failed my phd

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How to Avoid Failing Your Ph.D. Dissertation

By  Daniel Sokol

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I am a barrister in London who specializes in helping doctoral students who have failed their Ph.D.s. Few people will have had the dubious privilege of seeing as many unsuccessful Ph.D. dissertations and reading as many scathing reports by examination committees. Here are common reasons why students who submit their Ph.D.s fail, with advice on how to avoid such pitfalls. The lessons apply to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Lack of critical reflection. Probably the most common reason for failing a Ph.D. dissertation is a lack of critical analysis. A typical observation of the examination committee is, “The thesis is generally descriptive and a more analytical approach is required.”

For doctoral work, students must engage critically with the subject matter, not just set out what other scholars have said or done. If not, the thesis will not be original. It will not add anything of substance to the field and will fail.

Doctoral students should adopt a reflexive approach to their work. Why have I chosen this methodology? What are the flaws or limitations of this or that author’s argument? Can I make interesting comparisons between this and something else? Those who struggle with this aspect should ask their supervisors for advice on how to inject some analytic sophistication to their thesis.

Lack of coherence. Other common observations are of the type: “The argument running through the thesis needs to be more coherent” or “The thesis is poorly organized and put together without any apparent logic.”

The thesis should be seen as one coherent whole. It cannot be a series of self-contained chapters stitched together haphazardly. Students should spend considerable time at the outset of their dissertation thinking about structure, both at the macro level of the entire thesis and the micro level of the chapter. It is a good idea to look at other Ph.D. theses and monographs to get a sense of what constitutes a logical structure.

Poor presentation. The majority of failed Ph.D. dissertations are sloppily presented. They contain typos, grammatical mistakes, referencing errors and inconsistencies in presentation. Looking at some committee reports randomly, I note the following comments:

• “The thesis is poorly written.”
• “That previous section is long, badly written and lacks structure.”
• “The author cannot formulate his thoughts or explain his reasons. It is very hard to understand a good part of the thesis.”
• “Ensure that the standard of written English is consistent with the standard expected of a Ph.D. thesis.”
• “The language used is simplistic and does not reflect the standard of writing expected at Ph.D. level.”

For committee members, who are paid a fixed and pitiful sum to examine the work, few things are as off-putting as a poorly written dissertation. Errors of language slow the reading speed and can frustrate or irritate committee members. At worst, they can lead them to miss or misinterpret an argument.

Students should consider using a professional proofreader to read the thesis, if permitted by the university’s regulations. But that still is no guarantee of an error-free thesis. Even after the proofreader has returned the manuscript, students should read and reread the work in its entirety.

When I was completing my Ph.D., I read my dissertation so often that the mere sight of it made me nauseous. Each time, I would spot a typo or tweak a sentence, removing a superfluous word or clarifying an ambiguous passage. My meticulous approach was rewarded when one committee member said in the oral examination that it was the best-written dissertation he had ever read. This was nothing to do with skill or an innate writing ability but tedious, repetitive revision.

Failure to make required changes. It is rare for students to fail to obtain their Ph.D. outright at the oral examination. Usually, the student is granted an opportunity to resubmit their dissertation after making corrections.

Students often submit their revised thesis together with a document explaining how they implemented the committee’s recommendations. And they often believe, wrongly, that this document is proof that they have incorporated the requisite changes and that they should be awarded a Ph.D.

In fact, the committee may feel that the changes do not go far enough or that they reveal further misunderstandings or deficiencies. Here are some real observations by dissertation committees:

• “The added discussion section is confusing. The only thing that has improved is the attempt to provide a little more analysis of the experimental data.”
• “The author has tried to address the issues identified by the committee, but there is little improvement in the thesis.”

In short, students who fail their Ph.D. dissertations make changes that are superficial or misconceived. Some revised theses end up worse than the original submission.

Students must incorporate changes in the way that the committee members had in mind. If what is required is unclear, students can usually seek clarification through their supervisors.

In the nine years I have spent helping Ph.D. students with their appeals, I have found that whatever the subject matter of the thesis, the above criticisms appear time and time again in committee reports. They are signs of a poor Ph.D.

Wise students should ask themselves these questions prior to submission of the dissertation:

• Is the work sufficiently critical/analytical, or is it mainly descriptive?
• Is it coherent and well structured?
• Does the thesis look good and read well?
• If a resubmission, have I made the changes that the examination committee had in mind?

Once students are satisfied that the answer to each question is yes, they should ask their supervisors the same questions.

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 13 July 2022

How to bounce back from a PhD-project failure

• Nikki Forrester 0

Nikki Forrester is a science journalist based in West Virginia.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Failure is an integral part of science. Research projects get scooped, protocols prove unsuccessful or funding limitations restrict data collection, delaying progress and sending scientists back to the drawing board. These setbacks plague researchers of all career stages, but they can feel particularly acute for PhD candidates who are racing against time to earn their degrees. Nature talked to five scientists about the hurdles they faced in their PhD research, how they successfully switched projects midway through and what advice they have for others in a similar situation.

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Nature 607 , 407-409 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01900-y

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

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Worst Nightmare Scenario: Failing Your PhD (and How Not To)

Failing your PhD. How does it happen? I have recently been a remote witness of a behind-the-scenes-drama: a PhD candidate who received a rejection from an external examiner. Her supervisors had approved the thesis, but a member of the committee rejected it, rightfully so as far as I can gather, judging from the report that spans over a thirty pages of why the thesis is lacking and needs at least a year’s more work. It is a tragic situation. I can’t think of many things worse, as far as PhDs go.

When I was writing my PhD I never thought I’d fail, but I did always worry about whether my work was ‘good enough’. And I did fear the scenario that perhaps one of the committee members would request a million modifications that would go against my ideas, or would be diametrically opposed to comments of the other professors. As is so often the case when you have a number of academics commenting on your work, especially when you are trying to tame a multi-disciplinary project. Yet failed PhDs (not counting the cases in which people actively quit) are extremely rare.

What I have learnt about PhDs going off the rails:

Universities do not want you to fail your PhD. Supervisors don’t want you to fail your PhD. Committee members don’t want you to fail your PhD.

It isn’t about you. It is about them. (Of course!) It reflects badly on them. It reflects badly on the university. It reflects badly on everyone involved. (Though naturally, they will put most of the burden for failing, if the project does need more work, on you if they can. So very classy!)

Also, it is a hell of a lot of work to prove the thesis isn’t where it should be, and committee members are hesitant to take this route… They have other priorities: their own research, most notably.

Take this to heart. It is not in their interest to make you fail.

“Don’t worry too much about your PhD. If you stick around long enough at one point they’ll give it to you.”

This is something a professor said to me, only half-jokingly, when I was in my second year and still very much wrestling with my subject, trying to wrangle it into submission. I was pretty shocked (I’m a perfectionist!), as well as amused, but over the years I have started to appreciate the truth of what he was saying.

