Getting a PHD in History foolish?

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

I'm going back to college on march 3rd. I am getting my financial aid altogether and my parents are knuckle dragging along.

I dropped out of art college after completing a year. It was just a mistake and my parents have money to burn and they still haven't forgiven me over 30,000 dollars. I accepted my failure and this is the final place I'm sticking with.

 

It's an online university and they're 10K cheaper a year from the 30K at the art college. Now I am just going to get my pre reqs out of the way and dive right into my concentration, which is European history. Now I know in this world to make money you need to do the following things...

 

Have connections 

kiss up to the CEO

Anything in the medical field or the business world is a guaranteed 6 figure salary in no time

 

 

I know teaching will not be feasible to live off of. But I love history and it's something I want to teach to people, however there are other things that this concentration will land me. I could go into the government and actually qualify for the secret service.

So there is more to it than just teaching. If anyone has evidence for what else I can land with this degree or possibly a PHD then please help me out.

 

My parents are registered nurses and own their own home health visiting nurses clinic. I have to keep our financial matters a secret. I will only tell you this. Home Health is a rapid booming market in the US. Because most patients can't afford to stay in the hospital long enough, and it's cheap and effective of subduing patients and keeping them safe. My mom worked as a director of nursing for this one man, who eventually fired my mother who built the company. I can't do health care, I have a right to judge it. It's a cut throat and cannibalistic business.

 

So what're your views? Do you think there's any use in a PHD in history? Because it seems people are doing more than just living off it.

[Serbon div 386]

If you love history then go for it! It's not like you live in Serbia where if you want psychology you can't make a living from it 

[TorqueEffect 112]

I wish my folks had money to burn. $30k you say? Wow...... It took my parents 5 years to pay off a $19k car, and we can barely keep the tax collectors from taking our house.

 

I wish I had everything handed to me on a silver platter. So why waste the time and money if it isn't going to get you anywhere in life? Also an online university isn't going to look good on a resume, they will just think you were too lazy and cheap to go to a normal university. That is the sad truth about this fucked up world.

 

I do completely agree with your opinion on healthcare jobs. It is just taking advantage of people who are in need, then charging them out the ass for it, because they need it and have no other means except for dieing or suffering. It's appalling, especially as of late with Obamacare making it even worse.

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

I wish my folks had money to burn. $30k you say? Wow...... It took my parents 5 years to pay off a $19k car, and we can barely keep the tax collectors from taking our house.

 

I wish I had everything handed to me on a silver platter. So why waste the time and money if it isn't going to get you anywhere in life? Also an online university isn't going to look good on a resume, they will just think you were too lazy and cheap to go to a normal university. That is the sad truth about this fucked up world.

 

I do completely agree with your opinion on healthcare jobs. It is just taking advantage of people who are in need, then charging them out the ass for it, because they need it and have no other means except for dieing or suffering. It's appalling, especially as of late with Obamacare making it even worse.

I can appreciate your honesty. My family went from being dirt poor to rich. Even if my family has money I don't care. I never had a real mother and father to relate to as people. That is something that money can never buy. Money can't buy real friends either. I don't make a lot of money just on my own. My family blows money on expendable shit, yet I can't do anything with mine. 

 

I need to go to school online. I work a 40 an hour week job and I CAN'T cut my hours. The interviewer can suck it up and deal with it. In the end I got the paper, give me my job and end it there.

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

I have a history minor, biblical theology major. I L.O.V.E. history and that's why I took the initiative....However,

 

Loving history and wanting to learn more about it is fine and dandy. But you have to think about the future as well in terms of a career as you have suggested. A history based career will not bring in much money.  The teaching market is shrinking all over the developed world due to technology.  Internet schooling is becoming more and more prevalent, and here in the US, history is the least respected subject (due to high political "correctness" and lack of importance among standardized testing).  To be a history teacher in the US pretty much equals to teaching incorrect history to students, which is why I decided not to go into teaching (I wanted to be a history teacher throughout most of my childhood). I am not sure how Europe is handling history in terms of political correctness but that will depend on each country, but with glocalization (yes with a C) becoming the 'thing' of this world, those lines will become more and more fuzzy, thus leading to a standardized political correctness, no matter what the political agenda. 

