Another thing - if you have kids - this opened up not just my world but theirs too. They see the possibilities and know they really can be anything they want,they talk about getting PhD's now when they grow up.

No -research, maybe some lecturing on the side.

I am now beginning to feel better, thanks to subsequent messages. A few years back I left a job that was as boring as it was well paid (obscenely well paid). Since then I have done a Masters and dabbled in research as an assistant. I am lucky to have got a university studentship otherwise I would never have been able to do it (family, mortgage etc - feel horribly guilty that I am depriving my kids of the charmed life they could have had, had I not quit my job, I figure a poor - relatively speaking - mum is better than an unhappy one). My interviewees knew my age and still gave me the studentship, so obviously they didn't think I was a busted flush.

Well said. I started a (pt) masters two years ago, aged 44, terrified that I might not be able to cope but it went well and I'm about to start a 3 year PhD studentship at the same university. I haven't really any great hopes regarding academic jobs further down the line; but that isn't why I started studying again; it was purely for personal fulfillment, 'adventure' and to see what happens.

I am 31 and started on PhD 1 year ago part-time. I am an engineer at a large Chip company with an excellent pay and a very understanding manager who's actually supportive of my decision to get a PhD although I don't need it for my work. I feel like if don't get a PhD, I'll end up regetting it for the rest of my life. But then I tell myself what kind of an idiot would put him/her self through the hell of a PhD? someone who really like it, I guess.
Any part-timers on this forum who can offer advise/insight?

thanks v much devoichitsa for starting this

and thanks v v v much to everyone else for such positive comments.

i'll be 38 at the time of starting one (assuming i decide to apply and assuming i get one!) and had been worried that it would be hard to get jobs because i'll be 41-ish when i finish.

but 1) age discrimation is now illegal in the uk, so attitudes will start to change and 2) what the heck i musn't let other people's attitudes put me off things

thanks v much all

Wow, reading your messages gives me such a sense of relief. I'm completing a psychology conversion course and am thinking about teaching and research afterwards... I'm only 34, but I haven't been able to sleep for weeks thinking I'm too old for such a move!

You just have to make sure it feels a bit like a vocation, right? Then the sacrifices will seem worth it.

Well, nice to know I'm not alone!- have done exactly the same as pinkneurone- had a lengthy 'family' break (although in my case it was a 'single parent dragging up 2 kids' kind of 'break'!) My PhD feels like bliss compared to this. When it get's tough, I just remember what it's like being stuck at home with the rug-rats 24/7!! maybe I'm a lousy mother but I'd really rather be in the lab!

What a great forum. I am 42 year old doing a one year MSc in IR. I hope to go on to the M/Phil this Oct 08.

I am actually looking to go for academic posts in the developing world if I can't get any joy in the UK. After all, my youngest will be at University by the time I complete my PhD.

Does anyone know if coming from a secondary teaching background can help an oldie like me to secure some lecturing experience. I am one of those PGCE qualified who never taught but had to make do with supply teaching because there were no jobs in my part of the UK. I eventually had to accept defeat because I couldn't re-locate since my children are in exam years - sixth form and GCSE. Hence the MSc.

PS: Does anyone know where an oldie like me can get funding. I have already got a clear thesis idea and a rough first phase plan of action.

I am pretty sure that a teaching background would help with academic jobs, but I also think that even more important than this (in the UK at least) will be trying to get something published as quickly as possible. Your teaching background will probably count for more at the post-1992 universities, i.e. the former polys, as they tend to be happier to support careers that are more about teaching than about research. That's not to say it won't count for you at other universities, just that publication will be even more important.

oh yes, and on funding: I think you can get funding from the Research Councils no matter what your age. Check with the relevant Research Council.

Er, for 'get' read 'apply for', of course!

B2go. Not sure whereabouts in the country you are, or whether or not you'd be willing to move but I know a couple of unis that offer funding for IR PhDs that are conditional on teaching undergrads for a few hours a week - and they insist on teaching experience. Try Birmingham and Salford. Salford have already adverstised and the deadline's pretty early, but they offer a lot more money!

To join in this conversation...I am "old"--without giving away the complete age, let's say 40-ish!and I am ( touch wood) within 10-12 months of when I want to submit the PhD. I did the first two years via distance learning, and managing a full time professional career. Yikes. I think in my case age and life experience has everything to do with why I am pursuing the PhD.

I have practiced law a good number of years, and my PhD is directly related to ( and my interest in doing it) came out of my legal practice experience. As a practicing lawyer, I have been drilled TO MEET DEADLINES NO MATTER WHAT, and I find that this is invaluable in completing tasks on the PhD. The areas of law that I am interested in did not even exist when I did my JD ( professional doctorate in law), and while I kick myself for not doing this sooner, the simple fact is that THIS area was not there to do, and my interest in it developed as a result of legal practice, not out of my JD courses ( I took ZERO famiy law in my JD--and my practice and area of PhD reseach are broadly family law). So go figure.