Ask Alex: Getting a Communication Ph.D.
May 14th, 2007So, it’s that time of the year again, and so the inevitable question comes from a few graduate students: Where’s a good place to get a communication Ph.D.?
Well, first of all, that’s probably the wrong question. The right question is: “Should I pursue a Ph.D.?” and the answer I will always give is “no.”
Should I go for a Ph.D.?
No. There are lots of good reasons not to pursue the doctoral degree:
1. People really won’t respect you more. Some folks actually do pursue a Ph.D. with the thought that they can then be called “Dr. X” (OK, maybe not Dr. X. Heck, it would be worth it if you could be called “Dr. X.” I mean they want “Dr.” in front of their own name.) I’ve talked to these people, and don’t understand it. There’s no special power a Ph.D. grants–it doesn’t certify you for much of anything, with the below exception. In other words, if you are doing the Ph.D. because you want the prestige, it’s really not worth the effort. Besides, this is America! No titles, remember? If you want the Dr., just use it; or, as a co-worker did, Senator.
2. You won’t make more money. At least not with a communication degree–it may be different with an engineering degree, for example. Someone is now sure to come up with a statistic that says that you make an extra million dollars in your lifetime with a Ph.D., but (a) it’s false causation and (b) you’ll spend that on therapists and paying off debts.
3. You’re really good at coursework, and so you think it’s the natural next step. Generally, it’s not. Particularly if you are in a program that is designed as a “terminal degree,” like the Informatics program at UB, or our MS program at Quinnipiac, you probably are not very well prepared to pursue the Ph.D. People have successfully moved on, but it isn’t a smooth transition. If you gain admittance, you’ll probably be scrambling to catch up with students who have been on the research path during their masters programs. Moreover, although there is generally coursework at the doctoral level in US institutions, it isn’t the major part of the work of the degree. The Ph.D. is always a research degree–you are expected to come in and be an apprentice researcher fairly quickly, on top of your required coursework.
4. You want to be a college instructor, and you think this is where you learn to do it. I was actually lucky in that my program did talk a little bit about teaching, but that is certainly not the focus of a Ph.D. program anywhere; except, of course, in education programs. If you aren’t ready to teach after finishing your masters degree, that isn’t going to change by the end of the Ph.D. You should already be a master of your field when you have the masters degree in hand, the doctorate means that you have made a significant contribution to that field. Many doctoral programs graduate excellent researchers who would be horrible if unleashed on an undergraduate class.
Now, it’s true: it is increasingly the case that colleges and universities will only consider Ph.D.s for their teaching positions. But the problem is two-fold. First, if you are really primarily interested in teaching, you are going to be very frustrated spending 18 hours a day doing research for several years. As a result, you probably won’t be very good at it. Second, as noted below, you probably won’t be able to get a teaching job after all that anyway.
Dirty Ph.D. Program Secrets!
Still not convinced? OK, the two dirty secrets of doctoral education:
1. Many people don’t finish. It’s bad enough that you are going to be alienating your family, and going into debt (and this is assuming that you aren’t paying tuition, but just for living, etc.), you may end up not finishing. The lucky people drop out in the first year. Many get through the coursework, only to be unable to complete general exams. A much larger number get through any required coursework and exams, but find themselves unable to complete the dissertation. If you don’t think you can write a 300 page book now, don’t expect that is going to magically change by the end of your program. There is a reason my university sent out “Ph.C.” (candidate) diplomas. A lot of people end up stuck indefinitely on the dissertation, and in at least some cases, this isn’t even their fault. Sometimes departmental politics or shifts in the field make completing a dissertation in your area impossible.
2. Of those who get the degree, only a small fraction actually get a job teaching in a college or university. An even smaller number end up teaching at an institution as good as the one they attended. Now, you may not want to do this, and you have another target, which is fine. If you do want to teach, you should definitely have a strong “plan B.” Oh, and when I say teach, I mean anywhere. I have colleagues who are brighter and more accomplished than I am who are either unemployed or who are teaching under conditions they hate. A large number of doctorate-holding individuals are stuck in the perpetual hell of adjunct work, hoping one day to “make their break.” Just read through the archives of Invisible Adjunct to get a feel.
