The PhD Paradox: A Nobel Prize Winner Somehow Survived the Academic Hunger Games. Will you?
Brian Keating
UC San Diego Chancellor's Professor | Host of INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast???| Conversations with 500+ Visionaries (21 Nobel Laureates) | Seen on DOAC, Rogan, Lex, Piers, Peterson ++ | Learn to Think Like a Genius ????
A stark reality check about the true cost of pursuing a PhD slapped me across the face this week. A study on the psychological toll of doctoral programs painted a picture less “Good Will Hunting” and more “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” If education is akin to a “bicycle for our minds,” as Steve Jobs might have analogized, then pursuing a PhD seems to be peddling through a minefield.
The working paper from Lund University found that PhD students face a significantly higher risk of mental health problems compared to the general population and other highly educated individuals. The numbers are sobering. One in three graduate students is at risk of a common psychiatric disorder. Half experienced psychological distress, depression, and anxiety. It’s a full-blown mental health crisis disguised as an academic rite of passage.
But let’s refocus: We have hard data on the psychological impact of pursuing academia’s highest degree. This isn’t just anecdotal evidence from burnt-out post-docs at the campus coffee shop. It’s a wake-up call for universities, funding bodies, and aspiring academics alike. And you’re making a catastrophic mistake if you’re using “That’s nothing. Wait till I tell you about MY experiences as a graduate student" as an excuse to ignore these realities.
Don’t rationalize. I know academia needs to maintain its prestige and allure of intellectual pursuit. And as you’re likely not reading this from a cushy tenured position, your skepticism about the system is warranted. This study, when combined with an interview with a Nobel Prize winner who failed to obtain a tenure-track position, sent me reeling.
This week, I interviewed Nobel Prize winner Katalin Kariko . To say that she was supernaturally resilient in her academic career would be an understatement akin to saying Usain Bolt was a decent sprinter or that Einstein had some interesting thoughts about clocks.
Kariko’s journey was a Hunger Games-like masterclass in perseverance. For decades, her groundbreaking work on mRNA was met with skepticism, ridicule, and outright rejection. As a graduate student, she was spied on by the Hungarian Secret Police. As a postdoc, she was demoted, her funding was cut, and she was told repeatedly that she wasn’t “faculty quality.” Later, she was threatened with deportation by her postdoctoral mentor!
In 2013, her lab bench was upended, and she was summarily fired by UPenn, the same university that would later reap $1B plus from royalties from her mRNA inventions. Lesser scientists would have thrown in the towel and quit science altogether, but Kariko kept pushing. I couldn’t help thinking about survivor bias. Katalin Karikó’s success is celebrated, while the many who faced similar obstacles without recognition are overlooked. This bias skews our understanding, making it seem that resilience guarantees success when other uncontrollable factors also play a significant role.
Super Soldier Serum or Kryptonite?
For all the promises of a PhD – advancing human knowledge, personal intellectual growth, career opportunities – few are getting tangible ROI. Only 3% of PhD students end up as tenured professors. That sounds like a lot until you realize it’s about the same odds as making it to the NFL from college football. That is, the top 0.1% of all football players/academics still only have a 3% chance of making it to the next level! Yet, we reject 90% of applications before they even become graduate students.
Once you make it over that hurdle, you may be surprised to know that far more people may have started doctoral programs than make it through, and the number of those who do so without significant mental health challenges is dwindling. People “peace out,” realizing too late that a PhD isn’t a golden ticket to academic success but a grueling marathon with no guaranteed finish line.
The reason people make this mistake? Few have discovered the PhD’s dirty secret: it’s not just about being smart; it’s about endurance, political savvy, and often, sheer luck. And academics, especially in STEM fields, are absolutely allergic to luck!
I’ve personally talked to hundreds of PhD students and recent graduates. Most of them use their degree as a credential – a badge of intellectual honor that opens some doors but closes many others due to overspecialization.
Smart people quickly dismiss these concerns, thinking, “I can handle it. I’m passionate about my research.” But if a PhD program can break even the most brilliant minds, why not reconsider the entire system? Why not reimagine doctoral education for the 21st century?
PhD vs. Real World
I always ask my recent PhD graduates who leave academia about their transition to industry. Even for long-time academics, entering the “real world” job market is a test you always want to ace. We’re in an era where interdisciplinary skills, adaptability, and emotional intelligence often trump specialized knowledge. I try to anticipate their challenges to prepare them for the transition better.
I prompted them: “You’ve spent years becoming an expert in a niche field. How do you translate that expertise into value for companies that may not even understand your research area?”
Their responses were eye-opening. Many felt their skills were undervalued or misunderstood outside academia. They struggled to communicate complex ideas to non-experts – a crucial skill in most industries. Some even regretted not developing more transferable skills during their doctoral studies.
Since then, I’ve used these insights to advocate for PhD program reform. The message is evident every time: we need to balance specialized research with broader skill development. At a minimum, it helps students prepare for diverse career paths beyond the ivory tower. A gift with purchase? They might enjoy their PhD experience more and suffer less psychological distress.
Think of what this could mean for the future of advanced education and research. Less burnout, knowing that your years of study have prepared you for multiple career paths. A quicker transition to impactful work, whether in academia, industry, or entrepreneurship. And a new generation of PhDs equipped to tackle complex, interdisciplinary problems our world desperately needs to solve.
Other scenarios where PhD reform could have profound impacts:
The “smartest people in the room” think they’re above these concerns. Soon, they’ll be bragging about their holistic PhD experience. And they should. Why would anyone pursue a degree that leaves them narrowly specialized, psychologically distressed, and ill-prepared for diverse career paths? Would you hire someone whose education made them less adaptable in a rapidly changing world?
Unfortunately, my interview on the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast, with my interview with my UCSD colleague John Skrentny , belied the fact that STEM grads who leave academia have rosy career paths based on the solid foundations of their studies. His book “Wasted Education: How We Fail Our Graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math” reveals that many STEM graduates do not have the positive career experiences often expected. Instead, they frequently face challenges such as toxic work cultures, lack of job security, and high expectations that lead to burnout and a significant number of them leaving the STEM field altogether
This is pretty strong evidence of the adverse mental health effects of doing a PhD but also of not doing one. As the saying goes: “The PhD won’t break you, but the system might.” It’s time we fixed the system. I wish I knew how.
Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Until next time, have a M.A.G.I.C. Week,
Brian
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Senior Data Engineer & Scientist
3 天前Having a broader skill development during your PhD will help not only outside academia, but very much also within. So it is a win-win situation. This doesn't even account for how a scientist life might fundamentally change once AI ends up replacing most of our current tasks. We need to be prepared for that time, might it be in 5 or 20 years.