<p>This new thread is stickied for easy retrieval. </p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>Thanks Trinity- Let me be the first to post. I really do hope that this thread will be helpful to alot of us "Senior members".</p>
<p>I'll bite. I've been considering going back to school for a PhD in Education after my youngest graduates from high school (in 2 years). The motive is an interest in a midcareer (or perhaps more accurately postcareer) change to an area that I find interesting. The parts of my current job that I like are the research, writing, and publishing. The parts that I dislike are the travel and client entertainment. Also, most of my current research revolves around finance, which does not interest me. I fell into this line of work 20 years ago and never escaped. I could just retire, don't really need to earn money at this new job, but want to find something interesting to do and maybe discover something that would help society.</p>
<p>I bought a GRE book and was going to start studying to retake that exam, but I'm not 100% sure this is the right move. I would prefer to get a job doing educational research without the bother of going back to school (as I do not like being a student), but it seems like you need the credential to be considered for most jobs. In fact, any career change seems to be an uphill battle without some recredentialing. </p>
<p>My questions are the following:
*Is getting accepted to graduate school in the field of education as an almost 50-something career changer with zero background in the desired field difficult? (I have a 4.0 GPA in undergrad and grad school (MPA), but could never get a teacher recommendation. I don't remember them so they would certainly not remember me.)
*How hard is it to get hired as an old person with a new PhD? (I keep reading about the surplus of professors. I am really interested in research, not teaching, so a think tank would be better than a university. But I do a lot of public speaking in my current job and would probably find teaching classes to be a neutral--neither like nor dislike.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am really interested in research, not teaching, so a think tank would be better than a university. But I do a lot of public speaking in my current job and would probably find teaching classes to be a neutral--neither like nor dislike.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Incidentally, I was reading yesterday a column in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine written by the President of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, who is himself a very famous professor from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a graduate (I belive, B.S.E and Ph.D) of Princeton University. In that column, this professor was talking about the importance of teaching in a professional scientist's career, arguing that one never fully understands a subject until he/she has to teach it to somebody else. </p>
<p>Although that may be a controversial opinion, I do agree however that teaching a class, be it a basic undergraduate course or an advanced graduate class, is a great way of forcing yourself to organize your ideas in a systematic and coherent fashion and also helps you greatly to see the connections between different subjects and get the big picture. It also helps you with general presentation skills that may prove useful in other contexts (e.g. conferences, writing research proposals, etc.). Unsurprisingly, many top Ph.D. programs now require that students complete a one or two-semester teaching internship as a necessary condition for graduation (keep in mind the word Doctor itself means teacher in Latin !). </p>
<p>Of course, not all Doctors are interested in or suited for a professorship. In fact, most Ph.D's in the US, at least in engineering, actually end up working in corporate research labs, not in academia. Nevertheless, even if one works in industry, he/she should not shy away from teaching or, more broadly speaking, mentoring/advising younger colleagues. On the other hand, for a university professor in particular, teaching, advising graduate students, and doing research are the three legs of the same tripod, each of which indispensable to his/her career development.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is getting accepted to graduate school in the field of education as an almost 50-something career changer with zero background in the desired field difficult? (I have a 4.0 GPA in undergrad and grad school (MPA), but could never get a teacher recommendation. I don't remember them so they would certainly not remember me.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Because you have been out of school for a while, your prospective school will take employer recommendations (especially someone who can write to the research publishing that you have done).</p>
<p>The positives that you have going for you are: you have a stellar academic record in grad and undergrad and research experience.</p>
<p>You would definitely bring diversity of thought and experience to the classroom and to the research.</p>
<p>I really hope that you go for it. All the best to you.</p>
<p>Sybbie, thank you for your encouragement. I will apply to UVA's Curry School of Education. Charlottesville is commutable to Richmond, so H could keep his job, plus he likes Charlottesville.</p>