When I returned to Florence for my PhD defence a professor complained to me about the people who received a PhD who absolutely definitely shouldn’t have passed. Yet these theses do tend to pass.

This may be a comforting idea: you will get your title. Your PhD will pass. Even if it isn’t absolutely electrifyingly brilliant from the first right through to the last paragraph. Even if there are obvious flaws (which there will be, there always are, and that is perfectly OK. But that’s a different blog post). Getting into the PhD programme is the bigger hurdle compared to finishing the thesis. You’ve already done the most difficult bit.

The disconcerting message though: your PhD may not be that much of a priority for other people. It may feel like your life work; to them, it is something they may simply want off their desk. Within deadlines, preferably. Without too much work or hassle.

Red flags everywhere!

Even if you are in a state where you just don’t care anymore and just want to finish, don’t sell yourself short. Supervisors should be invested in your work, at least to a degree! You need the dialogue, you need the feedback, you need the input, you need the debate. If you have absent supervisors who are not contributing as a mentor, and you are doing it all alone, you need to find others who will help you.

In one way my situation was similar to the one outlined above is I had no-one actively involved, due to circumstances (one of which was that one of my supervisors passed away, the other that I was finishing my PhD long-distance), and it was entirely disorienting. I didn’t know whether my work met certain standards. It did, but it would’ve been nice if someone would have been there to tell me! When I got appointed a new supervisor for the thesis defence specifically, it all turned around. I loved his comments (I really do believe love is the right word here. I was a bit intellectual-love-starved at the time) questions, and criticism, and although he wasn’t an expert in my field, the discussion helped me so much.

It also made me realise how much I had been missing out. If you don’t have much support and interaction, it has to change. Find your people. The people who will challenge and support you. They are out there. They want to hear from you. Go and find them, or let others help you find them.

The part you are responsible for, of course, is to engage with their criticism and work with their suggestions as appropriate. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this process, defining my own choices. Creating and defending my work. It’s the part you have to do, the intellectual part, and it is (hopefully) the satisfying part. (Especially once it’s done!!)

If you skip this, because you are lazy, fed up or out of time or money, and you have supervisors who are also lazy and busy, and don’t care so much, you may end up in a situation where the external examiner gives the thumbs down. That is if you are lucky/ unlucky enough (strike through as appropriate) for them to care enough to do so.

Do you have absent supervisors, and no idea where you stand? The HappyPhD course tackles the problem of how to re-engage, once you’re in a negative spiral of avoidance and neglect. It can be done! As always, if you enjoyed this post, could you share it? I appreciate it!

If you found this post helpful, share it? I appreciate it!

• PhD Failure Rate – A Study of 26,076 PhD Candidates
• Doing a PhD

The PhD failure rate in the UK is 19.5%, with 16.2% of students leaving their PhD programme early, and 3.3% of students failing their viva. 80.5% of all students who enrol onto a PhD programme successfully complete it and are awarded a doctorate.

Introduction

One of the biggest concerns for doctoral students is the ongoing fear of failing their PhD.

After all those years of research, the long days in the lab and the endless nights in the library, it’s no surprise to find many agonising over the possibility of it all being for nothing. While this fear will always exist, it would help you to know how likely failure is, and what you can do to increase your chances of success.

Read on to learn how PhDs can be failed, what the true failure rates are based on an analysis of 26,067 PhD candidates from 14 UK universities, and what your options are if you’re unsuccessful in obtaining your PhD.

Ways You Can Fail A PhD

There are essentially two ways in which you can fail a PhD; non-completion or failing your viva (also known as your thesis defence ).

Non-completion

Non-completion is when a student leaves their PhD programme before having sat their viva examination. Since vivas take place at the end of the PhD journey, typically between the 3rd and 4th year for most full-time programmes, most failed PhDs fall within the ‘non-completion’ category because of the long duration it covers.

There are many reasons why a student may decide to leave a programme early, though these can usually be grouped into two categories:

• Motives – The individual may no longer believe undertaking a PhD is for them. This might be because it isn’t what they had imagined, or they’ve decided on an alternative path.
• Extenuating circumstances – The student may face unforeseen problems beyond their control, such as poor health, bereavement or family difficulties, preventing them from completing their research.

In both cases, a good supervisor will always try their best to help the student continue with their studies. In the former case, this may mean considering alternative research questions or, in the latter case, encouraging you to seek academic support from the university through one of their student care policies.

Besides the student deciding to end their programme early, the university can also make this decision. On these occasions, the student’s supervisor may not believe they’ve made enough progress for the time they’ve been on the project. If the problem can’t be corrected, the supervisor may ask the university to remove the student from the programme.

Failing The Viva

Assuming you make it to the end of your programme, there are still two ways you can be unsuccessful.

The first is an unsatisfactory thesis. For whatever reason, your thesis may be deemed not good enough, lacking originality, reliable data, conclusive findings, or be of poor overall quality. In such cases, your examiners may request an extensive rework of your thesis before agreeing to perform your viva examination. Although this will rarely be the case, it is possible that you may exceed the permissible length of programme registration and if you don’t have valid grounds for an extension, you may not have enough time to be able to sit your viva.

The more common scenario, while still being uncommon itself, is that you sit and fail your viva examination. The examiners may decide that your research project is severely flawed, to the point where it can’t possibly be remedied even with major revisions. This could happen for reasons such as basing your study on an incorrect fundamental assumption; this should not happen however if there is a proper supervisory support system in place.

PhD Failure Rate – UK & EU Statistics

According to 2010-11 data published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (now replaced by UK Research and Innovation ), 72.9% of students enrolled in a PhD programme in the UK or EU complete their degree within seven years. Following this, 80.5% of PhD students complete their degree within 25 years.

This means that four out of every five students who register onto a PhD programme successfully complete their doctorate.

While a failure rate of one in five students may seem a little high, most of these are those who exit their programme early as opposed to those who fail at the viva stage.

Failing Doesn’t Happen Often

Although a PhD is an independent project, you will be appointed a supervisor to support you. Each university will have its own system for how your supervisor is to support you , but regardless of this, they will all require regular communication between the two of you. This could be in the form of annual reviews, quarterly interim reviews or regular meetings. The majority of students also have a secondary academic supervisor (and in some cases a thesis committee of supervisors); the role of these can vary from having a hands-on role in regular supervision, to being another useful person to bounce ideas off of.

These frequent check-ins are designed to help you stay on track with your project. For example, if any issues are identified, you and your supervisor can discuss how to rectify them in order to refocus your research. This reduces the likelihood of a problem going undetected for several years, only for it to be unearthed after it’s too late to address.

In addition, the thesis you submit to your examiners will likely be your third or fourth iteration, with your supervisor having critiqued each earlier version. As a result, your thesis will typically only be submitted to the examiners after your supervisor approves it; many UK universities require a formal, signed document to be submitted by the primary academic supervisor at the same time as the student submits the thesis, confirming that he or she has approved the submission.