With history getting less and less attention with every generation, going into this field with an urge to teach will leave you very frustrated at the world with how history truly is repeating itself due to purposeful propagated ignorance. Thus, if I were you, I would diverge from teaching and take history to a more archaeological approach if you are set on a history based career. However, most other jobs related to history are becoming more and more over saturated with people, thus making your chances at a career in history in regards to other fields very slim. Thus it would be wise to look into careers that incorporate history in relevant ways that involve as little political correctness and over saturation of workers as possible.  Sociology is very prominent, especially when researching 3rd world countries and their growth into better, stable economic powers and its affect on the culture at hand. Biological fields takes a different approach, studying the history of the earth and its impacts on cultures in the isolated areas, and the world as a whole. This area may have a better market because environmental awareness is ever growing. There are many other fields that history will help as a supplement in knowledge and career growth, but getting a PHD in history, in today's world economic market and ever growing political correctness leaves little room for proper learning and teaching, thus limiting where you can take this degree.

 

In other words, get a minor if you love history, a PHD will not help you.  If you want to incorporate history into whatever career you want, expand your horizons into fields not commonly associated with history but have a prevalence in historical areas.

 

edit: sorry for my rambling on a such a simple question.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Treble Bolt

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

I have a history minor, biblical theology major. I L.O.V.E. history and that's why I took the initiative....However,

 

Loving history and wanting to learn more about it is fine and dandy. But you have to think about the future as well in terms of a career as you have suggested. A history based career will bring in much money.  The teaching market is shrinking all over the developed world due to technology.  Internet schooling is becoming more and more prevalent, and here in the US, history is the least respected subject (due to high political "correctness" and lack of importance among standardized testing).  To be a history teacher in the US pretty much equals to teaching incorrect history to students, which is why I decided not to go into teaching (I wanted to be a history teacher throughout most of my childhood). I am not sure how Europe is handling history in terms of political correctness but that will depend on each country, but with glocalization (yes with a C) becoming the 'thing' of this world, those lines will become more and more fuzzy, thus leading to a standardized political correctness, no matter what the political agenda. 

With history getting less and less attention with every generation, going into this field with an urge to teach will leave you very frustrated at the world with how history truly is repeating itself due to purposeful propagated ignorance. Thus, if I were you, I would diverge from teaching and take history to a more archaeological approach if you are set on a history based career. However, most other jobs related to history are becoming more and more over saturated with people, thus making your chances at a career in history in regards to other fields very slim. Thus it would be wise to look into careers that incorporate history in relevant ways that involve as little political correctness and over saturation of workers as possible.  Sociology is very prominent, especially when researching 3rd world countries and their growth into better, stable economic powers and its affect on the culture at hand. Biological fields takes a different approach, studying the history of the earth and its impacts on cultures in the isolated areas, and the world as a whole. This area may have a better market because environmental awareness is ever growing. There are many other fields that history will help as a supplement in knowledge and career growth, but getting a PHD in history, in today's world economic market and ever growing political correctness leaves little room for proper learning and teaching, thus limiting where you can take this degree.

 

In other words, get a minor if you love history, a PHD will not help you.  If you want to incorporate history into whatever career you want, expand your horizons into fields not commonly associated with history but have a prevalence in historical areas.

 

edit: sorry for my rambling on a such a simple question.

well don't archaeologist or people affiliated with them need to be filthy rich? Because archaeology, history and science fit together perfectly. Last time I checked many archaeologist need to work on their own and get sponsorships. So I agree with you, teaching is something that will not work in my favor. Do you know anyway of turning it into something else?

[Scootalove 10,689]

If you want to go for it, I say go for it. It would be smart enough not to waste the time and money on something that you're not aspiring to achieve in or at least have an interest in getting the PHD, even in a field that involves history. If you want to pursue if you put the time and money into it, you can if you want to.

