m really passionate about the subject and I’ve spent so long doing dull, repetitive office work that I think just the novelty of doing something interesting would sustain me, though perhaps that’s naive!

If it all goes tits up I could probably get another admin role like the one I’m doing now fairly easily, so there’s always that to fall back on. It is a risk but I’ve played it so safe thus far, I feel like I need to try and make it work!

Posted before reading your post NewAccount270219 - that’s also a good point about putting in almost the same hours PT. I might see if I can start off PT until the upgrade to see how I cope with the workload, then switch to FT for the final 2 years if that’s an option. I do agree that 6-7 years is a long old slog and I don’t particularly relish the idea of my DC both being in secondary school by the time I complete.

So indecisive But this has really given me some food for thought - thank you all!

But won't it be 18 months/two years to your upgrade if doing it part-time? Obviously you have to do what you think is best but I think it'll be easier (it's also much more common) to start full-time and reduce if necessary than to start part-time and step up. If you start part-time then other stuff will expand to fill that extra time (it always does) and it will feel impossible to go full-time; I think if you start full-time you'll make it work, based on what you're already doing (did you do your masters on top of your current job? If so, I think you'll cope!)

That’s a fair point - I do see the benefits of going straight into it FT, I guess I’m just scared to take the plunge in case I can’t cope with the workload/can’t spend enough time with my DC, especially DS7 who needs a fair bit of extra support. I did do my MA alongside my current job, which was doable but really tough (and because it coincided with DS’s diagnosis, took its toll on my mental health, which I think is why I’m so hesitant). I’ve arranged to meet my supervisor to discuss everything - lots to think about but this has all helped me focus my thoughts. As you can probably tell I’m a bit all over the place atm!

OP go full time with the PhD definitely. You'll keep your momentum and the more condensed stipend that way. It's true that with a PhD you are left to your own devices but that makes it easier to work around kid school times etc.