I am a second year PhD student and completed my first year part-time but made very little tangible progress and am now full-time. I have been suffering from lack of motivation for this project for probably as long as I have been doing it.

The way I see it, there are several problems that make it unlikely that I will proceed to submission and get a PhD.

1. I like the topic but don't love it.

2. My progress has been painfully slow (non-existent at times) in comparison to any other project I have taken on and successfully completed.

3. I can visualise how my entire project will come together and know I'm capable of pulling it off but in reality know that just because I can do something doesn't mean it's right for me to do.

4. I'm sick of the poverty of student life. Even before I went full-time, I was subbing and teaching/lecturing part-time - earning decent money for parts of the year and then being absolutely flat broke for other parts of the year and can't envisage spending another 2-3 years like this. (When I finish this year I'll have spent 10 years of my adult life at university)

On the other hand, I like to finish what I start, and am determined not to walk away with nothing to show for the past two years. Basically, while I love teaching and lecturing, it isn't the only thing I would be happy doing with my life, so a PhD is not essential to my life/career plan.

I've basically decided to see out the rest of this academic year and work my a$$ off to get a decent M.Phil thesis written and hopefully passed by next Sept. I suppose I've already made up my mind, so am not really looking for advice but just to see if anyone else on here have had a similar experience.

If you got an M.Phil, either by choice, or because you weren't awarded the PhD at the final hurdle, how did it affect your life or career?

I feel relief at this stage because I know that the M.Phil is very achieveable in this timeframe but just hope that I don't come to regret leaving without finishing the PhD.

Also, I wonder how having two masters degrees (one taught and one research) on my CV would be viewed by employers outside of academia. My discipline is humanities/education/media.

Hi

I don't think having two different masters will make much difference outside of academia as most people don't seem to know what a masters is anyway in my experience!

I do think you should think carefully about downgrading to an MPhil though as I do know within academia this is often seen as an option for people that couldn't quite achieve a PhD... It's only a few more years' struggle and then it will all be worth it surely?

8-)