To ask if you have done a PhD?

[ClaraBean]

And if you have, how old were you when you started it?
I'm 42, and really feeling the urge to go back to uni and do my PhD. I'm obsessed with the idea. Will I be an old crone? Is it the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard?

I was older than you.
It nearly finished me, but I did it.
I was working full time through most of it - if you can possibly avoid that, then it should definitely be doable.

No when I graduated there was a gentleman who was 90 who had started his at 85 to keep himself active.

I have a PhD. No you will not be an old crone, lots of people do PhDs later in life when they've settled on an idea! My late father started one at 60. He sadly passed before he finished it, but he absolutely adored every moment! Go for it, OP!

Oh sorry, I was in my 20's when I did mine. Lots of my friends have been 30's and 40's!

I was an early PhD (age 27) but I know lots of people who have done them into their 50s. It's a joy, do it!

Treat it as a hobby. It makes you virtually unemployable unless you’re lucky enough to get a lecturing job at university. In the past DH has been told by employers that they’d be more likely to employ him with a 5 year prison sentence on his CV than a 5 year PhD.

I have a PhD. You definitely wouldn't be old, plenty of people do them at all ages. I was young when I started mine - 20 - and in hindsight I wish I'd had a bit more maturity and experience and confidence at the time.

@Ryannah Why?!

I'm about to start mine and I'll be 46 in a few days time. I'm doing mine part time and working full time too.

Ryannah Why?!
A number of things he’s been told by employers over the years: High qualifications means high salary expectations. The job won’t be challenging enough. Won’t be happy in this job, will move on quickly to something better. High risk of insubordination, thinking he’s smarter than everyone else. Probably is smarter than everyone else, will affect the office dynamics and won’t fit in, won’t work well as part of a team, will make less educated bosses feel uncomfortable and threatened. Too steeped in the non-profit academic mindset, won’t grasp the commercial nature of the workplace. Etc.

He has a nice job now but there were a LOT of rejections simply because of the PhD. Even now he doubts his ability to switch jobs because he’ll still be judged for it.

@Ryannah

Ryannah Why?! A number of things he’s been told by employers over the years: High qualifications means high salary expectations. The job won’t be challenging enough. Won’t be happy in this job, will move on quickly to something better. High risk of insubordination, thinking he’s smarter than everyone else. Probably is smarter than everyone else, will affect the office dynamics and won’t fit in, won’t work well as part of a team, will make less educated bosses feel uncomfortable and threatened. Too steeped in the non-profit academic mindset, won’t grasp the commercial nature of the workplace. Etc.

He has a nice job now but there were a LOT of rejections simply because of the PhD. Even now he doubts his ability to switch jobs because he’ll still be judged for it.

I think this really depends on the subject. This isn't my experience at all - I work in an industry in a role that typically doesn't employ people without a PhD...

@Ryannah

Treat it as a hobby. It makes you virtually unemployable unless you’re lucky enough to get a lecturing job at university. In the past DH has been told by employers that they’d be more likely to employ him with a 5 year prison sentence on his CV than a 5 year PhD.

Depends on the industry, surely?

I was in my thirties - but you can do it at any age. It does require fortitude and persistence, though, and you have to be certain you really do you have a deep interest in your particular field of study. You'll be living it for some time

I’m curious why you’re “obsessed” with the idea. Is it because you love a certain subject and want to contribute to the current research?

@Ryannah

Treat it as a hobby. It makes you virtually unemployable unless you’re lucky enough to get a lecturing job at university. In the past DH has been told by employers that they’d be more likely to employ him with a 5 year prison sentence on his CV than a 5 year PhD.

Wow, what type of industry does your husband work in? That sounds very unusual. That hasn't been my experience at all. Definitely go for it OP as that is not old to be doing a PhD at all. I did mine in my late 20s and early 30a but lots do it later. I wouldn't treat it as a hobby though as it's challenging and requires real dedication. I'd you'd like to move down the path of acedemics then you need to be focused on producing high quality research to be published. I would say it's no more a hobby than any other job is. Best of luck.

I was 44 when I started. I did mine with the Open University, where students are older on average than elsewhere. I fitted right in, and loved it.

Depends what you want to do with it. If it’s just for the love of your subject I’d say go for it! I finished mine in my early 30s but there were three people in my department doing PhDs who started aged between early 40s and early 60s.
The reason I say only do it for the love is that — depending on your field, of course, but I’m going to guess it’s something in the humanities? — the chances of you (or any other recent PhD graduate) finding a job close to home in academia is really small. There are very, very few permanent posts going in many fields, and most people have to move for work, often several times, as they take on a series of short term, poorly paid positions to gain experience before (in a minority of cases, sadly) finding permanent work which may even then be in a city they don’t especially like and/or is a long journey from friends and family. You might buck that trend, of course, but I’d advise you not to bet the farm on it.
All that being said, the process of researching and writing a thesis can be enormously satisfying, especially with the right supervisor. And being more mature is often an advantage: better time management and less inclination to waste an entire day in the library shuttling between coffee breaks with course mates, for instance. If you want to go ahead you should have a clear and highly specific idea about your research topic before applying, and you should aim to have a clear sense of what has already been published in your area so you can be clear about the knowledge gap your work would fill. Maybe you’re at that stage in your thinking already, but, if not, doing the research necessary to put your application together will likely help you determine how much you’ll love (or not) the PhD itself. Best of luck!

Wow, what type of industry does your husband work in?
Computing. So of course when he graduated and tried to get a job as a programmer alongside people with just a BSc, he wasn’t very successful. The same applies to any subject where the PhD isn’t absolutely essential for the job. I’m just saying think about long term job prospects because if the PhD isn’t essential it will damage your employability.

I have one, graduated when I was 50

I tend to agree with @Ryannah.
I regularly recruit in IT/business change and have found that people with a very academic background (PhD, DPhil or those who have worked in academia for a long time) don't tend to be a good fit in a business environment.

I do recognise that this has now become an 'unconscious bias' for me.

Do it, if you can afford to. Remember your supervisor will probably be younger than you, that can be an issue for some (saying this as a supervisor).

I haven't experienced the unemployable situation. My Dh's work is in industry and his entire team have PhDs.

OP it may be that you’re not aware of the new-ish ‘Mature Study and Retraining’ board, here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mature_students

MNHQ will happily move your thread for you, if you ask via the Report button.

Surely companies are happy to have a Dr on their staff list.

I finished mine at age 27, my aunt completed hers when she was 55. What subject area are you considering? In my experience candidates entering PhD in arts and humanities candidates have a much wider age spread but for stem it really tends to be people in their early 20s.