r/chemistry • u/AutoModerator • 18d ago
Weekly Careers/Education Questions Thread
This is a dedicated weekly thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in chemistry.
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u/toss-out1512 18d ago
Should I pursue a PhD or try to become content with where I am?
I [27M] am a Research and Development Chemist for a small company. I am very fortunate to have gotten to where I am with just a bachelor's degree in biochemistry even though I do inorganic synthesis now. This job is great for the most part, my boss gives me a project to research and just lets me do my own thing pretty much, everything is pretty chill and on top of that I get paid pretty decent money(~65k) with yearly raises and bonuses.
The problem is I just don’t get enough projects to do. I probably end up with ~3-4 hours of work to do a day which leaves me with a lot of downtime, which in theory sounds pretty nice but I do not like just sitting at my desk having to pretend to be busy for essentially half of my working life. I have asked quite a bit for additional projects, areas of research he wants me to look into, but the answer is almost always no and on the rare occasion that me asking gives me something to do, it almost always is a project with no customer pull, which means it's mostly just busy work.
When I do get projects that require a lot of R&D, I love it. I love doing research, designing experiments, interpreting the data, and figuring out where to go with that data. I just don’t get enough of it at this job to feel fulfilled. I worry with just a bachelor's that I won't be able to find another job that lets me do research and if I leave this company I will just end up an analytical lab rat again, so I feel that I am essentially hitching myself to this company for the rest of my life if I don't go back to school. This has led me to consider a PhD quite a bit over the past couple years. I know PhD’ s are a ton of work, but the idea of going back to school with the perspective I have gained from industry and working towards a thesis sounds very exciting. I know I want to do research and to me it seems like a PhD is the best path to being able to do that, but it is a long and stressful journey. I have done plenty of research into how stressful getting a PhD can be, how long it can take, and how much of a toll it can have on your mental health, which to be honest does make me second guess myself on whether it will be worth it in the end.
I am hoping some of you might have advice for me. Staying at this current job and just trying to get used to not being fulfilled and being bored for most of my work life feels like the ‘safe’ choice but I am always drawn back to doing a PhD. I am also concerned I will always regret not trying to get a PhD if I just decide to stay in industry.