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| The Benefits and Detriments to Earning a Doctorate Degree |
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There is no question that earning a doctorate degree creates more career
opportunities both in terms of salary eligibility and type of employment.
Unfortunately, these opportunities come at the price of many years of foregone
labor market earnings. Many doctorate degree candidates are unable to find work
in their field while they are actively pursuing their degree, which can lower
earnings even further over the course of their academic career. In addition,
doctorate degree programs are expensive, and often require candidates to borrow
substantially in order to complete them. On the positive side, however, lost
earnings, even if invested at the time they are earned, are more than likely to
be compensated and eventually surpassed in the years immediately following
graduation. As for the price of earning a doctorate degree, student loan
providers generally offer very reasonable interest rates compared to other
lenders and allow students to repay over the course of many years, usually
without requiring any payment until graduation.
According to the U.S.
Census Bureau, doctorate degree holders will earn, on average, just under one
million dollars more than their masters degree holding counterparts over the
course of their working lives. If financial incentive were the only
consideration, doctorate degree holders would have sufficient justification to
pursue advanced degrees. Often, however, the career aspirations of highly
skilled individuals in general, and in particular doctorate degree holders,
can't be measured by salary alone. They often attach great significance to the
opportunities that a doctorate can provide, such as the ability to do a type of
work they care about and for which they have been trained. For that reason, no
single measure can satisfactorily describe the doctoral labor market.
Unemployment figures for those holding doctorate degrees favor higher
education. Doctorate degree graduates are almost always several points below the
national unemployment average. This is hardly surprising considering the lack of
qualified individuals for upper echelon positions. As education requirements for
employment rise, competition often declines.
Considering the more
prevalent positive effects that earning a doctorate degree can have on one's
career, via future earnings, employability and job satisfaction, the negatives
associated with obtaining a PhD become somewhat inconsequential. This is
especially true if one looks at the overall period for which a doctorate is a
valuable resource, as opposed to the years spent earning it. Those who achieve
this educational milestone will be able to reap the benefits for a lifetime.
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