PostDoc Discussion Forum

That is the second time on this thread that you have deliberately misrepresented what somebody has posted. Firstly the original poster and now me. Nice work.

The poster didn't give that impression to me at all. I don't recall the word superstar being used, directly, indirectly or implied in reference to herself. Nor did I see any claim to be "better" than PhD students.

In my opinion this poster touched a nerve because so many of us are scared witless about our own careers and it would be nice if people were honest about this fact that the angry responses were nothing to do with the original poster and everything to do with the responders state of mind.

Nothing the original poster said bothered me in the slightest and nor should it. Nothing she did or said will have any impact on me or anyone else on here.

Some of the responses to her were pretty crass and immature.

Just goes to show how different people read things differently - nothing about this poster's post irks me in the slightest! But then I do know several in our department without a PhD, including the director of undergraduate studies!

A year on, and I wonder how the glittering academic career *sans PhD* is going :D

Hi Lentax, I'm not going to add to the comments as much has been said and pretty much anything I might have added has been mentioned ( I also think you need a phd-and a hell of a lot more in the way of publications and postdoc research- for academia) but I would really like to congratulate you on creating such a topical and interesting thread. It has been a while (mind you I have been away for a while so may have missed some previous threads).

I also think you have handled yourself really well in the face of what could seem to be some really daunting responses, albeit all of them well meant, and that certainly would suggest that you are well capable of handling yourself in academia and phd land should you choose to go down the research pathway in the future.

The number of professors who don't have a PhD probably have been in academia for decades - as has been pointed out by other posters.

Yes, it's possible to get a research assistant position without a PhD - assuming you aren't competing with the large number of unemployed PhD graduates for the job. It will be very difficult to move up to the next level (postdoc or junior lecturer) without the qualification and without first author papers.

If you are planning for a long term career - why don't you consider the option of a part-time phd? I have to admit that I am not well informed about phds in your area of interest (I am more in the biology corner of the world) but it sureley should be possible to do a phd without spending a huge amount of cash. Or consider to apply for research assistant positions and do your phd there in your "spare" time - works for me and mine is definetly more labbased than yours ever will ;).

With a strong supervisor it will get easier to get good papers published and good papers are one of the many factors of success for a later career.

On another note: I highly doubt that a position in academics is best suited for someone with kids (as you mentioned earlier). You will have to stay flexible when you get a job offering at the "other end of the world", meetings normally don't take place between 9 and 5 and when you have to attend conferences you will also be seperated from you family. I am a soon to be phD mum and it is a constant juggling of responsibilities towards my child, my husband and my carreer.

Btw, you may be a bit romantisizing (correct word? no idea - I am not a native speaker ;)) about teaching students. Are you aware that if you are lucky one out of ten is actually interested in the stuff you are teaching? A colleague of mine was very dissapointed when her bachelor students asked her if there a fixed questions for the exams that they can learn without much thinking. Same for master students btw!

I have to grade lab notes from lab courses and you get the same, stupid mistakes every year. Sometimes a student gets creative and you actually get the same protocol as last year. I love working i the lab and I love teaching students, but grading their work has not much to do with loving your topic and working on it.

As I think several posters have suggested, getting work as a Research Assistant is feasible, this is one way that you can get your foot in the door in academia without having/doing a PhD. I know several who finished a Masters and then went straight into Research roles on funded projects lasting several years, both within the social and physical sciences. However, they have both gone on to do PhDs, one part-time alongside the project, another after the research project. Both did PhD's because having one is more beneficial than not going forward, and along the lines suggested by others here. I do think you can develop a career in academia without a PhD, although it depends what subject area you are in (the more applied the better, I have a feeling) and also what Universities you apply to. As a side issue, not having a PhD and working with staff who do may cause consternation for both. We had a young Lecturer who did not have a PhD (although she was doing one part time) and even that led to people sniping that they shouldn't be a Lecturer. The paths that you will navigate to get where you want to go in academia will be different because you don't have a PhD.