You have self-confidence, or you wouldn’t be even considering this. But be realistic about that self-confidence–it takes a lot to make even a minor splash. I know that the JD and MBA people will eat me alive for saying this, but there is usually some clear path out of the top programs for law, business, and medicine. Unless you are at the bottom of your class, you’re likely to get some job in your profession. The truth that schools won’t tell you is that even among the most elite programs, a tenure-track position is far from guaranteed. The majority of graduates go into something else. You would be surprised how many movers and baristas hold doctorates from top universities.
Not Dead Yet!
So, still here? Is there a good reason to pursue a doctorate? Yes, I think–and this is just my own opinion–that there are two good reasons. First, you love to do research. You aren’t just a curious person–everyone says they are a curious person–you live on curiosity and Top Ramen. You do not care particularly about being rich, but you want to be challenged every day. You are passionate about learning and helping others to learn. You will need that passion to sustain yourself through the idiocy, politics, and bureaucracy of the typical doctoral program. Doctoral programs virtually guarantee stress beyond what you have experienced before, which accounts for the strange bestiary that is the typical university faculty.
Second, you like spending most of your life around people who are smarter and more driven than you are. If you are used to being the smartest person in the room, get over it. (Contrariwise, if you think everyone who pursues a Ph.D. is brilliant, be prepared to be disabused of that notion. Many of the brightest people said “screw this” several paragraphs ago and are signing up for the GMAT/LSAT/MCAT as you are reading.) That was really important for me, because I am naturally both lazy and competitive. If there aren’t people around me doing really interesting stuff, I am less likely to be doing so. There was something really exciting to me about being in a room with people who were likely to change the world, and hoping that I could too.
Finding a program
So, now that you are sold on the idea of a doctorate, where’s the best place to go for one in communication? There isn’t a single answer to that question. As you will find, if you haven’t already in your coursework, there isn’t really a field of communication. Really, it’s more of a family of topical areas and approaches that gets bundled together under that name. As one of the younger fields of study, what you find in one communication department is unlikely to be identical to what you will find in another. There are certain affinities among some programs, but there isn’t any clear leader.
The best way to find a program you would like to study in is to identify the dozen or so living researchers you would most like to be a slave assistant for. Whose thinking really excites you? Now, it may be that their work on paper is a really poor representation of what they are like in person, but this will at least get you going down the right path. Honestly, if you can’t think of anyone you would get excited about working with, you have a lot more homework to do before you consider going on to a doctoral program.
You probably shouldn’t choose a program based on just that one person. Once you find where these folks are working, you should take a look at the rest of the faculty, and see whether there are other people you would like to work with there. This is pretty important, since you are likely to be taking classes with them, and one of them may end up being your advisor, depending on how the department assigns students to committees. Finally, if you can figure out who the students are, see if you like the kinds of research they are doing. Email some of them and ask about the department: current students are often the best resource for deciding whether this is the kind of place you want to go.
Set up a time to talk with the chair of the department and the faculty members you are most interested in. Yes, even (especially!) if the campus is in another part of the world. There is a good chance you will be relocating for graduate school, so you better find out if you like the city and the campus as well as the people. Equally importantly, although I don’t know of doctoral programs that explicitly interview candidates, by becoming a real person to the faculty, you are more likely to be in mind when they consider admissions and tuition awards.
I will reiterate: don’t go unless it is paid for. There are a handful of programs that do not award assistantships to new students, but most use the assistantships mainly, or even exclusively, as a recruitment tool. Don’t expect, in those cases, that you are going to show up, pay tuition for a year, and wow them into supporting you. Too many students do, and then find themselves in impossible financial binds and heartbreak.