Failed Viva – Outcomes of 26,076 Students

Despite what you may have heard, the failing PhD rate amongst students who sit their viva is low.

This, combined with ongoing guidance from your supervisor, is because vivas don’t have a strict pass/fail outcome. You can find a detailed breakdown of all viva outcomes in our viva guide, but to summarise – the most common outcome will be for you to revise your thesis in accordance with the comments from your examiners and resubmit it.

This means that as long as the review of your thesis and your viva examination uncovers no significant issues, you’re almost certain to be awarded a provisional pass on the basis you make the necessary corrections to your thesis.

To give you an indication of the viva failure rate, we’ve analysed the outcomes of 26,076 PhD candidates from 14 UK universities who sat a viva between 2006 and 2017.

The analysis shows that of the 26,076 students who sat their viva, 25,063 succeeded; this is just over 96% of the total students as shown in the chart below.

Students Who Passed

The analysis shows that of the 96% of students who passed, approximately 5% required no amendments, 79% required minor amendments and the remaining 16% required major revisions. This supports our earlier discussion on how the most common outcome of a viva is a ‘pass with minor amendments’.

Students Who Failed

Of the 4% of unsuccessful students, approximately 97% were awarded an MPhil (Master of Philosophy), and 3% weren’t awarded a degree.

Note : It should be noted that while the data provides the student’s overall outcome, i.e. whether they passed or failed, they didn’t all provide the students specific outcome, i.e. whether they had to make amendments, or with a failure, whether they were awarded an MPhil. Therefore, while the breakdowns represent the current known data, the exact breakdown may differ.

Summary of Findings

By using our data in combination with the earlier statistic provided by HEFCE, we can gain an overall picture of the PhD journey as summarised in the image below.

To summarise, based on the analysis of 26,076 PhD candidates at 14 universities between 2006 and 2017, the PhD pass rate in the UK is 80.5%. Of the 19.5% of students who fail, 3.3% is attributed to students failing their viva and the remaining 16.2% is attributed to students leaving their programme early.

The above statistics indicate that while 1 in every 5 students fail their PhD, the failure rate for the viva process itself is low. Specifically, only 4% of all students who sit their viva fail; in other words, 96% of the students pass it.

What Are Your Options After an Unsuccessful PhD?

Appeal your outcome.

If you believe you had a valid case, you can try to appeal against your outcome . The appeal process will be different for each university, so ensure you consult the guidelines published by your university before taking any action.

While making an appeal may be an option, it should only be considered if you genuinely believe you have a legitimate case. Most examiners have a lot of experience in assessing PhD candidates and follow strict guidelines when making their decisions. Therefore, your claim for appeal will need to be strong if it is to stand up in front of committee members in the adjudication process.

Downgrade to MPhil

If you are unsuccessful in being awarded a PhD, an MPhil may be awarded instead. For this to happen, your work would need to be considered worthy of an MPhil, as although it is a Master’s degree, it is still an advanced postgraduate research degree.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stigma around MPhil degrees, with many worrying that it will be seen as a sign of a failed PhD. While not as advanced as a PhD, an MPhil is still an advanced research degree, and being awarded one shows that you’ve successfully carried out an independent research project which is an undertaking to be admired.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

Additional Resources

Hopefully now knowing the overall picture your mind will feel slightly more at ease. Regardless, there are several good practices you can adopt to ensure you’re always in the best possible position. The key of these includes developing a good working relationship with your supervisor, working to a project schedule, having your thesis checked by several other academics aside from your supervisor, and thoroughly preparing for your viva examination.

We’ve developed a number of resources which should help you in the above:

• What to Expect from Your Supervisor – Find out what to look for in a Supervisor, how they will typically support you, and how often you should meet with them.
• How to Write a Research Proposal – Find an outline of how you can go about putting a project plan together.
• What is a PhD Viva? – Learn exactly what a viva is, their purpose and what you can expect on the day. We’ve also provided a full breakdown of all the possible outcomes of a viva and tips to help you prepare for your own.

Data for Statistics

• Cardiff University – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• Imperial College London – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• London School of Economics (LSE) – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• Queen Mary University of London – 2009/10 to 2015/16
• University College London (UCL) – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Aberdeen – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Birmingham – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• University of Bristol – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Edinburgh – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Nottingham – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• University of Oxford – 2007/08 to 2016/17
• University of York – 2009/10 to 2016/17
• University of Manchester – 2008/09 to 2017/18
• University of Sheffield – 2006/07 to 2016/17

Note : The data used for this analysis was obtained from the above universities under the Freedom of Information Act. As per the Act, the information was provided in such a way that no specific individual can be identified from the data.

Browse PhDs Now

Join thousands of students.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

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How to (almost) Fail a PhD: A Personal Account

The year, 1996, didn’t start well. My then-partner and I went to Spain, with three friends, for a Christmas break. For some reason we thought it would be shining hot. As it turned out, we spent a week in a wet, damp bungalow in the middle of nowhere. The main thing I remember were the Spanish tortillas on the few days we got out—wet and damp as well, with burnt soggy potatoes at the bottom.

My PhD viva was on Friday the 6th Jan—25 years from the publication of this post (more details on what a PhD viva is are available here ). I’d read through my thesis a few times and felt fairly well-prepared. It was a somewhat unusual topic, Facilitating the expression of subpersonalities through the use of masks: An exploratory study . Basically, during my undergraduate studies I’d gone to a mask workshop run by a friend of mine at Oxford University and been amazed at the power of masks to bring out different ‘sides’ of my self (or ‘subpersonalities’). I researched it further for an undergraduate paper and then, in the early 1990s, applied to Sussex University to do a PhD on the topic. Basically, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do as a career—either media (TV, journalism) or academia—and, as I couldn’t find a way in to media work, I thought I’d do the latter, particularly when I was awarded a grant from Sussex University to support me. That’s when I also started counselling training: I thought I better to do something practical alongside the PhD.

The internal examiner for the viva was a tutor of mine from my undergraduate days and someone who I knew fairly well. The external examiner was an academic in humanistic psychology I didn’t know much about, but had read a couple of her books and they seemed interesting. The three of us sat that Friday in the internal examiner’s office: dark and small, with his bike leaning against the bookshelves.

I remember more about after the viva than the viva itself. But the questions came quickly and they felt pretty intense from the start. ‘Why was I writing about subpersonalities?’ ‘What evidence was there for them?’ ‘What made me think they were a legitimate basis for a PhD?’ ‘Why was I so dependent on the work of John Rowan, what about my own thoughts?’ I answered the questions as best I could, wondering if that was how vivas were supposed to be—anxious that, perhaps, this was more critical than normal. After about 90 minutes I was asked to leave and sat in the Department common room—somewhere I’d spent many hours as an undergraduate socialising and relaxing in. I felt a rising anxiety from the pit of my stomach. I’d done my best, but something felt wrong. One of my other undergraduate tutors passed by and asked me how things had gone. He said he was sure it would all be fine: no one got failed for their viva. I wasn’t so sure.

