As a disaffected law student who recently graduated with a JD/MBA degree, I had a moment of clarity 6 months ago when I realized, after some intense soul-searching and self-introspection, that I do not want to pursue a career in law anymore. Through this intense soul searching and much research/discussion with friends, family members, counselors and past professors, I discovered my real passion has always been public policy, specifically economic public policy. In fact, much of my free time in law school was spent reading lots of econ policy blogs as well as books on economics. So I decided I wanted to be a researcher of economic policy at a think tank.
In my research about what degree requirements are necessary for a career in this area, I learned that my degrees may not be sufficient. I read from various sources that my JD/MBA may be adequate for a starting research position at a think tank, but that if I wanted to move up into a senior researcher role or direct any sort of research, I would need to get a PhD. An investigation of various senior research job listings bore this out, with many of the requirements listed as having at least an MA in economics, but with a strong preference for a PhD.
I have very minimal math and econ training. I took a Micro/Macro class, a law and economics class, and an intro to stats class when I got my MBA, but that is the extent of my exposure to math and econ. I know that most graduate schools are looking for candidates who have taken classes such as linear algebra, advanced stats, multivariate calculus, and real analysis. So my question is, do I need to get a PhD in economics for me to move up as a researcher in the think tank world, or would a masters in econ be sufficient? And if it is strongly recommended I get a PhD, would it be wise for me to get a terminal masters degree in economics to make up for my deficiency in math and econ classes?
Your research is correct. Although you could get a position as a research associate in the think tank world with an MA, at most think tanks to rise to the senior ranks you will likely need a PhD. I wanted to be a researcher at a think tank myself for a while, and every think tank I visited, all of the senior researchers held PhDs. There may be some smaller boutique think tanks that have a wider variety of senior researchers.
However…do you really want to be a researcher of economic policy, or would you be okay doing some kind of work in economic/public policy without necessarily needing to be a senior researcher somewhere? Because there are lots of other roles you could hold in the policy world with a JD/MBA.
well that is the conundrum I’m facing at the moment; I have a lot of conflicted feelings about what I want to do. I know I could go into the development side of a think tank, which does appeal to me in many respects and I think works well with my strengths (my outgoing personality, passion for particular causes, ability to communicate ideas effectively to people, etc). But I’ve always loved doing research. Of all the classes I took in undergrad, law school, and business school, the classes that had a research component were always my favorites. I love exploring in depth ideas and concepts that I’m passionate about. It fuels me and gives me energy.
I don’t NEED to be a senior researcher, but I would want to become a senior researcher because there are a few perks that come along with that title: being able to direct research topics, increased pay, etc. But at the same time, I’ve been quite horrified in my research about PhD students: the amount of depression that occurs, the amount of debt you go in, the opportunity cost of getting your PhD rather than being in the workforce, the amount of PhD candidates who drop out or never finish their dissertation, etc. So it’s giving me pause about even trying to get a PhD in the first place. But, I survived law school (which was a beast in its own right), and I wasn’t even passionate about learning the law.
If you go to a fully funded PhD program, you shouldn’t have to worry about debt. Don’t take out loans to pay for a PhD program. Ever.
Now, the rest of that is true. Mental health among doctoral students is generally poor, and statistics show that most graduate students experience depression at some point during their doctoral degree. The opportunity cost of being in graduate school for 5-7 years is pretty high and difficult to recover from, even if you have a higher salary after you graduate (and especially if you don’t. The salary of many professors is not that much higher than what a mid-career BA could make). And something like half of PhD students never finish the degree, although sometimes that’s for a good reason (they realize that it’s not worth it for them).
I have a PhD. Given the opportunity to go back in time knowing what I know now, I don’t think I’d do it over again.
Here’s my two cents: Given what you’ve said - that you have conflicted feelings about what you want to do - I think you should NOT go get any other degrees right now (especially not a PhD), but try to see what kind of satisfying work you can get with your JD and MBA. I am not sure whether you’ve ever worked full-time, but I think it’s pretty common for people who have spent most of their life in school to run back to school when they are uncertain about the way forward. You don’t want to waste 5 years of your life earning a PhD only to later realize that you didn’t need it to do what you want (or at least something that makes you happy). You certainly don’t need a PhD to do development work!
If you want to get into research, try to find research positions with your current degrees. There are many research associate positions out there that would hire an MA or a JD/MBA with sufficient research skills. Try to find one of those and work for a few years and see if you like it and if you want to reach senior badly enough to return to school for 5-7 years. You may find that you have enough autonomy at that level that you are satisfied, and that your pay is sufficient for your desires.
Another option to explore is the potential of doing a postdoc as a JD. Most often, postdoctoral fellows are PhD students, but there are some postdocs that are open to JDs.
thank you so much for your reply! This is excellent advice and after doing some more thinking on the issue, I think you are right. I haven’t really worked full time before (just worked part time retail jobs most of my life). I clerked for an attorney, so I got a taste of what working in a “career” type job is like, but it wasn’t full time.
I think you are absolutely right regarding people who have not worked full time and have been in school most of their life and then running back to school when they are uncertain about what to do next. I think that was the position I was in, but after doing more research, I think that is a dangerous rationalization for pursuing another graduate degree. I’ve always excelled in school, and have always felt out of place at work (perhaps thats because the jobs I worked at were not intellectually stimulating for me and did not utilize the skills I feel I’m best at) so I think running back to school is my natural inclination.
I think the best way forward for me, as you said, is to NOT get any other degrees, and just work at a think tank full time and see how I like it. If I feel i HAVE to get a PhD for some reason, then I will consider doing that. But i’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I have applied to a lot of think tanks already, and I have an interview with one of them so far.
Thank you again for your advice. It has been incredibly helpful!
Glad I could help and congrats on the interview!