But, you ask, isn’t there a ranking of Ph.D. doctoral programs? I would like to say “no,” but there is such a ranking. The National Communication Association does a reputational ranking of doctoral programs in a number of subfields. There are a couple of caveats to bear in mind. First, “reputation” doesn’t necessarily mean quality. If Princeton decided to offer a Communication Ph.D., it would quickly rise to the top of these lists, largely because of the name. That’s not to say that a Princeton Department of Communication would suck, just that the reputational measures might outstrip the reality of the program itself. The other piece of this is that the NCA does not represent all of communication. In fact, a lot of scholars in the field may choose the ICA as their primary affiliation, or IAMCR, for example. So the ICA people might have a slightly different take on the best schools.
Making the application
Once you have picked out five or seven schools that you think are worth applying to, spend some time working on the applications. It’s really hard to gauge what admissions committees will do with your application. A letter of recommendation from a colleague that is well known in the field might go a long way. Stellar GREs might attract attention. While good grades are expected, they are more likely to look at the courses you took to decide whether you have the appropriate preparation for a doctorate. But most important, for many schools, is a statement of purpose that shows that you have a clear expectation for your future as a researcher, and that you know about what their program can offer you. It is pretty common that students receive admission and an assistantship from one of their most desired schools only to be rejected by one of their less interesting picks. Admission to doctoral programs tends to be very idiosyncratic.
I would strongly recommend against limiting yourself geographically. I have to admit that the city of Seattle was a major part of the reason I ended up at the University of Washington, and that worked out well for me. Had I stayed in San Diego, I would have done fine with UCSD. Both programs are of very high quality, and also happen to be in great cities. But if you are limiting yourself to a local university, and that university is not among the top in the US, consider seriously whether it is worth your time and effort to commit to a Ph.D. there. Without naming names, there are Ph.D. programs that really are sub-par. There is an unfortunate amount of snobbery and nose-turning as it is, often at cross purposes. Put someone from Columbia, Wisconsin, and Austin in the same room, and there is a chance all three will consider themselves to be at the top of the food chain. If you are completing a Ph.D. at Pudunk U., you may be limiting your possibilities. Since only fools do the Ph.D. more than once, do you really want to put that effort into a university that has an undistinguished program?
Please don’t take this the wrong way. I loved graduate school. I’ve talked to many successful researchers who hated it, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I would have loved it even if it turned out that I didn’t get the chance to work in academia, and I’m really happy that I do. But doctoral programs often share their Kool-Aid widely, and are lost in a haze of self-appreciation. Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions: What percentage of people finish? What percentage of those get tenure track jobs? What do the others end up doing? Are the students happy? Are the faculty happy? Is it a supportive environment? This will be your entire life for a good number of years, you should go in with your eyes wide open.
Update: Also, don’t even think about a Ph.D. in physics :).
May 15th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Hmmm… I just went to the school up the street for my doctorate cause I could walk there. As for the degree, well it seemed to be a good idea at the time. I spent too many years working in business to ever find it of much appeal.
I have to agree that there’s no value in doing it for the social status. If you want to be a good teacher, get a BEd as well. Though I find that the value of the school you went to is mute. You’re more likely to get judged on the paper you just presented or the book you just had published. The school you went to only lasts for a couple of years.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:08 am
[...] Ask Alex: Getting a Communication Ph.D.: Should I go for a Ph.D.? [...]
May 15th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Jason: Yeah, but you didn’t live up the street from Podunk U. While I agree it’s less the school you go to than what you make of it, it is a lot harder to make something of it if you are at a school that doesn’t have a strong reputation. Yours did; as did mine. It’s certainly possible not to take advantage of that, but it’s more of an uphill climb from a lot of universities. I agree that the reputation of your school only carries you a couple of years, but if you can’t get a position in your chosen field for a couple of years, that’s going to suck.
I should note that the “school up the street” for us is the University of Connecticut. I don’t think anyone else offers a Ph.D. in communication within the state. None of the above should be taken as a dig on UConn. In some areas–particularly tech and health–they do well. Of course, if you count New York or Boston to be up the street, there are a lot of other opportunities as well.
May 15th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
what a great and helpful post, alex - thanks. i’ll no doubt send students to it for consultation.
(yo, your spam protection (for comments) works but i’d suggest adding something about capitalizing the A of Alex. i was lucky and lost a two sentence comment but it would have sucked if i lost a longer comment.)
