======= Date Modified 03 04 2010 16:04:42 =======
Hi, guys, I'm new to the forum, and frankly, new to the civilian job market (My only job experience is 3 year of enlistment in the US Army). I'm 26 and I graduate last semester with a M.S. in Mathmatics, prior to that, I completed a B.S. in Math and a B.A. in History. Luckily, I found a job immediately afterward and am now teaching math in a community college.

Now, my first semester of teaching is almost over, and I have been doing a lot of thinking about Ph.D. I love my job and I love teaching, but it hurts me every time I see a real professor teaching in a real 4 years university, doing research and publishing, making more money (my salary is only abut 42k, and it does't look like it will increase too much down the road. The average here is mid 50k), taking more time off, and gets more respects.
Bottomline, the biggest reason I took this job is because of financial burdens. I'm single with no kids, but I do have to support my father and my sister (13 yrs old) as he has a failing home mortgage. Things are picking up now and I should be in a better position to tackle the Ph.D. program in about 2 year's time.

As you can see from my background, my first major is History but I ended up pursuiting higher ed in math as I realize the impracticbility of a History degree. I want to become a professor but which field of study would be more practical to achieve this goal? Other than History and Math, I'm interested in fields in macro-economics, statistics, political sciences, even law (so a BAR fo that). What do you think? Am I better off just sticking with my current job?

Sorry about the lon post, but any comments, suggestions, and ideas are appreciated thank you very much!

======= Date Modified 04 Apr 2010 16:28:51 =======
Hey there! I am assuming that your salary is in dollars- when I first looked at it I was thinking in pounds and it looked like a pretty good salary! Anyway, with regard to the PhD I think the first thing is to make sure you want to do it for the right reasons. Of course it's nice to get a better salary but it shouldn't be your only reason for doing the PhD (well, in my opinion!). As for taking time off, the top profs in my department work around the clock and don't take much time off at all. But if they're just bonuses to you and you want to do the PhD because you want to get into academia, want to get into research and get your work published etc, then it sounds like a good move. I think in terms of topic it's probably going to need to be related to what you have done previously- it's difficult enough to get funding for a PhD as it is, let alone move into a completely different field and get funding. Of course, some people do manage that- there are always exceptions. I'm not sure how something like political sciences would follow on from what you have already done, so you would probably have a better chance of getting on a PhD by sticking with something maths-related. Of course, the main thing is to choose something that you will enjoy because if you are successful at breaking into academia then you will be doing it for a very long time! So if you are sure this is the career for you then go for the PhD- just be aware that it's not an easy route into academia, there is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of competition for funding both for and after the PhD and so on. I suppose you have an advantage in that if it doesn't work out you can go back to teaching! Also bear in mind that what I have said is from a UK perspective- things might be different in the US! Good luck with it all! KB