<p>What reasons other than academia/research would one go to grad school for? What are the benefits of going to grad school over getting a job?</p>
<p>increased pay later on.
putting off real life a few more years.
(in my case) foreign language acquisition/training.</p>
<p>Well, I am hoping for a way more interesting career.</p>
<p>according to Aubstopper’s “increase pay later on”, I don’t think it’s the case for engineering, in terms of money, you are at disadvantage for going to PhD</p>
<p>Some jobs require a master’s degree for (higher-paying) entry-level positions.</p>
<p>Examples include social work, urban planning, and library science.</p>
<p>One must achieve a JD/MD and pass the exams to become an attorney and doctor.</p>
<p>This isn’t facetious or negative- ego. I want to be an expert in my field and know all there is to know about the topic. I want to have the reputation amongst my peers as being the foremost individual in my sub topic.</p>
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Somebody’s still chillin in the need-esteem category. You need to self-actualize bro.</p>
<p>go to grad school simply because you like to learn and you have an innate curiosity to figure out how things work?</p>
<p>some also go because they cant find a job… especially in a bad economy… they keep going to school when there aren’t other options… if they can afford it.</p>
<p>mcgoogly- no need to tell someone else they are not self-actualized because they are not afraid to be true to themselves, bro.</p>
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<p>I have to disagree with the above. PhDs in engineering are paid more than those with only master’s degrees. Many engineering positions, particularly in industry research, are not open to non-PhDs, so you have that advantage as well. </p>
<p>In answer to the OP, it varies, depending on the field and your career goals. Some professions require a PhD to advance to certain level while others don’t. Check out the education of those in your field who are in enviable positions. If they have advanced degrees, then chances are that you will need one, too, to be competitive in your field. Most people attend graduate school because they love their area and want to know as much as possible about it.</p>
<p>Most professions have a mix of degrees. For instance, at the public high school I attended, two teachers out of maybe 100 had PhDs. Some had master’s degrees. Some just had B.A.'s in education. Teacher salaries were scaled so that the higher the degree, the higher the salary – and of course years of service were also factored in. Do you need a PhD or a master’s degree to teach high school? Absolutely not. But I’ll tell you, these two PhDs were the BEST teachers because of their knowledge base, and they were assigned the plum classes-- advanced and A.P. courses. </p>
<p>The majority of people who enter master’s programs because they need the degree to advance in their profession; while they love their field, they aren’t sure they want to devote a huge chunk of time to their education. In contrast, most people who enter PhD programs are intensely passionate about their field and don’t care that it will take, say, five years to begin to become an expert. What happens afterward depends on the individual, the field, and the program. Some go into academia, and others into industry. Some cannot find a job in their field and so find employment barely related to their degree. Some start in academia or industry, then become self-employed consultants.</p>
<p>hi Mom, Yes I know PhDs have higher starting salaries than master/undergrad, what I meant is by the time you finish your 5 year **engineering **phd program, the amount of pay increase from undergrad is not as much if you were to start as undergrad in industry</p>
<p>For example, the top income for undergraduate majors is always some kind of engineering, highest was chemical engineering at around 65k (stats 2 years ago I believe), if you start in a company with 65k, 5 years later you have the potential for going much higher than phd starting salary, not to mention the promotion opportunity. </p>
<p>In my opinion, in engineering you do PhD for the interest/passion, not paycheck, most likely you will end up working as R&D scientist in a company lab or in academia,
JD or MD on the other hand, obviously money is a big factor</p>
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<p>I’d bet that the 5-year salary for a master’s degree holder is still less than the starting salary for the PhD. 65K plus five years experience might get you 75K, which is still low for a PhD in engineering.</p>
<p>But the actual salary doesn’t matter. As both of us agree, you need to have the interest/passion to pursue the PhD – whether it’s in engineering or classics. It’s all about being happy with what you’re doing and what you can do later.</p>
<p>thanks for sharing your perspectives, I’m curious are the skills you learn while doing research applicable to your job in the industry? say for something like computer engineering or economics?</p>
<p>It depends on what you do. </p>
<p>My husband got his PhD in computer science/engineering, and he has worked in both academia and industry, depending on the opportunity. Although he has had to learn new skills at each job, he has never felt unprepared. They wouldn’t have hired him, otherwise. 
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<p>A PhD in English is another matter. That prepares you only for academia. Economics puts you somewhere between the two. Because economics is more theoretical than business, I suspect you would be more likely to fit into a think tank or a consultant business than you would as, say, a manager in a company.</p>
<p>the process/idea of doing a PhD is to train yourself to be an independent researcher, so yes of course it’s applicable to your job in industry. like mom said, different jobs may have different focus, but PhD grants you the set of required skills to perform research, so do not worry too much about that</p>
<p>computer and economics are very different fields in nature, I’m in engineering and I have many EE/ECE friends, everything you see in front of you are invented by them.</p>
<p>In psychology, to do clinical work. I want a split clinical/research career, so I’m applying to balanced (and a couple of research “lopsided”) PhD programs.</p>
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Ahem, pursuit of knowledge isn’t a legitimate reason to pursue graduate study? Silly me</p>
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<p>Agree with Mom here. I’ve heard the above statement said numerous times. People seem to think you have to do some major cost benefit analysis to go and pursue a PhD in engineering. This isn’t really true. Granted the passion or major interest in the subject matter needs to be there, but PhD’s in engineering really do have some very major and lucrative opportunities that somebody with Masters or Bachlors just won’t have. This has been my observation. For example, many of the top positions in start-ups and executive positions in major corporations will only go to PhDs.</p>
<p>Another thing, most PhDs in engineering are paid a stipend to take classes, do research, and be a teaching assistant. While, the pay isn’t great, you ususally get health care, access to subsidized university housing, recreation centers, cheap food, and access to student loans if you need them(on top of the stipend). All this stuff is going to cost way more in “real life”.</p>