Hiya, I posted months ago about doing a PhD in Social Anthropology and got lots of useful advice (thanks again!). I've decided to take a break for a year and save up before applying for a PhD.
However, I'm apprehensive for various reasons. Mainly I don't want to teach, at all, as I wouldn't be good at it. Are there many other careers I could do, working as an anthropologist? Or museum curator, maybe? But then couldn't I do this as well with an MA?
Also, are all PhD students caught in the academic 'milieu'? It seems very gossipy and cliquey, in anthropology particularly, and that seems very daunting.

Hi Londoner. I am in a similar situation to you as I am also applying for a social science PhD.

The only point in doing a social science PhD is to get a career in academia. Very few other occupations are going to be impressed with an Anthropology PhD, in fact it may count against you as you will have wasted three years doing a PhD which has no relevance to the field in which you are seeking employment.

The situation is different in science where there are considerable opportunities to go into industry or other non-academic employment with a PhD.

You say that you don’t want to teach at all, in which case I see no advantage in pursuing a social science PhD. By the sound of your post you seem to like the idea of doing a PhD without thinking about what you will do once you have completed it.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but there is no point in wasting your time, effort and money for a qualification that will not help you in your career.

I did an MA in Museum Studies recently, and this has not qualified me for a curatorial post straight away. If this was a post I wanted to take I would need more experience...in your example a curator of anthropology at a university or national museum would probably have a PhD in Anthropology, and perhaps an additional qualification in museum studies at a later point.

I am starting a PhD in september to compliment my MA and prepare me for (with hope!) an academic career/ museum career.

Hope that helps a bit. I'm a bit concerned about the high drop out rates people are mentioning! Makes me panic a little!!!

Some curators are fortunate enough to get their position with an undergaduate and a masters and experience, so you could probably be a curator of anthropology without a PhD, but in terms of research papers and knowledge this kind of qualification would be a marketable commodity.

Hi there, thanks for your answers. To clarify quickly, yes, I know that I would need a PhD to be an anthropologist. I absolutely love anthropology and it will 'break my heart', to use a quaint expression, to stop studying it and to try and find a job outside of that field. I like research and ideally, I would like to conduct fieldwork and write ethnographies, but do not like the idea of supporting myself by teaching and being too caught up in the microcosm of academia- I'd like a balance of 'real life' and research.. So you are right, I am confused as to what to do now.

Thanks, Chrisrolinski, your comments are really helpful. I'm sure you'll do fine in your PhD and won't drop out as you seem to have a clear idea of what you wnat to do! All this is making me think that I might be as well doing a part-time PhD while looking for a job relating to anthropology in some way...Then I won't put my life on hold too much while studying.

Hey Londoner! The musuem world is tough, but with enough experience and academic qualifications it is posisble to make it. This is why I am going to do my PhD part-time (also due to funding) and volunteer/paid employment whilst studying so that when I graduate I will have a strong all round c.v. Something worth thinking about ....

Sorry to degenerate again but have any of you seen "Bones" on Sky about the forensic anthropoligist?

Johanstein, your comment is strange. Anthropology is not trying to be a science. 70 years ago, one anthropologist did describe it as a science but his ideas are no longer taken seriously... Anthropology is something else altogether. It is reductionist to think that science is the only valid optic to see the world through. There are other disciplines, and, outlandish though it may seem to you, they are not cringing in fear of being 'denounced' as non-scientific by a brilliant academic such as yourself. Anthropology observes human societies; it uses specific theories to do this. If I am going to embark on a study of ethnicity in Highland Latin America, I don't need a PhD in a 'hard' science; the tool I will need is a PhD in anthropology.

sorry for the delay. Bones is excellent. I only really watch 2 programmes on TV at the mo, that and 24 season 5.
Bones has just finished. booo. Its based on the life & novels of a real forensic anthropologist at the ficticious Jeffersonian Institute.
The dude who played Angel is her FBI partner, which for me mades the series very easy on the eye. There is a character in it, I've forgotten his name who is a PhD student. Loves it!