i am mid-age career transmission professional, i have finished my master (finance) at the age of 34 in the uk, and returning to Asia after my study. i was assuming there would be a good life ahead at the time, but unfortunately, due to loss of my mother and breakig up with long term boyfriend, i got depression for quiet long time, but i did manage to enter very competitive field,-fund managment in a large banking corporation. (even though it took me long time, wasted several years of my precious time).

after i worked there for 1.5 years, the financial crisis started, and the worst thing was that i was working on Credit derivative products, i lost my job a year ago, and has been struggled to find a job since then, but no news until now. the main reason is that most employers need more years experiences in the market and age discrimination is another big issue...i once interviwed by a very high paid bank, and after test and many round interviews, i got rejected in the final round, the headhunter told me becasue of my age...how depressing.....

now i am thinking doing a phd in euope, several reasons are here..

1. age discriminision is very serious in asia, i did not see good future living in asia, i know it is perhaps exist in every coner of the world, but europe and us is much better in this sense...

2. i am also hoping to have a family in the near future, it is very difficult in asia, becasue most of people get married in their mid to late 20s, so there is no place for older woman in dating market....

3. i have great insight into industry, (even though i stayed in this industry for just short time), if comparing with the people who are just in academic...especially i know exactly what i want to do in my future research, (eg, risk management and few other topics), i aslo have lots of industry data and materials, and i was keeping to study within unemployment period of time , because i am very interested in this field. (there is no unemployment benefit in asia, so i almost spend of all my saving).


even though i have great motivation to do a phd, but there are also fears, i feel i am such pathetic failure....

anyone can give me some positive examples if you know anybody doing this ?

sorry for my writing, i hope everybody can get my points .

thank you very much for replying my post..

Hi

Sorry to hear you are going through a difficult phase in your life. But I had a few questions/concerns on reading this above..

First, do you want to do a PhD *or* do you want settle in Europe? They are entirely different things...

Second, from your post it is clear that you want to find yourself in a social context where ageism is less than where you are, where you can start a life afresh, where you can date.

However, what is not clear is why you wish to do a PhD. If doing a PhD is merely a ticket to this all, and you seek funding (whether from home or from the UK) just so you can be in what you presume to be a greener, fresher, more beautiful side of the world, I am not sure of your decision...

Mind you, there are plenty who start a PhD at a later age than 41, there are plenty whose demographics exactly match yours, there are plenty who do it to get a fixed stipend in a moment of financial insecurity, and there are plenty who have largely non academic reasons to do a PhD, all of which are valid reasons.

However, the hopes/aspirations you seem to have of this part of the world, the mess you fnd your life in: these two are somehow getting linked in your mind via that one word : a PhD.

Getting a topic, convicning a supervisor, organising funding to make this link a reality are issues to be thought through later, and perhaps they will even work out. But somehow, I am doubtful of the way in which you have begun to think of the PhD as a funded road to a better life...

you may perhaps be disappointed, in ways more than one... or it may all work out...

Best, keep thinking

Bug

hi, thanks a lot, phdbug,

Yes, that is exactly what i am thinking at the moment, Doing a phd is a ticket leading to successful life both private and professional. but of course, i clearly aware of uncertaintly in life...it may work out or not, the bottom line is i have great interest to explore more in the areas of my profession.....even other things do not work out at the end, nothing to lose....and i also thought ageism is probably not big matter in academic, i may have an option to find a position in faculty after graduation ( i am not sure about that though)...so i think i will go for it, find a funding and start to apply......

best

======= Date Modified 23 Aug 2009 14:14:08 =======
Hi Questionmark, there is certainly no problem with going ahead with a PhD at 41 (I know several people who have successfully done this and gone on to good academic careers...not back into industry though), but similarly to PhdBug, I would ask why do you actually want to do a PhD?

Are you interested in research (as opposed to practice) and/or working in academia, or an IB position that requires a PhD (eg. in financial economics)?

If you are using the PhD primarily as way to find a 'new life'  you should think long and hard about whether it's the right decision (eg. in the US, you're looking at a five year commitment). Also in your field, you'll be up against a lot of competition as so many other people are in the same position (many bankers have taken academic positions), so you may find you'll invest 3/5 years of your life in research and have no job at the end of it (lots of recent PhDs are in this position now). It's quite a big gamble (and potentially very expensive).

If research isn't your top priority, but rather starting a life in Europe or the US and career, have you thought of doing an MBA (which would be about 2 years) or maybe another masters eg. an MSc/LLM in finance/risk management, and then moving back into banking/corporate sector? Even without a PhD, you'd also open yourself up to working academia, particularly if you can offer niche expertise of your country's financial markets.