I think I've fallen out of love with my PhD...heck the entire psychological discipline. I'm really not enjoying it and thinking about changing back to a previous career field. I came into science from a different background, did incredibly well in my master and got onto a good PhD. Said PhD however requires me to commute between London and Leicester and will require me to commute considerably more soon. I've sort of been given an ultimatum by my supervisor now as she knows I'm not moving and won't commute too much, but for her the distance thing isn't working as well, all of which I can understand and am not criticising. Commuting of course is also time-consuming and expensive. My PI has been ok with me working from home since a lot of what I do is computational and dry research, but now she's changed her mind. Even though I think I could agree on just one day a week, I have a feeling she will change her mind about that and require me to commute more often soon. Then there's the issue of the second year, which will require some lab work...
I made a dumb decision taking this PhD. I am now painfully aware of that as I'd hate to disappoint her, myself and my parents. I am pretty sure I will leave it as I'm not particularly concerned about not finding another one. Sometimes things just don't work out...
It sounds like you want to stop now, so go for it! I haven't read a single reason to continue in your narrative, other than that you don't want to disappoint people. You do say you don't want to disappoint yourself though too... so does that mean that actually deep down you want to finish this and not quit? Just probing! For me, I think not enjoying it and not wanting to pursue a career in it would be good enough reasons to decide to call it a day. And if you explain that to the people you fear disappointing, then they should understand. :)
PostgraduateForum Is a trading name of FindAUniversity Ltd
FindAUniversity Ltd, 77 Sidney St, Sheffield, S1 4RG, UK. Tel +44 (0) 114 268 4940 Fax: +44 (0) 114 268 5766
An active and supportive community.
Support and advice from your peers.
Your postgraduate questions answered.
Use your experience to help others.
Enter your email address below to get started with your forum account
Enter your username below to login to your account
An email has been sent to your email account along with instructions on how to reset your password. If you do not recieve your email, or have any futher problems accessing your account, then please contact our customer support.
or continue as guest
To ensure all features on our website work properly, your computer, tablet or mobile needs to accept cookies. Our cookies don’t store your personal information, but provide us with anonymous information about use of the website and help us recognise you so we can offer you services more relevant to you. For more information please read our privacy policy
Agree Agree