Newsletter #86
On Ph.D. Studies
An oldie but (hopefully) a goodie. In today’s newsletter I share a lightly-revised article I wrote in October 2019. A recent conversation with a friend prompted me to think of this. Here it is:
In the spring of 2018, I fulfilled the requirements for my Ph.D. in Theology and Culture. When I walked across the stage that May, it signaled the culmination of more than one season of study. In reality, it marked the completion of a fifteen-year pilgrimage in biblical, theological, and ministerial education.[1] Having that educational experience in the rearview mirror now for a year and a half, I look back with the perspective the Lord has given me not only on this experience, but also on what pursuing this type of higher education means.
In this article I’d like to take readers on a brief journey through some of those valuable lessons that colleagues, professors, scholars, and, above all, the Lord have taught me. I’ll structure this journey around two questions: “What am I doing this for?” and “What’s required?”
What Am I Doing This For?
To tweak a Christian cliché, “Too many people spend too much time studying things to please people they shouldn’t be trying to please.” This could be said of doctoral study. The pressures on each person to go further in education are different but are no doubt a function of family expectations and our peer groups. If no one else close to us has ever earned an advanced degree, there is one set of expectations. If most everyone we know is “Doctor so-and-so,” the pressure probably increases.
I fit partly into both categories and did feel modest pressure to go further. But a very helpful step was answering two questions: “Do I need to do this?” and “Do I want to do this?” By “need to” I mean this: Is a Ph.D. essential to my calling and career goals? Will it significantly improve my ability to do God’s work? I determined that, while not essential, this path would be very beneficial. Moreover, I wanted to do it. Some elements below were also in place for me, so it made sense.
Prospective students must consider these questions carefully because doing so can prevent them from wasting time and money by wading into something to which they aren’t committed (nor should commit) or from squandering the chance to pursue this study while they can. Doctoral study is too difficult to tackle if your motivation is to please someone else or to gain extra letters beside your name.[2]
What’s Required?
Perseverance
One error many people make about doctoral study, especially research doctorates (e.g., Ph.D., D.Phil.) is to assume it’s something especially for smart people. Through the years I’ve heard many people say, “What a waste!” concerning high achievers in high school who didn’t attend college. Not only do I reject the idea that college is best for everyone, but I also reject the notion that higher education (especially doctoral studies) is primarily about intelligence. The sheer number of intelligent people with a bachelor’s degree alone should dispel this myth.
Let me be clear: You do need some gray matter to do it! Any serious doctoral program literature I’ve ever reviewed meant thousands of pages of reading, research, and writing.[3] It required learning languages and at least one intense examination known as “comps” (comprehensive examinations). However, intelligence is not the predominant factor. Consider the fact that approximately 50% of people who begin doctoral study never complete their degree. Is it just an intelligence problem? I contend that it’s largely a perseverance issue.
Grit is an undervalued part of our work and life in general, but it certainly extends to the classroom. Nothing can be more demoralizing than learning that a seminar isn’t available when you need it. Perhaps your research reveals that someone has already made the same argument that you intended to make in your dissertation, and you must begin anew. Maybe your dissertation supervisor tells you that he/she has taken a position at another institution. And then there are the unanticipated personal obstacles: the sickness of a spouse or child, the loss of a job, or similar challenges.
Some setbacks are more common than others, but they happen. Be prepared for them if you intend to go further. If you have a tendency to start things without finishing them, or if it took you six years to do a four-year degree previously, you may want to reconsider this path. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Community
We also generally underestimate the crucial role of community in our intellectual and professional formation. This works on a few levels. The type of institutional setting you enter has much to do with how difficult it will be to finish the course. The more like-minded your peers and professors, the more likely you will receive encouragement in your study. Naturally the doctoral supervisor (doktorvater) is central to this. They have a vested interest in your success, so they can foster your study in significant ways. (More on this below.)
We also shouldn’t overlook the role of our families in our educational pursuits. Is your spouse supportive of your study? Can your family see the value of the program to your vocation, present or future? Do they realize this may take four, five, six, or even seven years? What about children? Depending on their ages, they may be a cheerleader for daddy or mommy as he or she tries to reach graduation. Even single students benefit greatly from having siblings, parents, or close friends who take the journey with them. Doctoral education can promote a significant sense of collegiality. It makes a difference to have people outside the institution who are encouragers.
The local church’s support also shouldn’t be discounted. Sometimes churches may help a staff member financially, so they more naturally can be an “accountability partner” for the student to make sure he does not waste his opportunity. However, in any situation, it is greatly beneficial to have your church family pray for you and with you. This is especially true during high-stress periods when language exams, comprehensive exams, or other deadlines loom.
The final type of community would be another place of employment, assuming it’s not at a church. Many will be teachers or professors, so they need to consider the level of encouragement they will receive from their academic administration. Presumably it will advance the interests of their institution to have another faculty member with a doctorate, and so this should in some way be reflected in their willingness to give needed time off, or even some financial support. Certainly this will look very different from workplace to workplace. The key issue is to be able to see, in tangible ways, that your existing employer is truly a help and not a hindrance in the completion of your degree.
