NO

And I propose this mainly because everyone seems to up in arms about that issue. I am not certain this was Zara's intention or main argument but that is what this thread has turned to at the moment.

No

This is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do agree that I'm not better than anyone else who has not had the same academic opportunities as I have BUT I also think they have no right to think badly of me just like I have no right to think badly of them for this reason (which is what I thought Zara was talking about).

However we ALL should agree that everyone is better than the chav scum who sit around on their ass all day long, watching tv, drinking, smoking, taking drugs and causing violence all paid for by the tax payers. I think I work hard (most of the time) but these factory workers work hard too. At least they are earning a living and not living off the state and we have to respect them for that, qualifications or no qualifications.

Oh and I just wanted to point out there is nothing wrong with having a corner shop. Infact they are GREAT.

My parents had nothing when they started off but growing up I was a spoilt brat and got the best of everything from public school education, to brand new cars and expensive holidays. Not bad going for parents without a qualification to their name....

No, of course not.
BTW I share what Mia called an 'Orphan Annie' or Matilda??! background (lol), with working class parents who read the Sun and not much else who were made angry by my persistent reading ('get your nose out of the book and join the real world!') and going to university (thought it would make me 'a snob' and not able to engage with 'real' people). Hmmm, reading these posts I see what they were afraid of...

I dont think that Zara wanted to be snobish...it is a big difference whether somebody for working class or somebdy from upper class background says "Oh, no I wouldnt want such a life as..... (factory workers, etc).". For those, who came from working class background it means "Thanks God, I escaped that life"( and we know what we are talking about because we have experienced how it is when your parents work physicially extremely hard but never have enough money for basic needs; how it is when they come home and are so exchausted that they dont have time for anything else and how basically trapped in their class they are, how it is when somebody in your family losses his/her job ). So it is not snobbish towards other people, it is just relief that our lives probably will be in some aspects better that our parents lives. But it also comes together with estrangement from your background that Zara was talking about. And sometimes we feel pitty that not everybody has a courage (and opportunity, and means, and talent) to get a better life (if they want it of course).

I agree with your point Mia. I really must go and work on my thesis now, this thread is becoming far too distracting!

both my parents grew up in poor families on council estates. However, they worked really hard to get nice jobs and buy their first house. When I came along they owned a nice three bed semi and gave me all the assistance I needed to be the first member of my family (and my wider family) to ever go to university as an undergraduate. Having crossed that bridge, I feel I have a duty to them and to myself to push myself to the to the limits of my ability and essentially escape my very working class background.

My parents are both getting old now and I'd really like to make them proud whilst achieving my own long term ambition. I don't think it's snobbish to work hard to realise your potential. Surely better than wasting away in a dead end job. Plenty of time for that later!

NO!

Among your work colleagues, a PhD is nothing special 'cos they've all either got one or are working towards one. The people who will be most impressed with your PhD are your parents.

To everyone else, a PhD is an odd thing which stresses people out for years and takes away their social lives. Eventually they write a bloody great book which about 3 people will ever read, briefly wear an outrageously silly hat and then getting an averagely paid job (if they're lucky and manage to find a short-term research contract (in which they work all hours getting stressed!)).

The chicken factory guys go in, do their work, go home and relax or do something fun. They don't have to worry about submitting that paper to 'The Annals of Chicken Plucking' or desperately writing that grant in the hope of securing another year’s contract. Now that's a smart job!

NB I've no regrets, I love my research job but I'm aware that the whole PhD/Post-doc thing can look a little crazy from other people's point of view.

Mia, to me is doesn't matter that much, but to my parents definitely yes.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm hoping to start in september but it is very, very competitive to try and secure funding. It seems there are plenty out there who want this way of life (or in some cases, maybe just the title that goes with it!).

My parents are both degree holders but they worked very hard to get there. Like DanB's and many other people's parents, they started planning for the expenses my academic life would make as soon as I was born. I was not allowed to watch TV for more than an hour a day and was encouraged to read a lot and work hard at my education and get summer jobs during my undergraduate degree. However since we lived in west Africa before my undergraduate, they also taught me to remember that I am very lucky to have the life I was given and not to look down on people just because they have had a different upbringing and have different opinions due to their experiences or situation.

well done Zara, you have managed to distract a record number of people away from their PhD today!!!

Are we ever really focused on our PhDs?

This thread is great - everyone has gone off on one!! But Dan B and myself are right - a lot of people on this thread are hypocrites because YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY SAY that you never think yourself better than anyone else, whether it be to do with job, class, hygiene or outspoken views (after all, you've all judged me for my views on this thread without actually knowing me in person). There is no way that the majority of you would be mates with a chav factory worker who smokes 40 a day, never washes their hands and goes down the Bingo on a Friday night. SO DON'T EVEN SAY YOU WOULD!!