Called back in the darkened room, like a death sentence. They had, indeed, decided to fail the thesis. Well, not quite fail it, but they were proposing that I resubmit for an MPhil: the next to lowest outcome. The main thing I remember was crying. I think it was an armchair I was sitting in, in a corner of the room. Sobbing away. Couldn’t believe it, even though I’d felt it coming. I went to see my supervisor and told him the news. Then I walked and walked and walked to a nearby village. Bought some cigarettes for the first time in years, rang my closest friend from a red call box and just smoked and smoked. There was nothing else I could do.

I came back to campus and went to see my supervisor again. He said that the examiners had decided that, in fact, I could have another chance to resubmit for a PhD: one outcome higher. But it would require a complete rewrite—four years’ work down the drain!

I met my partner at our house near Brighton station. Then we went to the pub. A few pints and I felt better, but I knew it was just temporary. Back home, as the alcohol wore off, the reality of the situation smashed back in my face. And so many questions: ‘Why had I failed?’ ‘Why had my supervisor said to me, just the day before the viva, that the work was “excellent”?’ ‘Were they ever likely to pass it even if I did spend the next three years rewriting?’ More than anything, I just didn’t understand what was wrong with the work, why they had failed it. The examiners obviously, clearly, really didn’t like it. But why?

That weekend was probably the worst of my life. I hardly slept the Friday night, just terrible feelings of anxiety and worry. Thinking over and over again what had gone wrong. A few hours sleep, then pub the next day and again some temporary relief. Then walking, walking, walking with my partner—along Brighton seafront—trying to make sense of things and work out ways forward. A game of pool in a pub in Hove. Slow walk back along the Western Road. I bought some aftershave at a chemist in Seven Dials that was my favourite for many years. Back home in the silence and the pain of it all. Moments alone were the worst, when my partner went to sleep. Several serious suicide attempts over the next few days. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say that it was just the terror of the pain, and the thought of having—and meeting my—children in the future, that held me back.

It wasn’t just failing my thesis. It was where I was in life. Basically, I was 30, had been struggling for years to work out what I wanted to do. Had been watching so many family members and friends succeed in their careers. I felt like I was going nowhere. The one thing I had was this PhD and the possibility of being an academic, and now even that was in tatters. It was the last closed door in a series of closed doors. The last possibilities I’d been hanging out for.

One of the worst things was that I had to run seminars for the psychology undergraduate students the next week. I felt so totally and utterly ashamed: surely everyone would know about my failure, and then how could they possibly take anything I said seriously? I drove in that Wednesday, facilitated the class as best I could. It didn’t help that the internal examiner was the module coordinator. I spoke to him as well on the phone on the Monday. He was sorry to hear I was feeling so awful. He tried to explain what had happened but it just didn’t make any sense. More questions, not less.

I was teaching psychology at Brighton University as well at that time, and was so grateful that the programme coordinator there didn’t seem to flinch when she heard the news. She still trusted me, let me continue my teaching. In fact, that summer, when she moved on, I was offered her job, and started in a more permanent position at Brighton University.

Something had already seemed to turn, though, before that time. I felt a bit better by April. I had a new supervisor now (one of the conditions for me being allowed to resubmit): a professor from my undergraduate years that I really trusted. He was down-to-earth, grounded, gave me hope. But it was a whole new thesis, and three more years before I finally completed .

What Went Wrong?

So why had things gone so badly wrong? Had my supervisor let me down, was it that the examiners had been unfair, or had I just done a really poor piece of work? It took me months, maybe even years, to work out. But now I’d understand it something like this: When I started the work, I was doing it in the field of cultural studies. It was about masks, and with a fairly relaxed design: I was drawing on literature, ethnography, drama therapy. There was no stringent method, but that seemed fine for that field of study and others who wrote a thesis in a similar way had done fine. But then, about halfway through my programme, we’d shifted my registration to Psychology. My supervisor, I think rightly, wanted me to come out with a doctorate in psychology so that I could use that if I wanted to go into psychology as a profession—for teaching or clinically. But the problem was, the focus or content of my thesis hadn’t really changed. So my examiners, who were fairly classical psychologists, thought the whole thing was just off the wall. Far too a-methodological, no real use of systematic methods or analysis. As a psychology thesis yes, they were right, it didn’t meet expected standards. But I had no idea what those standards were. And somehow my supervisor had never seen that coming. And I guess I hadn’t too. There were warning signs. For instance, I presented at my psychology department’s seminar series and I could see that they weren’t too taken by being asked to wear masks and to move around in them, but I hadn’t wanted to see the problems. And I should have pushed harder for a second supervisor. I did ask, and it was discussed, but I let it go and thought it would all be OK.

What’s the Learning?

I guess, as with all awful things, there was a lot of learning. That experience has stayed with me throughout my life. I still go back to that pub by Brighton station every so often to sit and reflect and thank something or someone for, in the end, making things OK. And I’d do that again tonight if it wasn’t for COVID. Somehow, amazingly, within ten years of that viva I was a professor of counselling at a prestigious university in Scotland: something, sitting back there in 1996, I could never have even hoped for. When I go back to the pub, I kind of ‘talk’ to my 1996 self and tell him that things are going to be OK in the end, and to hang on in there. And it’s nice, in some ways, to have that chat with him and reflect on where things ended up. He’d have been so happy and relieved.

As a Student

One thing that I really did that was wrong was to isolate myself away from any academic community while I was working on my PhD. I never went to conference, or engaged with departmental seminars, or submitted to journals. And just the one time I did present, as above, I didn’t stay open to how people were responding. I was in my own little bubble, and that wasn’t shattered until my actual viva. I think I did that because I was scared: worried that others wouldn’t be that interested in my work or feel it was good enough. But I made the classic mistake of avoiding, rather than facing up to, the thing I was afraid of.

As a Supervisor

I really try and be straight with my students if I think there’s problems. If I don’t think the work is at the right level, I’ll do my best to say it. Much better they hear it from me than from their examiners.

And when it comes to choosing an examiner for a student, I do think about the importance of ‘alignment’. This is not about finding someone who will simply waive the thesis through; but finding someone who has some of the same basic assumptions and expectations as the student and the supervision team. Most psychologists would probably fail a cultural studies PhD if it was submitted as psychology. And, similarly, I imagine that many cultural studies academics would fail a psychology PhD for reasons—like lack of epistemological, cultural, and personal reflexivity—that traditional psychologists might never consider. So there’s a reality that, in the academic world, there’s lots of different sets of expectations and assumptions; and it seems essential to me that students are assessed in terms of what they are trying—and supported—to do.

