I started to write this in the comments to the previous, but wait, this is my blog; I can put it in its own post!
As a salary, the TA/RA offers correspond to about $18 - $25 per hour to do stuff that is pretty easy and fun (compared to any "real" job I've ever had). While I could certainly do better in the job market, it wouldn't be as enjoyable and certainly wouldn't be moving me toward the same goal. (If I get my way into and out of a marketing PhD program, I'm in really good shape, even considering the "opportunity cost" of having been in school for such a long time.)
Meanwhile, I am catching up with the grad-school forum on the Chronicle of Higher Education website and just now am in the middle of a very long thread saying "Please don't pay your own way for a humanities PhD! It's madness!" I feel good about being funded to get a degree that actually moves me forward a bit.
I have been skeptical of what would happen if I do an experimental psychology masters and then decide not to continue to a PhD. I don't think this will happen, but it's worth considering what the next step would be. While a lot of people would tell you that such a degree is borderline worthless (at least compared to a more applied or professionally-oriented masters, such as I/O psychology), I have been pleasantly surprised to see during Robert's job search that there are research openings in companies/government for people with psychology masters degrees. My last job was one that typically requires a masters degree but fortunately they put the advanced degree in "preferred" rather than "required" qualifications. Robert and I call my honors double-major B.A. from a top 20 university the "Rice masters" because it is so frequently equivalent to or superior to an actual masters degree from a less prestigious school in competing for jobs. However, I am seeing jobs that I would otherwise be qualified for (e.g. social science research jobs) based on skills and experience that I would not be considered for because I have "only" a bachelors degree and they specifically require a masters or higher. Of course, I have to assume that competition for such jobs is pretty tight and that even with the masters, they are tough to get. It's times like this that I am glad that no matter what happens, I will still have significant job experience and a well-developed skill set for re-entry into the non-academic job market.
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3 comments:
Yeah, I hope I didn't imply that I think the offers aren't great. I am actually pretty jealous even though in so many ways I haven't chosen the path you're on.
Tam - no, it was more that I was surprised - the amounts were actually better than I would have expected, even thought of as an hourly wage. (Though obviously the benefits of grad school come after one graduates and gets a job*, and not from the opportunity to assist with teaching and academic research for $20/hour.)
*At least for those not in disciplines where getting a job that uses their PhD is unlikely. For those people, I hope they enjoyed the process and feel that the degree is burnishing their self-image in a big way.
If you include the tuition remission of $10,000 to $30,000 for 10-20 hrs/wk, about 30-32 weeks, and the wage looks pretty good.
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