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

well don't archaeologist or people affiliated with them need to be filthy rich? Because archaeology, history and science fit together perfectly. Last time I checked many archaeologist need to work on their own and get sponsorships. So I agree with you, teaching is something that will not work in my favor. Do you know anyway of turning it into something else?

Most archaeologists that are rich have been in the field for many many years, and thus have garnered enough respect to become rich and well sponsored.  New people in the field do not garner such respect because over the over saturated workforce. Thus most newer archaeologists do the "grunt work" for the bigger named ones.  It's one of the better paying history related jobs out there but as you stated, getting funding is up to you with sponsorship's and such.

 

The best advice I can give for turning it into something else, is to take a minor in it, and either go into the social/psychological spheres (librarians, information handlers, political jobs, communicating jobs, and law) or biological spheres of careers (anything that is based of earth history and/or how people have affected/been affected by the earth).

[TorqueEffect 112]

I can appreciate your honesty. My family went from being dirt poor to rich. Even if my family has money I don't care. I never had a real mother and father to relate to as people. That is something that money can never buy. Money can't buy real friends either. I don't make a lot of money just on my own. My family blows money on expendable shit, yet I can't do anything with mine. 

 

I need to go to school online. I work a 40 an hour week job and I CAN'T cut my hours. The interviewer can suck it up and deal with it. In the end I got the paper, give me my job and end it there.

 

At least you are getting 40 hours a week.

 

I went from getting that easily, to 25 and less. Because my employers decided to cut the delivery route down from 6, to 3, give all the drivers significantly less hours. Oh and it is hurting the business of the stores we are delivering to, because we went from 4 or 5 stores a route to between 6-10 stores, so it hurts the stores that are the last ones on the list.

 

It won't get better either because I am sure that was done to keep us from getting full time benefits, as now with Obama, have 30 hours, and employers are required to give you full time benefits. Oh and to probably save money on gas and vehicle maintenance. Yep, screw over your employees to save a few bucks, and the higher ups that made that decision get a bigger bonus.

Edited January 29, 2014 by TorqueEffect

[longgone 873]

I love history, but I can really get into 19th century military history and all that stuff, I love that time period and I love the military tactics of that era!

I wanna become a teacher as well, I'm going for my Master's. Money shouldn't be your primary concern, it should be whether you like your job or not. If you don't like your job, thn the next 40-50 years for you will be absolute hell, but you will find yourself having a decent, perhaps even entertaining, time with a job in a field you enjoy. Who cares if you don't have alot of spending money when you love your job? My math teacher is in her late 20's, and she seems to love her job, and it's teachers that really love their job that make the class a whole lot more fun in my opinion.

[Stalliongrad 982]

I absolutely love history. It was always my favorite subject. I would never read novels I loved history textbooks. Mostly military history and political history. No one could ever understand my fascination with history. People feel it is a waste of time to learn history. In fact in my jurisdiction they don't teach WW1 anymore they skip straight to WW2. It saddens me. I wish I had your resolve to commit myself to earning a PHD in History I think it is admirable. Don't do something you hate just because its going to get you money. Do something because you enjoy doing it. I know people right now trying to do things in college like trying to become an engineer and they have no interest in mathematics or science. But because "engineers make money" they go do it. College is a big money and time commitment if you are going to do it at least go for something you know you will enjoy doing.

[PaegeStorybrook 7]

I have a friend who did his PhD in Philosophy. Maybe not the same degree as yourself but having a degree in Philosophy may initially feel like you are limited to teaching it or if you're lucky enough get a job as a civil servant. He does in fact teach college level philosophy courses however surprisingly a good chunk of his income comes from the e-books he has independently published on the subject and a few fiction pieces with some of the specialized philosophical themes he was interested. So perhaps if you have a strong love of doing creative work you could partner that up with your interests in history.

Best of luck to you. I would have loved to do a degree in History (chose Psych instead), so in the meantime I get my fix through 'Coursera'.

Edited January 30, 2014 by PaegeStorybrook