Hi my name's James Arvanitakis and I'm the Dean of Graduate Studies here at
Western Sydney University. One of the questions I'm often asked is why should I
do a PhD? So in this short video I want to give you a number of reasons why you
should do a PhD, and then before we finish probably tell you a bunch of
reasons not to do a PhD. So let's begin. The first reason to do a PhD is because of
your passion for uncovering new knowledge. The PhD is a journey where you
try and discover something new and that's actually what a PhD is meant to
do, be a new contribution to knowledge. So if you have passion for uncovering new
things, for learning new stuff, for sharing new stuff, then definitely you
should be motivated to do a PhD. The second reason to do a PhD is if you
really want to learn a new set of skills. High-end research skills. Increasingly the
job market demands these skills from problem definition to actually
understanding how to apply different research methodologies. If you have a
passion for learning about new skills and developing those skills, then
definitely a PhD is for you. The third reason to do a PhD is because you
want to make a difference. In the process of actually doing a PhD you develop new
knowledge and that new knowledge can be used to solve challenges that exist in
the world today. You might not solve them yourself, you might not produce the
answer but you'll stand on the shoulders of giants and others will stand on your
shoulders of new knowledge. The fourth reason to do a PhD is because you want
to be an academic and you enjoy working in an academic environment. Honestly,
being an educator and a researcher is probably one of the best jobs in the
world. You have a chance to work with the knowledge, to work with colleagues who
have similar passions to you. If this is something that excites you, if it is
something that interests you, then definitely a PhD is something that you
can take advantage of. A chance to talk about ideas, a chance to apply those
ideas into real-world situations and challenges and to hopefully solve some
of those challenges. So there are many, many reasons to do a PhD and I never
regretted doing mine. I loved the journey, it was fantastic. So I
really do encourage you. If you're passionate, if you want to
make a difference, if you want to pursue an area of knowledge, definitely pursue it.
There are actually reasons not to do a PhD, so let me run through some of
those. The first is because you want to be called a doctor. Sure, being a doctor
is a pretty awesome thing, but if that's solely your motivating factor, then don't do
a PhD. The second reason not to do a PhD is
because your family or friends want you to do one. It actually is a long slog, three
years, sometimes pretty isolating, can be pretty tough. So don't just do a PhD
because your family and friends want you to do it. It'll be really hard to get
through if that's your main motivating factor. The third reason not to do a PhD
is if you think it's a fast track to a high-paying career. Increasingly industry
is turning to PhD students with high end skills and they've probably taken
advantage of those skills and some people have been incredibly commercially
successful, as well as commercialising their research. But it's no fast track.
A PhD as I said is a long slog, requires a lot of commitments and if you're solely
doing it because you think it's a fast track to lots of money then you're going
to be disappointed. So next reason not to do a PhD is if
you think it's a fast track to live in Australia. The Australian Government is
encouraging international students to come to Australia and undertake a PhD.
It's a fantastic process to learn new skills but if you simply motivated for
the residency factors, then you're going to be lonely, you're going to miss your family
and you're going to really, really struggle. So if that's your reason for wanting to
do a PhD, then it's definitely not the right reason. And the final reason not to
do a PhD, is if you have nothing else to do. The PhD requires commitment, it
requires a passion for new knowledge, it requires a willingness to commit over
the next three years of your life. If you're simply doing it because you have
nothing better to do, someone suggested it or if you're marks seem okay, then
that's not going to be enough motivation to get you through. So there you have it.
Reasons to do a PhD and some reasons not to do a PhD. Undertaking a PhD is an
amazing process. You develop new skills,
you discover new knowledge, you meet some amazing people along the way.
It's inspiring. So if you're motivated for the right reasons then you will really enjoy
the journey. So make sure you take advantage of that motivation and I'll
hopefully see you soon.