Recently I received a LinkedIn request from someone that I did not know. That, in and of itself is not that unusual as I have a reasonable sized network there and I get requests from connections of connections. The message that followed was a little usual. Rather than either sending me a job description (as a recruiter) or asking me for an introduction (as a job seeker), this person wanted some advice on their future academic endeavors based on my experience. While I responded to them via DM, it was brief. I will share the context, questions, and more thoughtful answers in this article since I am sure others may be in this situation.
This connection is presently working in tech (machine learning related) and has a bachelor degree. Now in their 30s, they are toying with going back to university to get a masters and then a doctorate. Why did they reach out to me? I obtained my bachelors and masters, then worked for 8 years, quit my job and went back to university full time to get a doctorate. So I would say I had a career pathway similar to what they were considering. Also, I have a profile on SharpestMinds and it was reasonable to expect that I would be open to mentoring. So reader, here are the questions and I hope you find the responses useful.
1. Was it worth it? [returning to grad school] Why?
Yes it was worth it. The doctorate allowed me to return to an area of interest that I thought would be more intellectually fulfilling than the tasks in the job prior. I had been working in more traditional engineering, specifically electrical engineering in building systems and industrial automation, where the solutions were more rote. And not only was the work uninteresting, it was a harsh work environment for me. The sexism was rife. Obtaining a phd in medical image analysis allowed me to become a specialized knowledge worker, working on challenging problems that were not guaranteed to have a solution. And while the sexism still existed, it was not as overt which was a welcome break for me.
2. What was the most challenging aspect?
My masters degree was in medical image analysis, specifically image processing. I had worked outside of this area for 8 years and during that time (1993–2001) the field continued to advance, as one would expect. I had to catch up on the science AND had to become used to academic study and dissecting journal articles as a full time activity, all over again. This is not an easy task since skills become rusty.
3. Is there a “transformation” on how you think and approach problems? [in doing a PhD]
Yes! My experience in the master’s program helped me to understand a particular scientific topic more in-depth and to learn about subjects not offered in an undergraduate degree. In a phdprogram, I was expected to advance the science. In particular, you need to understand the boundaries of where the scientific knowledge is, see the gaps, pick a topic in the gap regions, and uncover new scientific knowledge. That activity requires you to really question what you and the scientific field knows and, by extension, to learn how to critically evaluate you own and other’s work. In my master’s program, I never questioned if I could complete the program. However, during my doctorate I was never certain that there would be a successful outcome to my experiments, my studies, my thesis.
4. If you were to go back and give yourself some tips and advice, what would they be?
Celebrate your victories, whether they are positive experiments or a newly published paper. It is easy to become overly critical because the scientific community is harsh (and rightfully so). When you are working so hard to achieve your goals it can be hard to not to take the feedback on the work personally.
5. What should I consider when doing choosing my Masters degree, if I have plans to do a PhD?
When picking your masters consider where you want to go next and in what field since the network you gain via your lab peers and your advisor(s) will matter. Also, given that machine learning advances are happening so quickly, consider what will help you to adapt to change. A good lab group that helps you keep up on the latest science will help prevent you from going down a path that is redundant or useless in a few years. Also, consider the skills that you can learn from your peers and profs related to critical thinking, flexibility, open mindedness and communication. These can be just as important as the technical knowledge you learn. The advances are happening so quickly that your career is liable to morph over time.
So any of you that are thinking of going back to university, I can’t tell you if it is right for you. It was right for me even though I stayed in the private sector and did not pursue an academic career. I don’t regret my choice.
