Decisions

[pvroom]

I'm 1/4 of the way through honours and next year I have to do a 75% workload. I already have 2 degrees but I wanted to go into academia. I have two young kids, 5 & 2 and they will be at home indefinitely as they are not attending mainstream school (unschooling). My kids are obviously my priority but I'm feeling overwhelmed, I already had a break between the first two units. I'm smart and capable but time poor. I can't see how I'm suddenly going to have more time before March next year. I should defer right?

[JustJaq]

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but seriously consider whether there are likely to be any jobs available in academia. With the massive drop off in international students, fee increases, and cuts in Commonwealth funding, academic jobs are few and far between in some fields.

[babyno1onboard]

I’d add also that if you want to get into academia you’d probably need to do a PhD after the honours.

[pvroom]

Thanks. Yes I know, I'm not going to be ready for academia anytime soon. Likely 5+ years before I'd finish a PhD. This is one of those situations when you know the answer but don't like it.

Thanks for replying

[AdornedWithCats]

It's definitely possible to do...I swapped from part time to fulltime and back as required. But it does drag it out quite a bit.

The sector is going through a downturn at the moment with lots of people losing their jobs. Could be completely different in 5+ years time. However, a PhD can be useful for many different industries. I'm using mine in a completely different field from what I trained in and don't regret it.

[pvroom]

I'm probably more interested in NGOs and local council so doing a PhD isn't really necessary. I'm only 37, I can always come back to it later. The next phase has to be done 3 credit units at a time so I think I just need to give myself some space to come back when I'm ready.

[Thecrazycatlady]

I think it depends on what you are studying. For example if you need good marks to move onto a PHD / masters like you do to become a psychologist then I say stay part time as having little ones plus studying full time and getting top marks is hard. However if you just want honours and masters/ PHD isn’t in your interest then maybe try it for a trimester or the first four weeks before the Censce date and see how you go.

[pvroom]

I feel like a bit of a fool. I really panicked last week when I got some negative feedback for the draft I'd done of my literature review. So then I told myself I couldn't possibly do it. Good old self sabotage. Luckily my supervisor knows me well and is very kind. I think I should at least try and as you say @Thecrazycatlady I can stop after the census date anyway. I'm proud of myself for a) realising I panicked and b) being able to admit it. Would be good in future not to panic but baby steps hey!

[Thecrazycatlady]

It’s hard not to panic especially after not so great feedback. All the best,!

[pvroom]

Yes it is very hard. My husband is really questioning my continuing. Long story short, we have both kids at home and they have several disabilities. I'm not sure continuing is the right choice. Being FT is just too much. I think I need to change into a graduate certificate that has the same outcome but can be done PT