GradPSYCH - January 2012 - (Page 22)

Wrong path or wrong program? Rethinking a decision as big as earning a PhD can be intimidating: Many students worry that discontent with grad school means they aren’t intellectually capable. But more often, persistent unhappiness signals that your program is a bad fit, says Patricia M. DiBartolo, PhD, a clinical psychology professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. “Students tend to believe that there’s only one way to do psychology, and if they don’t get on that one path right away, they won’t do it,” she says. “I’ve sent really smart, very competent women off to PhD programs, and they ultimately quit because it isn’t a match.” The competitiveness of getting into grad school may be partially to blame. Two-thirds of graduate students select programs based on schools’ reputations and financial support packages, rather than how well programs jibe with their goals, according to the CGS report. As a result, students may find themselves in the wrong place, says George W. Howe, PhD, head of the psychology graduate program at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. “People try to shoehorn their interests into what they think the faculty wants in a particular department,” says Howe. “Someone contacted me to say that they were interested in autism, and I thought, ‘That’s wonderful. Go to a program where people study that, because we don’t.’” The closer your interests fit with your program, the happier you’ll be, he says. Of course, it can take time to discover that a particular program or perhaps the whole doctorate endeavor is not for you. Gilbert Andrada, now a consultant with the Connecticut Department of Education’s Division of Assessment, Research and Technology, experienced this firsthand. After completing his undergraduate studies in psychology at California State University in Long Beach, he decided to continue for the marriage, family and child counselor license, with an eye toward getting a PhD. “The program was at the same school, and I had done well there as an undergrad,” he says. “My professors were encouraging as well.” His first case was court-ordered family therapy, however, and he quickly realized he was in over his head. “I had never been married, no kids. What did I know?” Part of Andrada’s job required work in the psychometrics lab, and he discovered he enjoyed it. “I had failed at doing what I was trained to do, but I was really happy,” he says. He began researching assessment testing, and earned a master’s in psychometrics at Purdue University. He will finish his PhD in that field this year. Such changes of heart can feel earthshaking, but they provide opportunities to re-evaluate personal goals, says Howe. Time off from school to pursue an internship or to do outside research can offer distance and help sharpen your focus, he notes. “It helps gets your head straight about where you want to be,” Howe says. The workload isn’t working Even students in the right program can question their decision — particularly as coursework and research pile up. The sheer amount of time and work it takes to get a doctorate is easy to underestimate, says Michael Sayette, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and co-author of the “Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology” (2010). “It’s not worth the investment unless you consider spending a weekend reading articles related to psychology an acceptable use of your time,” says Sayette. Students with second jobs or families may find it especially difficult to muster the time and energy to meet the demands of a doctoral program. For Martha Lawless, a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut and mother of two, the program meant giving up sleep. After 10 years as an employee at the Yale University department of psychology, she understood the work required of graduate students. What she didn’t anticipate was how hard it would be to fit schoolwork into her already busy life. “I’m in class all day, then come home and do family stuff, then do homework until two in the morning,” she says. After three years, she has not yet taken her general exams, and worries that she won’t finish. “If I’d known what it was going to be like, I wouldn’t have started the degree.” Giving herself permission to not always give school her all was essential, she says. “It’s OK if sometimes you’re less than perfect,” she says. Those who can handle the time commitment may find that they’ve underestimated the work itself. As a career math teacher, Ruth Sullo had to “retrain” herself to think like a psychologist. “My thinking patterns are so ingrained at this point, it’s hard to shift gears,” she says. Papers have proven to be particularly difficult, she says, and she dreads writing her dissertation. “Math people write short papers; you don’t embellish. Now I put in all this time, and find myself going on tangents,” Sullo says. “Hours go by, and I have nothing to show for it.” Sullo has since hired a tutor and formed a study group. It’s helped, she says, though she’s still considering dropping out. Independence or isolation? Of course, it doesn’t matter how much you enjoy the work if you can’t pay the bills. A case in point: 80 percent of PhDs in the social sciences said financial support was essential to completion, according to CGS. For Jennifer Ortiz, a PhD candidate in educational psychology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, money was the deciding factor in her decision to advance beyond the master’s. Although she had thought about a PhD in behavioral interventions, she says, it wasn’t until her adviser guaranteed her funding that Ortiz decided to continue. “I had the right support at the right time,” she says. Almost as important as financial aid is academic support. In fact, 70 percent of social science PhDs say faculty support is crucial to their success, according to the CGS survey. That 22 • gradPSYCH • January 2012 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GradPSYCH - January 2012

GradPSYCH - January 2012
Contents
Psychology grad school enrollment drops, despite record numbers of applicants
Students leave their iPods at home during ‘crunch time’
Media Picks
Chair’s Corner
Odd Jobs
Research Roundup
Hot careers: Video game design and development
Friends and co-workers
Time to bail?
Scaling Mount Publication
Need to heal thyself?
Staying connected
Matters to a Degree
Power up your PowerPoint
Dissertations vs. diapers
Searching for answers
Bulletin Board
Jobs, internships, postdocs and other opportunities
The Back Page

GradPSYCH - January 2012

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