Episode 1 - Why Did I Get a Doctoral Degree?
Why would anyone want to get a doctoral or graduate level degree? On this episode I share my whys or those reasons that motivated me to earn my PhD. I also call on each of you to take time to pause and reflect about your own whys.
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Here is a transcript of Episode 1:
0:17: Hello and welcome to the Broke PhD Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. G!
0:23: On this episode of Broke PhD podcast, I answer the question why did I choose to earn a doctoral degree.
0:29: There were three main reasons that motivated me to want to earn a doctoral degree. For my first reason to begin, I want to share a little bit about my professional background. I started my career working in early childhood education, primarily working with two and three-year olds. It's around this age that the early identification process for special education typically occurs, with some of my students going through the early identification process. It sparked my interest in the area of special education, so much so that I went on to earn my masters iIn the field. While earning my master’s degree, I made the transition out of the early childhood education setting and into a self-contained kindergarten classroom. It was during my time working in the self-contained kindergarten classroom that I recognized that I had so much more to learn about the area of special education. As such, this insight motivated me to want to go on and earn my doctoral degree in the area of special education. Ultimately, my first reason for wanting to earn a doctoral degree was to expand my skills, knowledge, and understanding in my respective field.
1:34: My second reason for wanting to earn a doctoral degree was that when I started my program, I had the initial career goal of wanting to become a professor. Essentially, I wanted to teach future teachers. Now I will say that goal has changed and I will share and elaborate more on the reasons behind that change in future episodes. So stay tuned for that. I loved being a classroom teacher, but I thought I could make more of a change and an impact in my field through a shift in my career aspirations. So my second reason for wanting to earn a doctoral degree was that I had wanted to make a shift or a change in the direction of the career path I was on.
2:15: My third reason for wanting to earn a doctoral degree was that I wanted to add to my family's legacy while simultaneously breaking statistical odds that were stacked against me. As I shared in the introductory episode, I am a proud Black woman. Specifically, I'm African American, and my family heritage is rooted in the South. My grandparents were only able to stay in school up to about 6th grade before having to enter into the workforce in order to help support their family. My parents and their generation then shifted that narrative and pushed the pendulum further by earning some of the first post-secondary degrees in our family. I myself wanted to continue to add to that narrative and to push the pendulum even further, and therefore it motivated me to want to earn the first doctoral degree in my family. Additionally, I wanted to break those statistical odds that have been stacked against me. According to the National Science Foundation’s 2022 Survey of Earned Doctorates, Black women make up only about 4.4% of people who earn a doctoral degree here in the United States. Learning those statistics and wanting to add to my family's legacy, it motivated me to break those barriers and to be the exception.
3:31: In answering the question, Why did I choose to earn a doctoral degree? Or Why did I want to earn a doctoral degree? It came down to those three things that I shared. In summarizing, the first was that I wanted to expand my knowledge in my field of special education. The second is that I wanted to make a change in the direction of my career. And the third is that I wanted to add to my family's legacy while simultaneously breaking statistical odds.
3:58: Now I call on you, the listeners, to pause and reflect on your own whys. What are those reasons that either are currently motivating you to earn your doctoral or graduate degree or that motivated you in the past to want to go on and earn a doctoral or graduate level degree?
4:15: As you move along your own journey, remember to keep your whys at the forefront. Use them as beacons to guide you through those good times and especially through those bad times.
4:26: Please stay tuned for future episodes where I ask guests to share about their whys or those reasons that are currently motivating them or that have motivated them in the past to want to earn their doctoral or graduate level degrees. I would also love to hear from all of you, all of the listeners about your own whys. So please feel free to reach out via the podcast website or through any of the social media outlets and share with me your whys and your reasons for wanting to earn a doctoral or graduate level degree or those reasons that motivated you to earn your doctoral or graduate level degree?
5:02: Well that concludes this episode, but I am so excited to have you on this journey with me. So please hit that subscribe button and check out the website brophdpodcast.com to continue to follow along.
5:15: Thank you for listening and no matter where you are in your own journey, remember you got this! Again, I am your host Dr. G, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
Reference: National Science Foundation (2022). Survey of Earned Doctorates. https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/earned-doctorates/2022