real (non-personal) reasons people are PhD dropouts

@academicmemories

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Why it worked

The video resonates with viewers by addressing a common and often difficult experience (leaving a PhD program) with practical, relatable reasons. The speaker's personal connection to the topic and clear enumeration of points make the information accessible and valuable to those considering or currently in graduate studies.

Summary

The speaker discusses three non-personal reasons why people leave PhD programs. These include the importance of considering location and personal fit, the challenges of securing funding due to recent uncertainties, and the difficulty of pursuing niche research ideas that may not be well-supported. The speaker shares her own experience and observations, emphasizing the need for open-mindedness when considering a PhD.

Structure

1Introduction and personal experience
2Reason 1: Location and personal fit
3Reason 2: Funding challenges
4Reason 3: Niche research ideas and lack of support
5Concluding advice on open-mindedness

On-screen text

real (non-personal) reasons people are PhD dropouts 1. If they tell you that location it absolutely does. You need to really consider where you're gonna for the next four to seven years depending on what opportunities arise and how long it takes for you to complete your I thought I wanted to go to a very specific school since I started So this means as soon as I started I started looking at this graduate school and I immediately thought I'm gonna go there for my PhD. Upon arriving, I realised I didn't like And I think that there's that you should always go where the research not where you see yourself living. And that is not true. 2. Funding ever since certain events have happened over the past couple of years. As soon as I entered my Ph program, and as soon as all of these other individuals enter their Program, they are being told you need to apply for your own funding because we don't know if we can guarantee a really livable stipend for you over the next four or five years. And so you have to apply for every single fellowship that is applicable to you. Some of them are due in 'October of your first year. And if you are a quarter system student like I was, that means you have a month to prepare a whole fellowship application or multiple. or multiple. 3. on top of that, Research ideas that are actually niche and are not are not really supported anymore. Ever since certain funding uncertainties have happened. I've noticed that a lot of people that have very niche and I was one and I was one of those people that said, hey, I have a project in mind. I'm gonna do this project. I wanted I wanted to do this project and I am gonna and I am gonna do all the steps it takes to complete it. Everyone Everyone that has been in a similar situation to me has said that there is not much support in academic faculty to pursue those because they don't know They don't know if your data collection is gonna take too long. Any other factors could impact you graduating on So these are things to consider if you are applying to PhD Programs this year I don't think I don't think that you should completely neglect the idea of a Ph I think you have to just be a little bit more openminded And as someone that was not openminded and had a very strict goal in I knew that PhD, for me, was not the place

Original caption

why are people leaving their PhD programs? #phdtok #research

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Transcript

A year ago, I was a PhD student where I dropped out after six months. And since I dropped out, I've actually known three other people that have considered or are in the process of dropping out as well. And so I'm gonna talk about the non-personal reasons as to why I decided to leave my PhD program. And these were very similar reasons as to why everyone else that I knew also left their PhD program. 1. If they tell you that location doesn't matter, it absolutely does. You need to really consider where you're gonna live for the next four to seven years, depending on what opportunities arise and how long it takes for you to complete your program. I thought I wanted to go to a very specific school since I started undergrad. So this means as soon as I started looking at this graduate school, and I immediately thought, I'm gonna go there for my PhD. Upon arriving, I realised I didn't like. And I think that there's this rhetoric that you should always go where the research is, not where you see yourself living. And that is not true. 2. Funding. Ever since certain events have happened over the past couple of years, as soon as I entered my PhD program, and as soon as all of these other individuals enter their program, they are being told, you need to apply for your own funding because we don't know if we can guarantee a really livable stipend for you over the next four or five years. And so you have to apply for every single fellowship that is applicable to you. Some of them are due in October of your first year. And if you are a quarter system student like I was, that means you have a month to prepare a whole fellowship application or multiple. 3. On top of that, research ideas that are actually niche and are not really supported anymore. Ever since certain funding uncertainties have happened, I've noticed that a lot of people that have very niche, and I was one of those people that said, hey, I have a project in mind. I'm gonna do this project. I wanted to do this project and I am gonna do all the steps it takes to complete it. Everyone that has been in a similar situation to me has said that there is not much support in academic faculty to pursue those because they don't know. They don't know if your data collection is gonna take too long. Any other factors could impact you graduating on time. So these are things to consider if you are applying to PhD programs this year. I don't think that you should completely neglect the idea of a PhD. I think you have to just be a little bit more openminded. And as someone that was not openminded and had a very strict goal in mind, I knew that PhD, for me, was not the place.