May 15th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
[...] Ask Alex: Getting a Communication Ph.D. This is good advice for anyone contemplating a Communication or Media Studies Ph.D. (del.icio.us tags: media_studies gradschool academic) [...]
May 15th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
That’s great advice, Alex. I followed the PhD program up to my dissertation and the last two research papers. I really did want it, but was burned out from having to work so much as the department advisor (rather sad - my own department hurt my progress! lol) and then moved to Virginia and got a LIFE. I lost my motivation completely, after that. I love teaching at the undergraduate level, but many of the colleges - even community - (what few are around here!) want a PhD. Also, as Alex stated, communication programs are wildly varied! I have looked in Virginia and Texas as well as New York when I was there. I have both communications (journalism mainly) and communication (interpersonal and intercultural com), but find it hard to find a department that mixes it. There is also the fact, as Alex stated, that tenure is difficult to obtain. Many schools keep faculty on as adjuncts or yearly contracts. I have found that I’m better of working as staff and getting a good retirement plan - especially since at 44 I don’t have time to play the waiting game.
I am glad I tried for the dissertation, but I highly agree with all of Alex’s words. Some part of me is sad that I didn’t finish. But I am not the diehard researcher I should be, either. I am very curious and LOVE learning, but I don’t have that drive (at least not any more) to devote so much time to it. I also am not a very quantitative person! I prefer the qualitative. But that in itself makes for a lot more work. I’m enjoying being a wife again and living a quiet, peaceful life. I read a lot of non-academic books now, which is nice. But I still find myself looking for nerdy non-fiction stuff. Luckily, my husband is just as much a nerd. :) So we sit and read and learn for our own sakes. Not for a degree.
People really need to read Alex’s advice carefully and think hard about WHY they want a PhD. My goal was mainly to help build my skills so that I could write books on interpersonal communication. But I can still do that without the PhD! I just have to get myself motivated again. But we’ll work on that later - after I read this really fascinating book on Tolkien. haha - **waves to Alex (I’m that short grad student from UB! lol)
May 17th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Alex,
This is a very interesting. It reminded me of the answer you gave me the first time I asked you about PhD. I always wanted to have a PhD so I can teach, and do research!! May be I am crazy but it’s hard to give up. When I applied for PhD last year, I was accepted into two schools for PhD one of them my current school in Engineering (HCI) and I won’t name the other one (on west cost). I was also accepted into one the top schools in USA but they wanted me to do my Master’s again (with no funding) and then reapply for PhD upon completion of a second MA. I totally agree with the advice of talking to students and faculties from schools you want to attend. Current and former students that I met last year during the AMIA conference in Washington DC helped me a lot. They told me that I would be wasting my time going to the other school on west cost (one of the problem being that the program is new and doesn’t have a focus). I know what could happen to a new program!!!! I also heard and know good and bad things about my current school and this HCI program in particular. For the Ivy League school, besides the name, people told me that it might be not worthy spending ~$50000/year for the name only. I also looked at some profiles of graduates from there and I didn’t see what I was expecting. Yes the name sounds good, but should I go for it? I recently went to a conference and one of the speakers was from this Ivy League. She advised students to not go the name anymore but focus on personal interest. She also mentioned the student makes the biggest contribution to what he/she becomes after PhD.
I guess I was warned and I will keep this e-mail in mind as I make my final decision.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:48 am
[...] from Alex What do I do [...]
May 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Thanks Alex. The subject of my PhD is the process of doing a PhD in Australia, where it is done quite differently from the US (and possibly not as well). But opinions like this are still interesting and help with my thinking.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
You should submit this for publication, perhaps someplace like the ‘In My Opinion” column of Newsweek or some such national rag. You’d be doing even more people a favor.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
[...] Ask Alex: Getting a Communication Ph.D. [a thaumaturgical compendium] Alex Halavais has some good advice on questions to ask BEFORE you embark on a research degree in Communication (or pretty much any other topic, too!). Perhaps a little negative, but sadly by and large realistic… (tags: academia highered education) [...]
May 27th, 2007 at 10:59 am
How can you get into a PhD and continue doing research? What about considering doing a PhD research for a company? Is this usual or possible (and would you advise to do so)?
