I’m constantly amazed at the number of PhDs that, after they receive their degrees, reflect and wonder what they were thinking by going down that route. I can only conclude that it was a result of pushy faculty, poor advisement and a lack of clear professional goals that leads to this.

A PhD doesn’t take whatever discipline you’re in to the next level, like so many unfamiliar with the world of terminal degrees seem to believe. A PhD, or Doctorate in Philosophy, teaches you to formulate at theory and defend it, whether that theory turns out to be valid or not. It teaches research protocol, which is what is required for tenure track faculty and researchers. It doesn’t mean you know a lot about the subject matter necessarily. Of course to be admitted to any decent program and to get to the point you’d be considering a PhD, you should already be at the top of your game. It prepares you to publish papers, learn to work with little sleep and money, and that’s it. It’s a rite of passage to your overseers in the program who all have had to “pay their dues” and now administer them. But it isn’t a key to higher knowledge within your field of study. That’s your responsibility or, at least, decision that you choose to pursue through life, degree or not.