Solo Session: What does it mean to be a PhD in the 21st Century?

Hello students and graduates, Welcome to PhD Launch, the podcast of late night talks in which PhDs have a drink and talk about their research topics. I'm your host, Luis. And first and foremost, welcome to the new academic year. Whether you're a PHDMA or undergraduate, congratulations on entering or continuing your further educational journey. As for PhDs, I wish you all the best throughout your doctoral journey where you will face many setbacks and challenges that are insightful and can help you to overcome and share your mindset as a researcher. I have great news to share with you. Back on the 18th of September, I successfully defended my PhD in ancient History regarding cultural hybridity and the third space to study cultural interactions and cities built under Greek, Parthian, and Roman rule in Syria and Mesopotamia. In summary, I was engaged in an academic debate with my external and internal examiner, discussing ideas and answering harsh questions about my research. Several of them were out of the blue where I wasn't expected to answer them. All in all, it was a great conversation with my examiners, learning different insights and thoughts from the examiners themselves on taking my research to another level through a book project which I intend to start next year and a permanent contact with my external examiner in the future. The result of my Viva voce was a pass where my dissertation meets the level of independent doctoral research and the six month correction which I have to resubmit until the 22nd of March 2026. I share this happiness of mine with those who were alongside me, obviously my family, my friends, the people who I have have worked with since the beginning of my PhD, and yourselves who enjoy hearing my contents at PhD lunch, wherever you are. Tuning in to these experiences and challenges actually led me towards this success of becoming the very first Doctor of Philosophy in my family and to become an example, like many other PhDs, to future generations. After resubmitting, my graduation will be in July 2026 and after that, more challenges will arise along with those that I am already working on and improving on. That includes turning PhD launch into a trademark, applying for funding to start employing people to work on the podcast in order to become an entrepreneur in the foreseeable future and of course improving myself to become a better person day after day. What am I doing now you ask? While revising my dissertation, I have finished my internship at Reweise, where the experience in working with an entrepreneur has opened more opportunities to elevate PhD lunch as well as working with a self-employed person with an established business that keeps expanding it internationally. I cannot say much about it, but following the internship, the CEO of Re Wise has summoned me to work with him on other developing projects, pitching ideas to create new ones that can be educational and beneficial for young and unemployed people. Also, I've secured a small bursary to hire an undergraduate to work on PhD launch, where me and him are developing ideas to seek more funding, create solo episodes and book guests for more late night talks. Lastly, I am working as a mentor at MFL. In brackets is modern foreign languages mentoring for pupils about culture and languages regarding their significance not only in English speaking countries but also in training their brain to absorb and expand knowledge about someone's culture and language. So after this introduction, it's time to invite you to a new session at the PhD Lounge. This time is a solo night talk. This time is a solo late night talk and it's more of a personal reflection and not the part and not part of the PhD Iceberg explained series. I've been planning it for months before my thesis submission and preparation for the vivo, thinking about what points are more important to discuss and share with you about being a PhD in a time of uncertainty in the education industry. There are many aspects I've researched and read about undertaking a PhD and my opinion towards them was reduced into four major points and which I think it connects with many of us who are PhDs and post PhDs. And I hope one of these four points or all of them resonates with you. So students and graduates, grab yourselves drinks and snacks, have a seat and let's introduce the following late night solo session with a question. What does it mean to be a PhD in the 21st century? From its beginnings until today, the PhD has been the pinnacle of academic achievements. Candidates have the chance to provide top notch and deep research, sharing their findings with undergraduates and master's students. Since its conceptualization back in the 19th century, the PhD has been seen as the chosen 1 to shape and influence how we think and act towards something with scientific research and reasoning in order to change the world for the better. While anyone with a PhD uses their knowledge and skills to change the mindset of the world's population, the degree and the title Doctor has changed in the 21st century, whether for the worse or for the better. It sounds hypocritical for me to have this claim as a recent doctorate who is currently revising his thesis, set to complete by March 2026. However, obtaining a PhD goes beyond writing and producing research on a piece of paper and holding the title doctor within your field. Nowadays, it includes so many exciting opportunities, networking, funding, attending and participating at conferences, writing papers and articles, internships, job hunting in the hopes of getting a better salary, having an online presence, careers outside of academia, getting into post docs, entrepreneurship, and other personal goals connected to your doctoral journey. For example, we look at various PhDs who have jobs outside of academia and even have their own solid businesses, including one of my last guests, Elena Hoffer, who has a STEM PhD and runs on with me, or Andy Stapleton, who has a reputable YouTube channel talking about different topics around PhD in STEM, AI, software, realities