Institutional Support
As I mentioned above, the place where we choose to study and the person with whom we study makes a great difference in our likelihood of success. There are several aspects to what I call “institutional support.”
First, how much funding are you receiving toward your degree? If you are independently wealthy or receiving other outside financial assistance, funding may not be as much of a challenge. However, most doctoral students already carry debt from previous levels of study. The good news is that most established doctoral programs provide either full or partial funding for students. When I was first exploring doctoral study opportunities around 2009 and 2010, the landscape looked much different than today due to the impact of the Great Recession on endowments. Many programs that typically accepted twelve or fifteen students were only accepting six or seven (or less). Evangelical seminaries, which generally accept more students, don’t provide as much funding. So, we need to apply the phrase “counting the cost” literally as part of our deliberations.
Second, we should also discern during campus visits how likely it is that we will receive institutional support in other ways. Do the faculty members take on fewer or greater numbers of students at one time? This really matters! Personal attention is not only a gift but also a necessity for doing the best work.
What about the institution’s library? Does it have a wide collection of volumes in the field you will be studying? Serious programs will provide the necessary resources, but looking into this in advance can prevent headaches later.
Finally, does the institution give additional benefits for doctoral students that can enhance their learning experience? The provision of dedicated office space, scholarships toward attending scholarly meetings or conferences, or inroads to publishing in academic journals are among these benefits. These are probably more meaningful to students who aim to be career academics (which I am not; I merely dabble).
An Idea
The most intellectually oriented aspect of doctoral student is not IQ; it’s the persistent interest in a specific thing. Even if one pursues a more interdisciplinary doctorate, as I did, he or she will inevitability specialize. Seminars tend to return to key concepts and themes. And certainly a dissertation pursues a specific problem or question within a specific field. Consider what you are interested in, and how deep that interest runs. Sometimes it pays to delay entry into a Ph.D. program to allow your interests to develop and settle more. Those of us who were in our twenties when we began sometimes find that interests can still change.
Entering a doctoral program without being intellectually committed to a field or having a concrete idea of you want to study is like misguided hunting: You can have a great rifle, but if you don’t know what a deer looks like or if you have poor aim, hunting will be a forgettable, brief experience.
As much as your interests can align with your institution’s department or with a specific faculty member, the better off you will be. That said, many dissertations have been written that simply had a well-rounded committee of scholars. However, look carefully at your preferred school ahead of time.
Conclusion
While I have some regrets about aspects of my educational journey, on the whole I feel a great sense of appreciation, humility, and relief. We shouldn’t understate what a gift it is to be able to study things we love that enrich our minds, spirits, and work. Our study, if properly pursued, will leave us more humble as we discover the vast deposit of knowledge that we have yet to tap into. And, without question, “finished” is a precious word!
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For Further Reading:
Kevin DeYoung, “Some PhD FAQs,” The Gospel Coalition
Kevin DeYoung, “10 Lessons I’ve Learned While Working on My PhD,” The Gospel Coalition
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[1]Certainly there were long stretches of time during this latter degree program when I wasn’t actively taking courses or learning languages but instead researching, reflecting, and writing. It’s also worth noting that such a lengthy stretch of continuous enrollment is somewhat common in religious higher education. Still, it is fifteen years! I realize how absurd that sounds to most.
[2]I recently dropped the signature from my emails that indicates “Ph.D.” It occurred to me one day, “Why do people even need to know that?”
[3]Be dubious of any research doctorate that doesn’t require this. I’ll abstain from expressing my concerns about honorary doctorates or doctorates from degree mills.
Follow-Up:
In Newsletter #83 I wrote about the persistence of language games in the public square. Specifically, I highlighted the way that euphemisms—especially on the political left—were pervasive when it comes to promoting progressive ideologies. James Emery White has recently highlighted another key one concerning the language of “safety.” Check it out.
Currently Reading:
Miscellaneous editions of JETS
Quote of the Week:
Science has not always been our academy’s first truth discourse. Indeed, up until less than two hundred years ago, Christian theology was Western modernity’s first truth discourse. In early modernity, “science” (then called “natural philosophy”) not only sat within the first truth discourse of Christian theology but also had its very birth and dynamic youth within that discourse. But things changed. From about 1870 to 1970, Western modernity underwent a broad cultural transition out of the first truth discourse of Christian theology and into the secular and naturalistic first truth discourse of science. This was a cultural mutation of unparalleled significance. But whether science can really bear the weight of being our first truth discourse is another matter. And whether Christian theology has any meaning at all if it is not understood as first truth discourse by Christians is now an unavoidable question.
Paul Tyson, A Christian Theology of Science.
On My Mind: Meetings
What’s your biggest frustration with the meetings you attend? Do you find that meetings in professional, secular contexts look more like those in religious organizations, or are the differences more significant? What’s the single-most important factor in whether the meeting achieves its aim? Let me know what you think!