Q: I’m 47 and back in school, by choice. Had been attending part-time for the past 2 years, decided it was time to sell my insurance agency (after 25 years!) and finish my bachelors degree in physics. GPA excellent. My goal is to teach at the university level, doing for others what my first college math teacher did for me a couple years ago. (Never in a million years figured I could learn and LOVE Calculus.) Am I too old for a quality PhD program to even consider me?
A: Research-oriented Ph.D. programs may consider your age a factor, given that this degree takes many people ten or more years to complete, depending on the field, and that the faculty members who operate these programs hope their graduates will have time to represent them well through scholarly publication. However, that is an assumption you should test directly with specific programs of interest to you.
One other thing to consider is the large number of current Ph.D. holders relative to the supply of tenure-track opportunities at colleges and universities. The statistics are gloomy, as seen in articles such as these:
If your goal is mainly to teach, you might think about alternatives to the traditional Ph.D. For example, with a master’s degree you could teach at many community colleges and some universities. That’s particularly true if you’re willing to work for the lower wages that adjunct professors make. The disappearance of tenure-track opportunities corresponds with a rise in adjunct jobs; the growth is especially great on the online realm. Adjunct professors can have tremendous impact on students, and a Ph.D. is optional in most instances.
A Dream of College Teaching
Q: I’m 47 and back in school, by choice. Had been attending part-time for the past 2 years, decided it was time to sell my insurance agency (after 25 years!) and finish my bachelors degree in physics. GPA excellent. My goal is to teach at the university level, doing for others what my first college math teacher did for me a couple years ago. (Never in a million years figured I could learn and LOVE Calculus.) Am I too old for a quality PhD program to even consider me?
A: Research-oriented Ph.D. programs may consider your age a factor, given that this degree takes many people ten or more years to complete, depending on the field, and that the faculty members who operate these programs hope their graduates will have time to represent them well through scholarly publication. However, that is an assumption you should test directly with specific programs of interest to you.
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Big-Lie-About-the-Life-of/63937/
If your goal is mainly to teach, you might think about alternatives to the traditional Ph.D. For example, with a master’s degree you could teach at many community colleges and some universities. That’s particularly true if you’re willing to work for the lower wages that adjunct professors make. The disappearance of tenure-track opportunities corresponds with a rise in adjunct jobs; the growth is especially great on the online realm. Adjunct professors can have tremendous impact on students, and a Ph.D. is optional in most instances.