June 4th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Sole: Sorry for the late reply. That really depends a lot on the field and the school. You must do research in order to get a Ph.D. (with some rare exceptions), but it is usually not the case that you can continue doing the research you are doing for a particular company. Most schools will limit the amount of work you are getting paid for that can count toward the degree, and most businesses will not allow you to publish your research in such a way that will make it possible to publish it and engage in joint research with faculty, etc.
That said, this differs significantly by field. My only experience has been in communication, and it is pretty rare to see that sort of corporate-education working cooperative, though not unheard of. Generally, if this is something you are interested in, you will already have an “in” in terms of a partnership between your company and an educational institution.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
[...] This post is scaring me, however. [...]
June 14th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Thanks, David! Lowercase now works too.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Alex wrote,
“I don’t think anyone else offers a Ph.D. in communication within the state. None of the above should be taken as a dig on UConn. In some areas—particularly tech and health—they do well. Of course, if you count New York or Boston to be up the street, there are a lot of other opportunities as well.”
Well, that’s not entirely true. In New York, yes, there are several options, but in Boston, there are none. The only communication Ph.D. program in Massachusetts is at UMass Amherst. It’s a very strong program. That and UConn Storrs are the only two communication Ph.D. programs in New England.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Ace: Well, yes, “lots” is relative. If you expand your definition to include cognates, like journalism, media studies, etc., the numbers increase somewhat (e.g., the MIT program at MIT, for example, or Columbia’s PhD in Journalism, New U’s program in Media Sociology). Again, hard to say what the field is. But yes, you’re right, there aren’t a whole lot of programs on the right coast, especially north of NYC.
July 12th, 2007 at 10:12 am
this is a highly idiotic and outrageous statement which i will never agree.
July 12th, 2007 at 11:18 am
[...] How to cheat good, The Isuzu experiment, Capstone defenses, del.icio.us for class, BestBlogForward (ironically, an effort to publicize the most popular posts), Bariata: November Archives, A bad few days, School of Informatics post-mortem, Check this out: Informatics Dissolution, Wordpress.com, The graduate, NoFollow for Wordpress, Bloglines Step-by-Step, Really Sexy Sindication, Last stops to Buffalo, Ask Alex: Getting a communications Ph.D. [...]
August 29th, 2007 at 3:37 am
You present very interesting idea. I totally agree with what you write in this blog. To finish Ph.D., it is quite tough and take a long period of time. You couldn’t know whether you will be success or failure. However, I just start my first year of study in research degree and I feel so scare a little bit more everyday.
October 30th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
[...] to get a PhD One of the students in the class suggested I repost this here. It’s from an old post on my blog. Please head over there if you have [...]
June 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Hi,
Your post on whether to get a PhD in Communication is exactly what I was looking for. I wish I’d read this before joining graduate school. I am an international student and am through with my first year of MA in communication, now contemplating a PhD. I have been sensing all of the problems you talked about in your post and have trouble deciding if I should go on for my PhD. I am not particularly interested in research and all the politics that go with academia disgusts me, already. I am interested in identity studies, interpersonal communication and critical cultural studies and have taken courses in these areas. I am not sure if you can help me with this but if one doesn’t go for a PhD, what can one do with a Masters degree in communication outside of academia? Esp. a research-focused Masters program?
Thanks!
June 14th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Said: I wish I had a great answer for that. The truth is, a research-based masters generally does not lead directly into a professional field, in the same way that a professional (terminal) masters does. So, while a law student will generally practice law, and a medical student medicine, it’s not as clear what a communications student might do for a career.
As a practical matter, many become professional communicators. This is the obvious path for someone who has studied public relations, organizational communications, advertising, and the like. However, many whose studies have been more theoretical also pursue careers as professional communicators. But some of the skills you have learned, or–more importantly, demonstrated–as a graduate student are marketable in a range of areas. Some go into publishing (academic or otherwise), others go into project management. The traditional employment for humanities graduate students has been in education: while teaching may be harder to find at many universities without the Ph.D., many who receive a masters degree go on to teach in community colleges or in private high schools. Some who study interpersonal communication move into fields (counseling, for example) where it can be directly employed, and others teach these skills within companies and other organizations.