These days, most universities (certainly Roehampton) have a minimum of two supervisors for doctoral work, and that’s absolutely key to ensuring that it’s not dependent on just one academic’s views. We do our best, but our blind spots are, by definition, blind spots. Really getting an honest second opinion on student’s work—triangulation—makes it much less likely that things will go off track.

As an Examiner

I’m still angry at my examiners. Fair enough, they didn’t like the work and didn’t think it was at doctoral standards. But, they were so critical, so personal about the problems in the thesis. The external examiner, in particular, felt just ‘mean’ at times. When my new supervisor and I wrote to her, while I was revising, just to check I was along the right lines, she wrote a response that felt so demotivating and unclear. It just wasn’t needed. So when I’m a doctoral examiner now, even if I feel more work needs to be done, I try and do it supportively and warmly—with kindness, sensitivity, and empathy.

There’s also something about acknowledging the multiplicity of perspectives on things. As an examiner, I have to give my perspective on what I think is doctoral standard, I can’t ever be entirely objective; but I can acknowledge it as my perspective. You can criticise something without criticising the person behind it.

As a Person

I guess one of the best things that came out of this whole period of my life is that I’ve never taken my job for granted. I feel incredibly privileged to have had a chance to work and teach: just seeing students, writing emails—it’s amazing to have this role and this opportunity with others. I still, deep down, don’t believe that I would/will ever have it.

I guess the downside of this, which has not been so great for relationships and, perhaps, as a father, is that I’m still so focused on work. If I don’t do a set number of hours each day, I start to feel almost shaky and that I’m letting work down. I’ve worked, maybe, 55 hour per weeks for the last twenty or so years. Rarely taken my full annual leave. And that’s, in part I’m sure, because I’m still haunted by the ghost of that experience. My 1996 self still regularly tells me ‘You’ll never have a job’, ‘You’ll never be part of a work team,’ ‘You’ll always be a failure and outside of things.’

Something else at the edges of my awareness: when I look back, I realise how much I had to contribute at that time. So much passion, energy, commitment. I really wanted to make a difference. And it was so, so hard to—not just with the PhD but as a young person struggling through their 20s who didn’t quite fit into the social structures. And it makes me think about how much of that energy gets wasted in our young people: so much passion, drive, and creativity that is blocked, that doesn’t have an outlet. It’s such a burning frustration for those young people, and such a waste for our society as a whole.

Concluding Thoughts

I still feel shaky, and then some relief, reflecting on this time. I’ve never written about it before and perhaps there’s still more to process in therapy. Just that sheer, pounding, devastating sense of failure and shame. But there’s also something profoundly uplifting about it. How you can be right at the very bottom of things, utterly hopeless, but if you stick with things and keep going despite then it can get better and amazing things can happen. I’d love to say ‘trust the process’ or that, in some way, that failure led to subsequent successes; but in many ways I think I was just incredibly, incredibly lucky that things worked out ok. Part of me, maybe that 1996 part, believes (or, perhaps, knows) I could still be struggling away. And I do feel like I’ve been amazingly lucky and blessed in my career and in my life: more than anything, four beautiful, gorgeous children.

Out of the storm, chaos, and anguish of life, there’s still the possibility of some incredible things emerging. Things can change. Even when we’ve totally given up on hope, hope and possibility may still hold out for us.

Acknowledgements

I am deeply indebted to Helen Cruthers, James Sanderson, and the friends and colleagues who helped me through that time in my life.

Very special thanks to Christine Aubrey—I will always be so grateful.

Thanks also to Yannis Fronimos for feedback and encouragement on this article.

A condensed version of this article was published in the BACP publication Therapy Today and can be downloaded here . Thanks to Sally Brown for her superb editing and condensing of the post.

After horrible 5.5 years completely failed PhD (not even any degree awarded)

Hi, I started my PhD in 2012, on my first day I already got warned to be careful with my supervisor. Having had quite bad supervisors in the past (the ‘fat girls are stupid’ kind and the ‘you aren’t my favourite so I do not help you’ kind) I figured at this stage I’m fine I was well used to it. Now, 1 car crash, bullying, address to the lab withdrawn then lack of results blamed on being stupid, almost 6 years later I suffer from depression, have ongoing nightmares and not even any kind of participation badge for all the time in the lab and- frankly, therapy. I agree that the thesis was bad but I do find it an odd coincidence that I was told I was going to pass, until I filed an academic and dignity complaint against my supervisors (with evidence) and now I am supposed to get more experimental results (without lab access) and am supposed to improve my bad writing... I know I am not stupid but I feel bad I been given the materials, the access and the support that was advertised and had they listened when Initially discussed the lack of biological relevance and scientific depth when I requested a switch from topic- i feel I would have at least gotten an MPhil. After refusing a switch in topic or supervisors because ‘there is no time to get enough results with only 3 years left’ they then switched my topic with only little under 2 years left, which suddenly was more than enough time. At the same time I was told I was useless unless I went part-time but worked on the thesis full-time and came in every weekend (while blocking my out of hours access???) The thesis was bad and I said it from the beginning but was always told I was doing Phantastin with a paper on the way (until the complaint...when oddly suddenly I failed and had tons of obstacles thrown my way) How do I get over this?

You are supposed to get more results, or they have failed you outright? Has this been through the board of examiners? There are still steps you can take to rectify this is you want to. You can appeal the decision, if you have grounds do so, e.g. if there was "material irregularity in the decision making process", such as they didn't follow the procedures properly, or there were errors made, if your performance was affected by something you haven't disclosed or they failed to take account of it properly (maybe the latter in your case?). Seek advice from the Students' Union If you just want to forget it about it, then I suggest getting a change of scene, go on holiday, or go and stay with friends/family somewhere. Time and distance will give you some perspective. Failing that, try some counselling. It does sound like you have had a raw deal here and this should be a lesson to anyone that is thinking about registering a complaint about supervisors - it generally does not have a good outcome and is best left until your certificate is safely in your hand.

Hi, Just finished crying and reading through the notes. I was failed outright (no viva) but was given the option to resubmit in 1 year with a mandatory viva (perfectly fair enough) but they want more data. How can I possibly get more data without access to the laboratory? They blocked my access long before submission, I didn‘t even have library access. Thanks for the student union tip, I have raised that the internal examiner is one of my supervisors closest friends but I am am still shattered. How is one supposed to get good data without laboratory access, out of hour access revoked almost 1 year before writing period started and no access to materials needed for cloning without arguing for weeks? Such a long time, such a long gap in my CV and so much bad treatment all for nothing :(

Hi, Tigernore, You have my sympathy. Working under a bullly supervisor is awful and you have not been given fair treatment. As Tree of Life has advised, seek the Students Union. In fact, see if your Students Union provide legal services. You have nothing to lose anyway, and talking to a lawyer will help you determine if any rules have been broken incl the right access to lab support and material as a student. It will also put pressure on the university as they normally do not want anything that may damage their reputation, especially if they are in the wrong. You may even be able to fight for lab access again and another fair examination of your thesis. Dry your tears. Now is the time for desperate actions and strategy. You must stay strong. What your supervisor and examiners want to do is to force you to give up and walk away, painting you as a bad student. You must not let them win. I speak from my personal experience as I too launched a complain towards my supervisor and the amount of backlash and soft threats (veiled as advice to maintain good relationship with supervisor as I need his letter of support) were terrible. I represented myself at institute level -failed, faculty level -failed and finally University level -success with a detailed portfolio of evidence and cover letter provided with strong support from a lawyer from Students Union. In my case, I had very strong evidence and was advised by my lawyer that if I failed again at university level, I could go to court. Luckily I didn't have to but the experience was traumatic. Every case is different, and I wish you the very best as you fight for yours. Don give up without trying to fight.

