Beware: Resource Links point to media pages written in German. Sorry for the language barrier!
There are a lot of PhD students in Germany (roughly 150k in 2017), and with over 1% of the population in Germany holding a PhD degree in 2019, opinions are voiced that these numbers might too high to be justified, as many of the obtained PhDs are not beneficial for a thriving career in innovation-driven industries or as there’s not enough room for all of those students to continue in academia afterwards. While there certainly is a multitude of personal beliefs and views that led to graduated students continuing with a PhD, I personally state that a certain degree of promised comfort – at least for a large portion of prospective PhD students – is a deciding factor. However, I argue that for most of us, too, starting out on a PhD is also an attempt to formalize the abstract narrative that will drive your professional life while trying to stay in the “comfort zone”: Being able to to let your (informal) thoughts free-roam around while financial support is provided by the state feels good, so much I can say already after 8 weeks of work (I admit that I am fortunate enough not only to live in a rich country but also specialize in a field that sees a lot of funding these days).
I do not judge anyone who starts out a PhD simply because it feels most natural to stay in the established zone of comfort. As a matter of fact, I would include myself in that group of people even though I switched universities and even the state I live in. However, unfortunately, the serious challenges we currently face (climate change, infectious diseases and multi-resistant bacteria, crippling social inequality) are not solved by merely philosophizing about the perfect utopia where these problems would have been solved. Rather, I am sympathizing with the idea that scientifically sound work forms the basis for actually solving the problems we face on the way to the imagined utopia (without downplaying the role of e.g. the humanities in this process), and that every scientist should occasionally think about the bigger picture in which their work becomes visible: After having derived solutions that solve a problem under “lab” conditions, humanity can use tools like politics, entrepreneurship and discourse within the general society to implement the solution for real.
Now what does this philosophical babbling have to do with the question of how to fit a PhD into one’s life plan?
After a very enjoyable time as a bachelor student and a wonderful year abroad, during my masters degree, I fell into a bit of a hole: The day on which I’d leave the predefined study track and become fully responsible for my own career choices came closer, and I felt like I was not ready for this step, having obtained good grades from the taken courses but nothing else. I started to question my competences as well as my ability to actually succeed in a “real” job when time would come. Moreover, this also made it harder to develop a clear vision on what to do after finishing my masters degree: I saw so many abstract possibilities and so many problems that needed solving, but did not have to courage to commit to any concrete path of action. During the past winter, this changed: Through a university-backed leadership program, I was very fortunate to meet a bunch of inspiring prospective graduates from my university who are in positions similar to mine. In the past winter, when nothing else but one-on-one meetings outside were possible (due to the COVID-19 lockdown), I used the opportunity to have deep and inspiring conversations about just what else we could do after graduating than simply starting some arbitrary job at an arbitrary company in industry.
A very valuable advice came from the book “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay, which got recommended to me in one of those conversations and which I hereby also recommend to you. The advice helped me with my problem of indecisiveness: Instead of looking for the optimal way to build your career, simply take the immediate next step that looks promising to you even if it might not seem super unique or revolutionary. Build your very own career out of these smaller (possibly less “impressive”) blocks and combine them in a way that suits your vision, your values and the circumstances arising in the moment (In the book, a young man is introduced who, as a hobby, builds his own custom bike by combining stock parts. Struggling to find a way into his career because he’d like to not choose anything non-optimal, therapist Dr. Jay points out his behavior when building his bike, suggesting to proceed similarly in the professional life).
Living in a safe and prosperous country like Germany, many people are privileged enough to deal with the issue of self-fulfillment through their work (as opposed to simply earning enough money to survive). For that group of people (which includes me), the bike analogy mentioned above might just be the most helpful hint out there: Think about how your ideal bike looks like (find your values and find out what really drives you/what you’d really like to do and achieve), which parts you might need to build it (which skills, experiences and resources you need), look out for some solid components, and when you found a good quality part that seems like it could fit (and in life, you can always find opportunities regardless of your budget) just get it and start assembling your dream! The best time to do the next best step is now.
I first had my doubts about whether I should continue with a PhD, because I couldn’t see myself in academia for my whole life. However, the discussions with my friends and the recommended book made clear to me that decisions like the one to stay in academia, while life-changing, only add single a building block to the long road that is our professional life. Considering that, starting a PhD suddenly was the best next building block to obtain for me. And if you feel like, right now, you can do something better than what I decided to do, then go for your preferred alternative without shame or regret. If you know where you stand and what you want from life, you will always find a way to continue building your very own road, regardless of academic titles or other decorations you might hold or not.