I agree with other people here. If you don't get along with your supervisor now, it's the best to switch. A supervisor can not fail you without any reason, but s/he can make your Ph.D. so miserable that the whole thing is not worth your time or energy. And this will not make them look bad among their peers. They may get a bad reputation among grad students, but they won't care. Even if their peers know that they are not good supervisors, it will not ending up hurt them. The supervisor is the most important factor in your PhD experience.

I think this is very obvious that exploring this further would be very damaging to your future. If this is not already clear to you, you are in more trouble than you know.

Thanks. I am doing my PhD in Canada, which is the probably the "worst" country to do a phd in, in terms of time to completion. We have to do a MSC before entering a PHD. It larges depends on your discipline. In my discipline, it takes an average of 2 years to do a MSC, and another average of 6 years to do a PhD. so when you are done your phd, most people are around 30. And have not made any income. I almost think this is "wrong" to have graduate programs that drag on for so long. Also this is not fair compared to international standards. In the states, most people can skip a masters. In Europe, the master + PhD probably take 4 years. Am I wrong here?

Many people are saying in the middle of a PhD is the best time to have a baby. Most people are 25-30 when they do their phds. Anyway, I am 30 years old now, and I am planning to graduate next year. It's just that from time to time I feel like having a baby. I was wondering if other people may feel this way too. But I forgot the fact that many people are done with their phds earlier. :-)

Hello all,

Greetings. I am curious about what's your guess about the average age of first time parents for people who have graduate degrees? I know the national average is something like 27-29, I think the average for people with advanced degrees must be higher?

I am just thinking that the combination of a masters and Phd is taking too long. By the time you graduate, you are around 31 (plus or minus a few years).
I am just wondering when do people with phds have children? especially for female phd students?

Best regards,
Carol

Thanks everyone, good advice. I will try it out. :)

Dear all,

I am a 5th year phd student, graduating next year. I am in the stage of wrapping things up and write my thesis. I have become greatly disinterested in my research or any research at all, and have very low motivation to get to work. I tried to force myself to concentrate, but it's not working so well so far. I am wondering if it is common to experience this, and if any one has good motivation strategy that you can share?

Thanks much, and good luck to you all!
Carol