I would echo what tru has said as well. This is not over yet if you don't want it to be. They have to give you lab access if they are asking for more results. Cutting your access to things doesn't seem fair - you should check if this happens to all students in your department - if doesn't, you have a massive case for mistreatment because they have been setting you up to fail. Who has signed off on this decision? Examiners? Head of postgrads? Head of School? Faculty Dean? Take up to a higher level if needed. Don't cry about this, get angry instead. Channel that anger into getting the access and then the results you need to get this PhD.

Hi, I know of multiple students having had ...let's say issues in my department. Including sexual harrassment and when filed being threatened with losing the degree, having no right to holidays and having the same issue I have of being told to go part-time (including part-time stipend) but working full-time in the lab-which most cannot afford. I just can't seem to get heard, everyone is just saying, well let it go they have the power etc. And without access to labs like you agree I can't get anywhere and I don't even have a supervisor / academic tutor at this point. I am filing my appeal over this week and requesting await of the complaint process and readjustment of my access. It is impossible to salvage this into a PhD with what happened but at least an MPhil would have been nice. Thanks for your messages!!!

Quote From Tigernore: Hi, I know of multiple students having had ...let's say issues in my department. Including sexual harrassment and when filed being threatened with losing the degree, having no right to holidays and having the same issue I have of being told to go part-time (including part-time stipend) but working full-time in the lab-which most cannot afford. I just can't seem to get heard, everyone is just saying, well let it go they have the power etc. And without access to labs like you agree I can't get anywhere and I don't even have a supervisor / academic tutor at this point. I am filing my appeal over this week and requesting await of the complaint process and readjustment of my access. It is impossible to salvage this into a PhD with what happened but at least an MPhil would have been nice. Thanks for your messages!!! Ah, the usual discouragement.. "Let go because you can't win.. Why bother since your supervisors have power..." Haven't we all heard of that before... This is the phsycological game to break the student's spirit and rid "troublemakers".. Don't give in. Tigernore, steel yourself. You have not been given a fair fighting chance, and you know it. Instead of talking to nonsense people who are out to discourage you (probably other academics who may or may not have ties with your uni and supervisor), talk to your Student Union who is supposed to defend you. Talk to a legal representative from your Student Union. Fight for your PhD... All is not lost unless you give up on yourself. All the best in your appeal, and don't walk away without exhausting all avenues.

I agree with Tru, I am going through a fight of my own at the moment and experienced the psychological games. I am very much on my own and have been working without supervision for 6 months now, I am almost 12 months in. Having no supervision is better than the situation I was in, but it can't continue for long this way, so I am hoping for a resolution soon. Dragging things out seems to be another way of trying to get rid of any student who speaks out. I have a strong case and its sounds like you have also, so as Tru also says don't give in. My SU haven't been any help, they often don't respond and don't seem to know processes well. Your SU may be better so I advise speaking to them. I struggled getting heard also, my department seemingly didn't want to know, so it had to go formal. I also have/had a supervisor you have to be careful with and my project was changed after I started. So I sympathise with your situation. I see many similarities on this forum among experiences students have concerning supervisor issues and how Universities respond to such cases.

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Why Cofounder Partnerships Fail — and How to Make Them Last

• Travis Howell,
• Steven Gray,
• Esther Sackett

Nearly half of startup founders ultimately buy out their cofounder due to interpersonal rifts and power struggles.

Up to 43% of startup founders ultimately buy out their cofounder due to interpersonal rifts and power struggles. To understand why so many cofounder partnerships end in failure, the authors conducted research on lead founders seeking cofounders, finding that lead founders tend to prioritize skillsets and execution while potential cofounders prioritize interpersonal compatibility. This mismatch in priorities is the root of so many cofounder splits. To overcome this, the authors offer three recommendations for lead founders and cofounders alike: 1) Put yourself in the other person’s shoes, 2) Don’t neglect the interpersonal aspect in initial conversations, and 3) Consider co-creating the idea with a partner.

Choosing a cofounder can be a make-or-break decision for startups. On one hand, cofounders can bring needed skillsets and other resources that an individual founder may lack. On the other hand, however, cofounder relationships can be a source of immense conflict that can prove fatal for a startup. For example, recent evidence suggests that up to 43% of founders are ultimately forced to buy out their cofounder due to interpersonal rifts and power struggles.

• TH Travis Howell is an Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
• SG Steven Gray is an Assistant Professor of Management at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
• ES Esther Sackett is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

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Watch CBS News

Rapidan Dam in southern Minnesota experiences partial failure; no plans for mass evacuation

By Stephen Swanson , Riley Moser , WCCO Staff

Updated on: June 25, 2024 / 7:07 PM CDT / CBS Minnesota

RAPIDAN TOWNSHIP, Minn.  — Flooding on the Blue Earth River caused an abutment of the  Rapidan Dam to partially fail on Monday morning, and it remains in  "imminent failure condition ."

On Tuesday morning, Blue Earth County Public Works Director Ryan Thilges said the breach threat has diminished, though officials are still concerned because the dam was built on sandstone bedrock that can further erode.

Thilges says the dam itself was not breached. Instead, he described it as a "partial failure of the west abutment." The structure is intact but water continues to flow around it, eroding the slope  and  forcing an evacuation of the family home of the owners of the Rapidan Dam Store .

Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal said the water level in a "catastrophic event would not be that significant."

If there is a full collapse of the dam, county leaders say the river could rise another 2 feet or so. There is a levee system protecting the city and officials are confident it will hold up.

Officials say the bridges spanning County Roads 33 and 90 are being closely monitored for debris passing downstream and may be closed if needed.

Xcel Energy says it has been fortifying several other facilities downriver with sandbags and barriers to protect them if the dam becomes compromised and reaches the substations.

Hundreds of people were without power on Monday night. Xcel says it restored power to about 600 homes and businesses near the dam around midnight.

