I stopped by to visit Marty to talk about a few things, mostly wrapping up the past degree and prepping for the next one. He gave me a book
It was a pretty sobering few chapters, talking about the demeaning, impoverished, demanding and high-risk life for the next 3-5 years. The author, Robert Peters, estimated the rate at which an incoming Ph.D. student winds up with a tenured job at eight percent (50% of accepted doctoral students finish with a degree, 20% of those head into academia, and 80% of those get tenure). While I’m not entering this program with a fixed desire to be a professor, I’d say the chances I’ll choose to pursue a college job is about 50-50. The chances of me getting it seem much lower.
Through interviews and statistics (from Lester Bodian), Peters also came up with some criteria to enhance the likelihood of graduation:
- Are married — check
- Are on schedule — check (can’t get behind something that hasn’t begun)
- Are in the sciences — check (possibly both hard and soft)
- Are financially secure — Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!
- Have clarity of purpose — check
- Have a good relationship with your adviser — check
For me, this summer has to be about a few things: (1) Making some money; (2) Setting up the possibility of making future money in future summers; and (3) Preparing myself and family for the pursuit of a Ph.D. With regard to the last item, I think reading 1/8th of a book I won’t get for another 12 weeks is enough for today.