of doing a PhD, and more. These different elements that accumulate throughout your PhD journey often grow, and with each year, the competition for positions in academia and industry gets even harder. According to World Population Review, Slovenia and Switzerland have the highest number of PhD graduates within their own country, with 3% holding the title of Doctor. And that is because they are smaller countries compared to the big ones such as the US, China, India and Russia. Looking at the global landscape, the cystic the statistics between 2017 and 2025 point out to a total of 421,000 and one PhD graduates with the United States for being a larger country graduating more doctoral candidates every year and so divided. Questions and opinions around this crisis and PhD were written from self-taught experts in education demographics to personal opinions, journal articles about the job prospect crisis, unemployment or non job opportunities for post PhDs and these include Is the PhD degree dead or why would you be able to apply for a PhD if you're not funded or if you don't have these skills during your PhD you're not going to get a job. Academia is shrinking really, and it is a bad environment. Go to industry where it has more opportunities or become an entrepreneur if you have a PhD and many more. And over my four years of research until the Vivo Voorque, as well as with my current revision, the conversations I had about the incredible opportunity to have chats with PhDs about these topics, whether on PhD launch and outside of it, and the work I have been done to support it, both from a financial and professional perspective. And that being said, I'd like to share with you a personal reflection on what it is like to be a PhD student and graduate in the 21st century. And the first obvious point that I'd like to make is that there is an incredible opportunity for candidates applying for funding to support their PhD research. So in short, funding. And we look at different sources of available funding to support ourselves in paying the tuition fees, conference attendance and participation, writing articles and research reports which are conditioned by the amount granted and the time of completion. And admittedly speaking, not many candidates want to take a student loan, as it was in my case, and be buried in depth with interest which they must repay towards the deadline. Furthermore, PhD candidates are likely aware that they might only get funding that only covers the tuition fees and research trips. They have to use their own income to pay bills and all the necessary expenses while using the grants just for research goals. It is a moment of uncertainty and anticipation, as if we PhDs are playing the lottery to win the big prize with the correct and accurate application letter to send to the educational grant organizations, businesses and governments. And this is happening in the 21st century, where universities struggle to employ staff and admit students on a national and international level due to annual budget cuts and funding fewer PhDs in different research fields. From conversations with doctoral candidates, postdocs and teaching staff, as well as reading blogs and articles, listening to podcasts and watching videos on YouTube, my impression is that if a student doesn't get funding for his or her PhD, then he or she will give up in achieving this degree of excellence in further education. Regarding research topics that develop marketable skills for employment in industry and academia. For example, Angela Lost in her article about creative PhDs under the current political and economic state of reduced funding in UK universities, argues that doing a creative thesis can be an interesting approach for innovation. However, it may prejudice both candidates and supervisors as a way to, in a fine line, innovate the structural issues of available funding. The PhD thesis projects and performance within pressurized time spans for such creativity. The second aspect worth highlighting is managing your mental health during your PhD, and levels of mental health in university students tend to increase due to tuition fees, rising difficulties in finding employment, peer and family pressure, screening data from articles to thesis exclusion, and other external factors that are uncontrollable. This also includes diagnosed disabilities such as depression and anxiety, which may lead to the abandonment of their doctoral studies in the doctoral field. It is still a Gray area to explore concerning the actual percentage of doctoral candidates with diagnosed mental health, which may impact their research stats. That percentage is around 24% of clinically PhDs with poor mental health regarding depression, 17% with anxiety, according to a 21/20/21 meta analysis and review of depression, Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation among PhDs students conducted by Sutinski, Kimura, Young, ET al. Intriguing questions about why bother doing the PhD by the overall population come up because of how amplified the mental health crisis in PhD is in a global context and solutions seem to be scarce to tackle this issue. Just having a drink on my PhD lunch book. So back to the topic, I'm not a psychologist nor a coach to help you to provide solutions or medications to reduce the level of depression and anxiety. But as a PhD it is a priority to pause your research studies due to your mental health and consult a professional. Also, it is recommended to not use your diagnosed disability as a quote UN quote excuse to prevent you from going higher throughout your happy doctoral journey to achieve and pass your Viva vocab. For example, my first guest at PhD Lounge, Felicity McKee, who has a disability has managed to obtain her PhD in Contemporary History and Industry. Interestingly, her research was about disability in 19th century Britain. Moving on to the Third Point of being a PhD in the 21st century concerns the pathways either to academia or industry. In the book The Entrepreneurial Scholar by Ilena Horwitz, who was a guest at PhD Lounge, she claims an interesting point. And the uncertainty doesn't