Examine what drew you to issues of identity and critical/cultural studies. It may be that you will find fulfillment working with activist groups, non-governmental organizations, or the like. I hesitate to be pollyanish, but the first thing to do is find something you like doing, and then figure out how to make money doing it. There isn’t anything particularly that the masters degree qualifies you for, though it demonstrates that you are capable of structured thought and self-organized learning, qualities that are valuable to many employers.
At the beginning of my own master’s degree, I was working in a budget office for a small city. I was surprised to find that one of my bosses, an accountant and budget analyst, had received his master’s degree in communication at NYU, writing a thesis on restroom graffiti several decades earlier. Since then, I’ve found people with master’s and doctoral degrees in communication working in a wide range of professions.
So, in short, the degree can be of help in certain fields for demonstrating an intellectual ability, but it does not provide a clear path to a particular profession in the way that professional degrees (in law, medicine, journalism, nursing, business, etc.) might.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
This article excited me so much. I love research and do it religously on any topic I can get my hands on. It is what I do in my spare time and what I would do all day everyday if I had the chance. Your article did the opposite of scare me, it made me think that I could really do something I love. Thank You for your information.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I obtained a Ph.D. in Communication with the goal of being a college professor. I had a great job at a premier university, but that only lasted 6 years. There were 3 requirements. By the time of your tenure review you had to have “excellent teaching ratings” from students (50% more on the “excellent” side), which I had. You had to have published 3 articles in referred journals (which I had done). And you had to have a book published (my book was published). My department gave me a full vote, all members voted in favor of tenure. The dean then denied the vote based on one fact, he said my book was published by a “second rate press” and not a “first rate press,’ and that wasn’t good enough for this particular university (true, it was a “second rate press,” but it is one that MANY communication and cultural studies scholars publish with). I was given a “grace year,” to publish more and to have another hearing with him, but this was for naught. He denied it again, saying the same thing once again. He and I were in totally different fields and he also hated the field of Communication. He was a new dean and hard set on showing the “Communication softies” what he thought they deserved (I was the first to come up for tenure under his administration). So my point is, there I was, having jumped all the hoops, and even then not getting tenure in the end.
I left academia and wandered through several different non academic jobs. I now find myself doing market research as a freelancer. I can’t get a company to hire me full time because most of those where I apply have no Ph.D.s on staff and there are several fears: 1. I will want more money, 2. I will want more power and try to “take over” my manager’s job, 3. I am smart and therefore won’t budge when it comes to being a so called “team player.”
I am very proud of my work as a former professor. Just make sure that if you get a job at a university you have it spelled out in chyrstal clear terms, exactly what is expected of you. In fact, if I had it to do over, I would have asked for an actual contract.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your very informative post. I understand that a doctorate degree is primarily for those interested in teaching. However, would you recommend pursuing a PhD to someone who is more interested in research or consulting work, say for private companies or international organizations? Is it possible to land a job in the industry after completing the PhD, or is it the norm to go the academia route and parlay the experience into research/consulting jobs?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
PS:
A little about me - I have a professional Master’s degree in Mass Communication and 5+ years of experience in financial journalism.
March 30th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Hi, Janice!
Whether the doctorate is intended for teaching is an open question. I think most who teach in doctoral programs–at least in the US–see the ideal position of their students as being hired into faculties at prestigious research universities. In practice, of course, many do end up in industry for a wide range of reasons. In my area, it is about as common to go into industry as it is to go into academia. Relatively fewer students come in to the program with that intent.
But yes, it is absolutely possible to go from a doctoral program into “applied research.” My advice would be to talk to the programs and get a feel for how they react to that idea. As I said, there is a none-too-invisible pull toward the faculty side, and you may find that plum supported positions, or co-authoring, or other pieces of the doctoral experience tend to go to those who at least express an interest in working in the university. Obviously, you want to aim for a program where applied research is on a better footing, and where you won’t be marginalized for being on an “industry-track.”