2nd PhD

[i like learning]

What are people's thoughts on obtaining a 2nd PhD? I know this is a pretty broad question but I am looking for any insight into reasons to/not go back to school, and how this may be viewed in different sub-areas of the discipline.  Thanks!

[iwouldnt]

Tenured prof here. I wouldn't. The way I see it, the Ph.D. is the golden ticket. There's no point in having two golden tickets. Let's say you work in Demography but want to start doing more environmental work. I wouldn't start applying to Environmental Studies Ph.D. programs. I'd just start going to lectures on campus, reading as much as I can, talking with colleagues in that field, and maybe start publishing in that area. After a few years of this, you may be able to land an Environmental Studies job, even though your degree is sociology. To me, that path would be much easier and far more desirable than going through qualifying exams, dissertation proposal, etc., all over again.

[unless]

Nov 6, 2014 18:08:20 GMT -5 iwouldnt said:

Tenured prof here. I wouldn't. The way I see it, the Ph.D. is the golden ticket. There's no point in having two golden tickets. Let's say you work in Demography but want to start doing more environmental work. I wouldn't start applying to Environmental Studies Ph.D. programs. I'd just start going to lectures on campus, reading as much as I can, talking with colleagues in that field, and maybe start publishing in that area. After a few years of this, you may be able to land an Environmental Studies job, even though your degree is sociology. To me, that path would be much easier and far more desirable than going through qualifying exams, dissertation proposal, etc., all over again.

^ agreed. unless you are completely changing fields (like Sociology to Chemistry complete change).

[thanks]

Thanks for the reality check. I was just thinking about how much I dislike my job and freaked out there for a minute.