end with obtaining a PhD. There's the drop search, which is far from guaranteed, and then the climb up the academic ladder. Ladder to tenure. Scholars often struggle to cope with the high level of uncertainty in academia. This is where adopting an entrepreneurial mindset can be transformative. End Quote. Embracing the entrepreneurial mindset opens up a world of possibilities, including setting up a business of your own and seeking alternatives to your post PhD career. Whether you want to venture into academia or industry. Ilana mentions that you as a PhD scholar, acknowledge that uncertainty in securing tenure tracking jobs is real and you must be updated for anything that comes towards you. This mindset comes in looking for internships to enhance your current skills? Taking courses connected or unrelated to your PhD, attending academic or industrial networking events, working site jobs, freelancing or if you want to be worldwide, create your own business and become self-employed with your own brand. These aspects highlighted by Ilana are endless and valuable for any PhD candidate and will give you an opportunity to think more strategically about what you can do with your doctoral degree beyond academia and if you still want to get into academic jobs. It is still a valid point, but you have to maintain that entrepreneurial spirit to give something different and manage the risk of that difference to your undergraduate and master's students. It is all about navigating uncertainties, seeking opportunities, creating experiments, trying them out and improving them, and learning from your failures until they are effective during and after your PhD, whatever pathway you will take. The final point I consider important for a PhD in the 21st century is networking. It's incredible how often networking comes up in conversations about content, posts on social media, podcasts, and YouTube videos. And I've been emphasizing it a lot in my recent discussions with other doctorates at the PhD Lounge. And it's always a great topic to talk about. Networking is funneled into an online presence where PHD's proudly cite their wins and gratitudes and meet people with similar research interests and mindsets beyond their dissertations. LinkedIn, for example, is an incredible social platform to connect with other PhDs, academics, industry leaders and post docs to create and strengthen lifelong social connections. It is where I keep building my brand as an independent podcaster, sharing content about PhD launch, about PhD through PhD launch, and where I also met different people with different research topics and were invited to my podcast to share their experience. Moreover, in today's global competitive market where there are more opportunities than ever for students to get into PhD programs, Networking he's also more popular than ever. It's so much more than just the obvious meaning. It is about forging social connections and lifelong relationships rather than requesting advice to seek jobs and secure them. After going through the interview process, this incredible social connection starts first with your supervisor, who works closely with you, offering valuable advice on your research. And that's not all. Supervisors also stay in touch outside of work, engaging in friendly coffee chats that provide you with valuable insights into opportunities outside your academic landscape that will fuel your future career success after graduation. Their ongoing support is there for you, helping you navigate challenges both socially and professionally, becoming your henchman to to forging stronger connections with other academics and industry professionals. As FAM mentions, networking is about social connections rather than transactional relationships. They take time, of course, but it can be advantageous for job prospects. And they only work based on your actions, your communication strategies, your online presence, your patients, and whom you want to network with around your research field. This latter aspect is significant because PhD networking in the 21st century isn't connecting randomly with anyone. Instead it's about forging incredible long lasting social connections with like minded individuals who share research interests and similar career goals. And so after sharing these 4 main points I consider important for a PhD as well as post PhDs in the 21st century, you then may ask various questions when you're uncertain to go for this degree, Such as why bother studying for a PhD when I am overqualified for many jobs? Or should I take a PhD even with all these obstacles that can take four or five or more years of my life? That is up to you whether you want to take this thrilling path. Indeed, it's not easy and not many of you want to endure this silent journey. But nevertheless, it experience of undertaking a PhD, the enduring setbacks, the connection that with other candidates who have similar motivations and goals, and the opportunities towards a fulfilling happy doctoral journey is what defines the initials PhD in the 21st century. All I can say to you is all the best whether or not you want to join the movement. And with that, I wrap up this late night talk. Thank you for having the time to tune in to this new session. Hoping that I've offered some insights about what it is like to be a pH D candidate in the 21st century from these four elements that constitute A doctoral candidate. This session will be released soon and you can check it out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. And in the meantime, you can also check out other late night interviews with other PhDs, scholars and entrepreneurs I had by going to the website phtlounge.co.uk are the platforms listed above. Feel free to follow my social media where I post content related to PhD launch, LinkedIn, Louis Meyer, or Instagram at PhD LMF. And last but not least, if you're a PhD postdoc scholar or an entrepreneur and would love to share your doctoral experience of having business partnerships with PhD Launch, you can send me an e-mail at [email protected] or DM me on my socials. Thank you all for tuning in, it has been a pleasure.