Hi,
I'm about to apply for a good taught masters in English Language to begin October 2014. I got a first for my BA in 2006-2009 (and the prize), and have been waiting for a few things to drop into place before continuing. (I was studying full time and working part time at the Uni in various guises.)

So the plan is to do the taught masters, pin down my research interests to a PhD, then start that somewhere.

What, realistically, are my options career-wise? I will be almost 51 when I complete the Masters in June 2015 and would like to continue working in academia hopefully as a lecturer, but I have this nagging feeling that beginning a PhD at 51 I may have missed the boat despite age/employment legislation.

I don't think that age is the issue here, so much as lack of employment opportunities for academics who are entering the research workplace. But getting postdoctoral fellowships may be easier than getting the academic job.

The trend within Australia, for example, is starting to look a little like the trends people reported on in the UK and US in the last few years. Job redundancies, fewer openings, cuts in most faculties-especially the humanities, and university faculties filled with brilliant postdocs and part-timers on contracts, working like mad, publishing like mad and waiting for the rare tenured (or even limited tenure or contract post) to open up. And many, many applicants for each position, when such a position does arise. Applicants from the dried up overseas market applying for local positions and adding even more competition to what was always a pretty competitive market.

Doing a PhD can be a really rewarding experience-and can and should be done at any age- but there seem to be far fewer opportunities for academic work than there are PhD students and candidates. So if you do one, keep an open mind about the sort of work you are hoping to obtain at the end of the PhD. For example, when I complete mine in around 3 years, (doing it part time), I will be in my early fifties, but I will remain in professional work and will use the PhD to enhance my current career and open up further opportunities within it. Good luck-I hope this didn't seem too grim a post. :)

Thanks for your honest appraisal. I knew about the funding cuts particularly in humanities, but wasn't aware of the overseas collapse.

I think one of my issues is that my previous career is almost entirely unrelated to my research interests, so I won't really be able to use the PhD to enhance my current career prospects. It is very much a switch in fields and I could be starting near the bottom of the ladder in my chosen subject.

I guess one plan would be to complete the Masters which would take me to summer 2015; then to consider my options nearer to that time.

That sounds like a really good idea. But I hope the message I conveyed was not 'don't do a PhD'. They are a worthy challenge and achievement to aspire to-but more just to be really clear sighted about how tough getting academic work from them might be, and to think laterally when it comes to gaining employment from them.

If you performed a search on this site of post phd prospects or check out Satchi's long thread on employment prospects (using a search on her name), you will get a good understanding of what the employment market holds for new 'Dr's" looking for academic or research work. It might be that if this PhD is a long-held personal dream of yours, that you do it anyway, not worrying too much about gaining academic work at the end OR that you continue with it part-time, while hanging onto a job that pays you a living of some sorts. Best of luck with the Masters. :)