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

In this solo session, I share a candid reflection on passing the viva, then map the four pillars of a modern PhD: funding, mental health, career strategy, and networking.

Practical stories, honest stats, and a nudge to build options beyond the thesis Viva highlights and next steps. Funding sources, tradeoffs, and timing. Mental health risks, supports, and pacing. Academic vs industry routes and optionality. Entrepreneurial mindset for uncertain markets. Networking as social capital, not transactions. Online presence for visibility and community. Choosing the PhD with eyes open.

Thank you all for tuning in, it's been a pleasure!

Hazell, C. M., Chapman, L., Valeix, S. F., Roberts, P., Niven, J. E., & Berry, C. (2020). Understanding the mental health of doctoral researchers: a mixed methods systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-synthesis. Systematic Reviews, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01443-1

Horwitz, I. M. (2025). The Entrepreneurial Scholar: A New Mindset for Success in Academia and Beyond. Princeton University Press.

Last, A. (2025). The ‘creative thesis’ in the academic ‘anxiety machine.’ Area. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.70007

Pham, T. (2025). What really contributes to employability of PhD graduates in uncertain labour markets? Globalisation Societies and Education, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2192908

Satinsky, E. N., Kimura, T., Kiang, M. V., Abebe, R., Cunningham, S., Lee, H., Lin, X., Liu, C. H., Rudan, I., Sen, S., Tomlinson, M., Yaver, M., & Tsai, A. C. (2021). Systematic review and meta-analysis of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among Ph.D. students. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7

Students and graduates,

Have a break from this session by hearing a late-night talk I had with Michael Gerharz, PhD, about the impact of communication in your PhD and in public.

Thank you all for tuning in, it has been a pleasure!

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Chapters

• 7:05 Host’s Viva And Big Milestone
• 10:49 Future Plans And New Opportunities
• 12:14 Solo Session Setup And Core Question
• 13:52 The PhD’s Changing Role Today
• 24:04 The Many Tracks Of A Modern PhD
• 27:38 Funding Realities And Tradeoffs
• 30:30 Mental Health And Staying The Course
• 32:59 Careers, Uncertainty, And Entrepreneurship
• 35:39 Networking As Long-Term Social Capital
• 38:52 Weighing The Choice And Final Reflections
• 40:34 Where To Listen And How To Connect

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 3:49

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 Luigi, and first and foremost, welcome to the new academic year. Whether you're a PhD, MA 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 vivo vocal 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 worked with since the beginning of my PhD, and yourselves who enjoy hearing my content at PhD Lounge, 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 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 ReWise, where the experience in working with an entrepreneur has opened more opportunities to elevate PhD lounge 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 ReWise 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 late night talk, and it's more of a personal reflection and not part of the PhD Iceberg Explained series. I've been planning it for months before my thesis submission and preparation for the Viver. 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 twenty-first 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 masters students. Since its conceptualization back in the 19th century, the PhD has been seen as the chosen one 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 postdocs, 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 Hofer, who has a STEM PhD and runs Alma 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 bigger ones, such as the US, China, India, and Russia. Looking at the global landscape, the statistics between 2017 and 2025 point out to a total of 421,01 PhD graduates, with the United States, for being a larger country, graduating more doctorals candidates every year. And so divided questions and opinions around this crisis in 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 there 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 Voque, 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 lounge 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 debt with interest, which they must repay towards a 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 Last 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 theses, 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 great 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 2021 meta-analysis and review of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among PhD students conducted by Satinsky, Kimura, Young et al. Intriguing questions about why bother doing a 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. Serving a drink on my PhD launch bug. So back to the topic. I am 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 unquote excuse to prevent you from going higher throughout your happy doctoral journey to achieve and pass your viva voque. For example, my first guest at PhD Lounge, Felicity McKee, who has a disability, has managed to obtain her PhD in contemporary history, and 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 Helena 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 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. 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 more wild, 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 PhDs 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 postdocs to create and strengthen lifelong social connections. It is where I keep building my brand as an independent podcaster, sharing content about PhD through PhD Lounge, 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 is 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 the 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 henchmen to forging stronger connections with other academics and industry professionals. As FAM mentioned, networking is about social connections rather than transactional relationships. They take time, of course, but they can be advantageous for job prospects and they only work based on your actions, your communication strategies, your online presence, your patience, 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 four 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 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 PhD 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 PhDlounch.co.uk on the platforms listed above. Feel free to follow my social media where I post content related to PhD Launch, LinkedIn, Luijmeyer, or Instagram at PhDLMF. And last but not least, if you're a PhD, postdoc, scholar, or an entrepreneur and would love to share your doctoral experience or having business partnerships with PhD Lounge, you can send me an email at LuisphLunch at gmail.com or DM me on my socials. Thank you all for tuning in. It has been a pleasure.