The Blue Earth River begins in northern Iowa and meets with the river's west branch in Faribault County in southern Minnesota, according to the  Minnesota Pollution Control Agency . From there, it flows 108 miles north past the cities of Blue Earth, Winnebago, and Vernon Center to Mankato, where it enters the Minnesota River.

There are 21 cities in that watershed, of which Mankato and Fairmont are the largest.

The National Inventory of Dams rated the Rapidan Dam in poor condition  as of April 2023, classifying its hazard potential as "significant."

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are still assessing the damage.

• Mankato News

Stephen Swanson is a web producer at CBS Minnesota. A 21-year station veteran, Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the newsroom, where he focuses on general assignment reporting.

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What's causing the devastating flooding in the Midwest?

Aerial images show raging water flowing around Rapidan Dam in southern Minnesota

Owners of Rapidan Dam Store evacuate as river threatens to take out family home

Officials in Waterville say they don't know when flooding will end

I retired in my 30s with a net worth of $2.5 million over a decade ago. Now, I'm going back to work at 46.

• Sam Dogen retired from his VP role at Credit Suisse in 2012 after over a decade of intense saving. 
• He planned to live of the passive income from his investments in stocks and real estate. 
• After having two children, Dogen is looking to work again to meet his family's financial needs.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sam Dogen, a 46-year-old in San Francisco. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Even as a child, I knew I didn't want to be poor. I'd lived in five countries before settling in Virginia, USA, and saw the clear dichotomy between the wealthy and the poor. I wanted to understand how people made money so I could live like the rich.

I studied economics at the College of William and Mary in Virginia because it was the cheapest option.

After graduation, I landed a job as a financial analyst with Goldman Sachs on Wall Street in 1999.

My first day in the office lasted 14 hours. The first month was tiresome and stressful, and I realized I wouldn't last another 40 years on Wall Street.

I was making $40,000 a year in twice-monthly payments. If I invested 50% of my income for 20 years, I would save at least 20 years of living expenses. I could work until 42, then live on 5 to 8% of my savings, stocks, and potential real estate income each year to get to 62. I'd be set for life.

It was easy to save money because I was working so much

I started saving only a month after starting at Goldman Sachs. Every month, I invested half my paycheck into the S&P 500, a smattering of random tech stock, and 5% of that half into a general savings account .

After being advised by someone in our HR department, I maxed out my 401(k) . The fewer taxes I had to pay, the better for my savings goals, and there was a 401(k) match at my company.

I was able to save so much because I was very frugal. For the first two years at Goldman Sachs, I lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan, paying $700 monthly rent.

One of the perks of working past 7 p.m. was that you could go into the free cafeteria. I would eat dinner there and bring home leftovers for the next day. I also stuck to a spending budget for myself.

It was a plan born out of misery. I was working 60-plus hours a week, every week.

A promotion and move to San Francisco got me on the property ladder

In June 2001, I was recruited to join Credit Suisse and moved to San Francisco. My base salary jumped to $85,000. Now I was making more, I saved 60% of each paycheck, putting money into long-term CDs , which are savings accounts with a high fixed interest rate that you can't withdraw money for a fixed period.

In 2003, at age 26, I decided to buy a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco using the money I had earned and saved from 1999 to 2003.

My goal was to diversify my wealth away from equities into real estate. I used 80% of my savings and liquid investments to put a 25% down payment on a condo. I lived there with my then-girlfriend, who helped pay for some expenses.

Related stories

By 27, I was promoted to vice president at Credit Suisse, and my income jumped to six figures plus larger potential bonuses. I saved and invested around 70% of my after-tax income in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, I bought a house for $1,520,000 in San Francisco and rented my condo until I sold it in 2017. I had used up all my savings and investments to buy the house. It was a huge risk.

The 2009 crash slashed my net worth but launched my blogging career

I continued my saving plan until the housing and stock markets crashed in 2009. I didn't get laid off in the crash, but I did lose between 35 and 40% of my net worth in six months when stocks and real estate prices cratered.

I started my blog, Financial Samurai , in 2009 to heal. The more I wrote, the better I felt because I had connected with other people going through the same fears on the road to financial independence.

In October 2011, at 34, I was making a $250,000 base salary. Credit Suisse had undergone several layoffs during the global financial crisis. I spoke with my HR manager, who said more layoffs were coming. This was my exit to early retirement. I talked to my manager and asked him to consider laying me off with a severance package and deferred compensation if I stayed on to train my junior employee.

By April 2012, I was laid off and received the severance package I'd negotiated. It felt scary, but also like I had won the lottery. The severance covered multiple years of my projected living expenses.

Retiring at 34

I retired at 34 with a net worth was around $2.5 million after saving and investing 50 to 75% of my income for 12 years. I made around $80,000 of passive income from rent, stock dividends, and CD income a year. I continued to save 50% of my income and live on $40,000.

In my final year at work, I'd been saving even more of my income, around 80%, so the adjustment to living off less wasn't huge. It was outweighed by the increased freedom I had. After I retired, I realized I didn't need as much money as I'd thought to be happy.

In 2015, my wife also retired. She's three years younger than me, and we planned for her to retire by 35.

Once she left, we had to pay for full healthcare benefits. It cost us around $1,680 monthly in healthcare premiums because we didn't qualify for subsidies.

Having kids took up a lot of our passive income budget

Once our son was born in 2017, we began spending more of our passive income. We spent even more of our passive income when our daughter was born in 2019. We now pay $2,500 monthly for unsubsidized healthcare premiums for a family of four. Preschool for each child was as much as $3,200 a month. We are spending nearly 100% of our passive income now.

I believe I've failed early retirement. Despite lasting 12 years without a job, I recognize I need to save and earn more to generate more passive income. I didn't anticipate having two kids after trying so long for one.

When we retired, my wife and I were looking forward to living off less than $100,000 a year in early retirement. But our annual expenses are over $250,000 a year. We chose to have two kids and to remain in expensive San Francisco. As a result, we must pay the price accordingly.

I want to get into part-time tech consulting

I promised to be a stay-at-home father until my children were in school full time. My second child is starting school in September, so I am considering returning to work part-time.

I'd like to do part-time consulting for a tech startup in San Francisco, where there is a lot of buzz around tech and AI.

In retrospect, retiring at age 34 was too early. If I could retire again, I would have tried to stick it out until age 40. But I'm not sure if my health would have cooperated or if we would have been able to have children if I did. I was very stressed at work.

My challenge now is finding meaningful part-time work. I tried consulting part-time at a fintech startup earlier this year, but it became all-consuming and interfered with my duty as a father. At least I know better what to look for this fall when my daughter begins school full-time.

Watch: 6 simple investing tips for beginners

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How will failing a PhD qualifying exam affect admission to other PhD programs in the future?

My son, 25, just got notified that he didn't pass his qualifier the second time around so he's been dropped from his PhD program.

