<p>How long does it take to get a PhD in civil engineering (beyond a masters)? And what career options do you have after getting it, is it only limited to academic work or are you still employable in industry? It seems less popular to get a PhD in engineering than the sciences, why is this so?</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<ol>
<li>5 to 7 years</li>
<li>academia for sure; consulting engineering as well</li>
<li>as a science & engineering employer, I believe you are correct. My theory is that engineers can practice their profession (skills & credentials) after fewer years of education than some of the sciences. Heck, a biologist pretty much needs a graduate degree to practice their discipline, but an engineer is just fine with an undergrad degree, especially if they get a PE later on.</li>
</ol>
<p>In engineering you can certainly find work in industry with a Ph.D. Yes, it is not required but it won’t hurt.</p>
<p>one more thing on employability with a PhD. From a hiring perspective, PhDs, while desirable employees, are in my experience more challenging to hire for a couple of reasons. 1st, most consulting engineering practices rarely need to PhD (although from a company credentials standpoint, having some is good) so your entry salary may not be as high as the PhD might believe is fair…that is, 6 years doing very specific engineering research does not translate to the equivalent practicing-engineer experience from a pay scale standpoint. 2nd, the potential employer is going to kick your tires very hard to assess whether your heart is too attached to the research or academia…this is an extra effort that complicates hiring PhDs over bach or masters level.</p>