======= Date Modified 19 27 2009 00:27:51 =======
1. Because quitting now will mean that I will be a failed PhD student for the rest of my life
2. My parents will commit suicide if I quit
3. I have no better alternatives at present
4. I want to keep collecting studentship money

Those are my reasons. Sad, ain't it?

I was unemployed.

I love my subject.

Everyone else is crap at my subject (seriously, this isn't arrogance, this is just the "gap in the literature".)

I've spent my entire education looking for a challenge.

I had a pretty good job before I started my PhD so it was a tough decision. I am doing my PhD because I believe passionately in the importance of my topic, and of the need for change. I suppose this naïve optimism has dwindled a little now since I recognise the limitations of research to actually influence change. However I still do believe that the work I do is, and will be, of some value. As cheesy as it sounds sometimes I forget that this is actually about getting me a qualification too.

1) Because I loooove studying
2) Because I looove my subject, which although it seems easy nobody in my country had ever studied before
3) Because if I have free time I don't know what to do with it (pathetic, I know)
4) Because my other half is living at the other side of my country while doing his medical training
5) Because I want to get a promotion at my job
6) Because I believe I can do it
7) Because my friends and family believe I can do it

Come on now Lostinoz.... Surely it can't be all that bad?

I'm doing mine because:

I love studying.
The most effective way to develop and progress as a person is to challenge yourself, and this is how I wanted to do it.
I love my topic.
I'm enjoying the freedom to manage my own work and develop it how I want.
When I started I was sure that I wanted to get an academic job, so the PhD was necessary. I'm less and less sure if this is the route I want to take as time goes on though!
I get to be a 'Dr' which is pretty cool.

Hmm…

Interesting thread! I suppose:

1.) Autonomy
2.) The prospect of having a (semi-)autonomous job in the future.
3.) Lifestyle / collegiality
4.) The notion that I may (in whatever miniscule way) contribute to my chosen area of interest.

1) autonomy
2) flexible working
3) I was unemployed
4) I don't have to pay tax or council tax
5) I can be highly regarded without much work i.e. I'm a doctoral student dontcha know?

1. For the personal challenge
2. Because I love my subject
3. I stumbled upon a research topic which really interests me
4. It would be a nice achievement at the end to have a PhD
5. I had to leave a full-time PhD 13 years ago after falling long-term seriously ill. I intend to finish my second part-time chance.

Lets all face it... we want to be Doctors by the end of it.

the real question is - how many of us feel annoyed that we could have probably finished a medical degree by now and been a 'proper' doctor? or a vetinary course and be treating ickle bunny wabbits"

me for one!

Ahhh... but sneaks... we will be the "proper doctors". I have a number of friends who are medical doctors who admit to me freely that they wish they had the "ability" to do a PhD. Medical degrees are afterall long versions of bachelors degrees, with the added benefit of being able to call yourself a doctor. Medical doctors still have to do masters degrees, research, etc to get to the top of their game.

In our office of five phd students, two of them openly and proudly admitted they were just there "because i want to be called a doctor"

This is so pathetic. Beyond pathetic. The very thought that someone could be motivated to do something for 4 years for a reason so selfish, ignoble and ignorant makes me quite angry.

I'm wholly convinced that titles like 'dr', 'reverend', 'professor' all belong in the junk bin. What is it a person can truly profess in other than their own ignorance? Like Aristotle said "as for me, all I know is that I know nothing". And as for 'reverend', isn't it God who should be revered? And then there are politicians who assume the title 'Lord'. I find all these titles grossly abhorrent.

Why should a person who studies a craft, like carpentry, and refines their craft over many years not be entitled to a title like Dr, while a phd student who spends several years acquiring some obscure branch of knowledge can?

These titles just miss the point that we're all equal, and I'd be quite happy if society done away with all of them.

Hey Lostinoz ! You must have started out with different motivations ? I often felt like you do when I was doing mine and it often felt like I was just finishing because I had started it and didn't want to be a failure. It's normal to loose motivation and passion esp. when things are going badly or your stuck in a rut. Remember why you chose to do it, and think of how many dull 9 to 5 office jobs there are. PhDs are great because you get so much freedom to follow the path you want. At the end of the day it will be your research, your achievement and no-one can take it away from you. I often look at my thesis and think...wow if I could do that, I can do pretty much anything. Hang in there if you can, and when you are feeling bad try and remember why you started it and how it will feel when it's all finished. It's worth it in the end !:-)

Indeed if society did do away with these silly titles -- and I certainly hope it does -- it would be a source of great joy to see the disappointment on the faces of those idiots who did phd's just to acquire a title.

whoa there cleverclogs! Although I do enjoy my PhD, I pretty much do it for the title and the networks and esteem it will bring in my field. And why not? Its essentially a 3 year job and I get a title at the end and a nice qualification. Why not aspire to that? I could just as easily (and for the same pay) worked on the checkout at [insert supermarket chain here] and after three years had no title - or perhaps a sticker on my badge to show loyalty 8-)

And the titles will never disappear because the people running the system have those titles and they are there to set us apart in a horrible elitest way - isn't it great!

And apparently you get cheap car insurance with Dr! - that is SO why I am doing it.