As a parent, I only want my child to be successfully happy, both in his personal and social life. It's disheartening and heartbreaking to know that all his hard work and countless hours of studying and burying deep in papers can all fall apart just like that because a committee wills him not good enough for them. He wasn't even pursuing a PhD. He was working on his MS in EE and one of his professors saw potential in him so she encouraged him to pursue a PhD with full funding. He will leave the program with a terminal MS (which he had already earned before entering the PhD program).

On the exterior, he says he's fine with the outcome and can't wait to get into the real workforce. However, internally, I can sense he is battling with disappointment and alienation from his advisors and department, preferably the people he works with. I can only advise him to rethink his future 5 years from now where he'll be an accomplished Engineer with loads of work experience under his belt or a recent PhD graduate looking for a job. On the phone, I assured him, "you didn't fail, they failed you."

My son will remain with his department until the end of the academic school year. However, how will being dropped from his program affect his transcripts if he should want to reapply at another university?

• graduate-admissions
• qualifying-exam

• 1 At the moment, this seems to be about how this will look to non-academic employers, which we're not really qualified to answer as a bunch of academics - see the help center . Perhaps they may be able to help over on The Workplace ? (But check their help center first to make sure it's on topic there.) –  ff524 Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 2:41
• 1 (If, however, your son was planning to apply to other PhD programs and wanted to know how this will affect his graduate admissions prospects - that would be something we could help you with. But it sounds like he wants to enter the workforce, so it seems not.) –  ff524 Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 2:43
• 2 He has a masters, and that's going to give him a leg up on the competition, whatever he does. He has no obligation to state 'tried for Phd' in his applications. Having this advanced degree will absolutely help. That being said - and I mean no disrespect - PhDs are very difficult. If they were easy, everyone would have one. At most universities, the system is set up to weed out individuals who, for whatever reason, are not cut out for the psychological, emotional, cognitive assault it requires. Is it not possible the system worked? Your heart and soul has to be bought in at every level. –  HEITZ Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 2:46
• 5 Half to two-thirds of persons entering a PhD program do not end up graduating. Typically this is not because they can't handle the intellectual challenge of their degree - departments have a strong incentive to only admit people they think will succeed, because each student represents a large investment of time and energy that is "lost" if they leave early. It is well understood within academia that failing to achieve the PhD means little. The PhD is a very specific degree with a very specific utility, and lots of people rightly decide that it's just not for them. –  David Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 3:12
• 4 He does not just have the master's. He has everything he learned while in the PhD program. –  Patricia Shanahan Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 4:42

2 Answers 2

Just because your son failed a qualifying exam for university X doesn't mean he's not qualified to get a PhD at all.

The chances of this affecting future PhD admissions are slim as they would only consider the current qualification and skill-set of the candidate.

...you didn't fail, they failed you.

This reminds me about Thomas Edison Mother's Letter . You said the right thing to your son! Because, more than anything else, he shouldn't lose his self-confidence.

You believe in your son and so does his MS advisor. However, whether he has the potential or not, talk to him and find out whether he has the passion for research. PhD requires more of perseverance than skill.

If he still got the interest, then by all means encourage him to apply again to another university.

My best wishes!

As mentioned in the comments, the official transcript will not give any hints about the failed exams, so future grad school admissions should not be affected.

Your son would do well to speak frankly with his references. Probably their own good judgment would lead them not to mention the false start to a PhD in their letters of recommendation (for either PhD or employment). But it wouldn't hurt to verify that they will take this approach.

With academic references, my impression is that there is generally no follow-up phone call. But for employment, which I believe was originally one of your concerns, it is fairly common for the potential employer to phone a reference for follow-up.

Thus, it is possible that in such a conversation, the failed exams might come up... although I would guess that the probability of this occurring would be about 10%. (This really is just a guess.)

Now, typically, the sequence goes like this: you send your CV to a promising job announcement, they ask you to interview, maybe there is a second interview, if they like you they check your references, and then they make you an offer. This means that if the false start is discovered in the reference check step, and you didn't mention it in the interview, that might raise a small red flag for someone in the company.

Therefore, it might be a good idea to mention the false start in the interview , to be on the safe side.

It is nothing to be ashamed about, however. I'm only suggesting this because companies sometimes get a little uncomfortable when something that comes up in a reference check wasn't mentioned in the interview.

I have a parent-to-parent comment (this may already be obvious to you, but just in case it hadn't occurred to you already): the conclusion you came to, that great sentence about who failed whom -- very well put! And now, having found the perfect bon mot , and having shared it once with your son, you'll want to relegate the failed exams to the role of the elephant in the room that you don't talk about. You should also be careful not to talk to others about them in your son's hearing. That's probably the most helpful thing you can do at this stage.

It will be easier for you to stay away from that topic if you consciously steer your thoughts elsewhere every time the thought of those exams starts to creep toward the front of your mind.

(Of course, if your son introduces the topic, then it's okay to talk about it with him.)

Do you know the joke about the mother on the ocean liner who needs to sound the "Man Overboard" alert as quickly as possible, but she is so bursting with pride that she sacrifices speedy action because of her need to brag? "Help, help! My son, the doctor, fell overboard!"

Okay, so maybe you won't be the mother of a "my son the doctor." But here's the silver lining: chances are, you'll become a grandmother that much quicker now! (A PhD can really slow you down with other aspects of life.)

• I had a hard time negotiating the "speak to your references" advice. Many will say what they will say. Trying to coach them on that just seems to backfire. –  JosephDoggie Commented Jul 26, 2022 at 16:02
• 1 @JosephDoggie - Knowledge is power. If I know a particular person will not write a super strong letter, then I might move that person down on my list, and move someone else up. –  aparente001 Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 6:22
• All I know is that it didn't work for me when I tried this many years ago .... –  JosephDoggie Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 11:59
• 1 @JosephDoggie - sorry to hear it. It can be tricky to find out how weak/strong a reference will be, so as to choose one's references strategically. –  aparente001 Commented Jul 29, 2022 at 2:11

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I think I've just failed my PhD

This is kind of my open letter to academia...

My PhD was tough. It started really well, full UK scholarship, amazing project, and enthusiasm to do amazing research and follow the dream career.

Then something happened. Can't pinpoint where or when, but my mental health deteriorated rapidly. I started to be afraid of going to the lab, and everything crumbled from there.

Two intermissions to try to sort my health, a referral at the first Viva and major corrections on my second and I have just submitted corrections..

I tried so hard to juggle the corrections with work, and I really doubt it was enough.

I'm away from academia now, and even though I'm starting again I'm doing well in my new career. Still disappointed in myself though.

On the other hand, I've now done the final mic-drop on the (very personal) hell that became academia.

To those who managed to survive, you are in a wonderful industry where you get to be creative and use your unique view on the world to enhance the knowledge of the human population. I wish you all the best of success and all of the grants and papers your hearts desire.

I'm not bitter of any of you, just a bit disappointed in myself. But hey that's life. Thanks academia, I've learned lots not only about my subject matter, but also about myself.