My dad has a PhD and I am a tenure-track professor. I do not have a PhD because my terminal degree is a different degree. Best of both worlds: tenure and less time and money to get there!

I think my child will probably get a MBA or a law degree, like their other parent.

Two PhD family here: I totally agree with the PPs who noted how much of a boost it can be to have professors as parents. All the very successful academics I know have parents who are professors. Interestingly I also see this in the DC academic-adjacent world; I've been around awhile and I now see the adult kids of think tankers and political appointees replicating their parents' careers. It used to be very easy when internships were unpaid and often even not advertised.

My kids are probably not PhD types and if they were, I probably would advise against it. I was a research nerd and it's worked out well for me, but for most people a JD or MBA gives you a lot more flexibility and takes less time and deferred income.

As someone already pointed out, it's not about intelligence or anything like that, it's about having assistance navigating the academic system, having connections, and so on. It's quite difficult to get a job as a professor, and a lot of PhD's without connections will not succeed. I am one of those. Also, PhD's cost a whole lot of money, and if you have to borrow it, they tend not to get a very good ROI, and sometimes none. I have a PhD and my husband doesn't, but he makes three times what I do. I would strongly discourage my child from seeking a PhD, as I consider it a dead end career path and a tremendous waste of time and money unless you are either completely brilliant or have a strong network in place.

One kid is a professor type. I can see him earn a PhD just as a path of least resistance and distaste for the working world

The other is more of a go-getter, not as likely to stay in academia, and with an eye to her future earnings!

I am a tenured prof, first generation. While our parents didn’t go to college, both my sister and I got a PhD. I was very academically oriented since very young, my sister only decided on the academic path later in life. I have two teenagers and I’m not seeing an interest on academia, but from my own family experience, you never know!

I have a PhD in a hard science, father has one in computer science, mom a Masters in hard science (and probably would have gotten a PhD if she was born 10-15 years later, as science was expressly hostile to women in the 60s).

Siblings don’t, brother dropped out of a PhD program, sister toyed with it, but I think decided against it.

We’re also first generation immigrants, so…

Yes, there’s an aspect of privilege - not necessarily monetarily, as my PhD was funded and I had a stipend, but my parents covered my car insurance, gave me an old car, and slipped me cash occasionally- but! I also didn’t have to help support anyone as a young adult, which is a HUGE privilege.

But more than money - I wasn’t unreasonably intimidated by professors. I didn’t have to actively code switch to fit in. I think this makes a huge difference - especially for women and minorities (I’m both).

Three out of four of my PhD advisor’s parents and step-parents had PhDs (might have been all four and three were professors?).

So I think this trend it’s more because of familiarity for students and their parents than any actual intelligence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PhDs are about family wealth and ideals, not intelligence. If your child likes school, and you have the money to let them get a phd and then have a low income for life, that is great. My family all has phd for three generations and I’m married to a PhD (personally I went JD). If my kids want to go that path, I’d caution strongly against in the current educational climate.

I grew up poor family and I have a PhD in STEM. It was the only higher education I can obtain without paying a cent. They even paid me a stipend. I
am surprised that coming from a family with so many PhDs you don’t know this.

My DH is the same. Not sure why he wanted to go so far but he did and now is a fed researcher. I out earn him as a fed with a BA...though he is happier at work than i am. I do not expect either of our kids to get Phds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PhDs are about family wealth and ideals, not intelligence. If your child likes school, and you have the money to let them get a phd and then have a low income for life, that is great. My family all has phd for three generations and I’m married to a PhD (personally I went JD). If my kids want to go that path, I’d caution strongly against in the current educational climate.

I grew up poor family and I have a PhD in STEM. It was the only higher education I can obtain without paying a cent. They even paid me a stipend. I
am surprised that coming from a family with so many PhDs you don’t know this.

I think this person maybe meant the family wealth is to buy the PhD holders nice homes and such even if they don't make much? I have seen a pattern on DCUM of UMC and wealthy people saying things like PhDs and nonprofit work are only for people with trust funds because they literally cannot imagine someone living on a stipend or nonprofit salary, or living in a townhouse in a suburb with average schools instead of an SFH in the best district. They don't realize that people without wealth do this all the time because we grew up poor or MC and can imagine it quite easily.

Anonymous wrote:PhDs are about family wealth and ideals, not intelligence. If your child likes school, and you have the money to let them get a phd and then have a low income for life, that is great. My family all has phd for three generations and I’m married to a PhD (personally I went JD). If my kids want to go that path, I’d caution strongly against in the current educational climate.

I grew up poor family and I have a PhD in STEM. It was the only higher education I can obtain without paying a cent. They even paid me a stipend. I
am surprised that coming from a family with so many PhDs you don’t know this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...does the apple fall far from the tree? Would you be surprised if your child earned a PhD as well? Apparently 22% of tenure-track professors have a parent with a PhD. For context, about 2% of adults in the United States have a PhD though I'm sure that number is much higher in the DC area.

One parent is a professor and one works in non-profit (non-research position). One DC is a big question asker, excels academically, and I could see them taking the PhD path if they wanted, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. The other DC is more of a concrete thinker and lives mostly in the present. On some dimensions, DC 2 is more similar to certain extended family members.

We are both PhDs. My kid is intelligent enough to get one and smart enough not to.

We are both PhDs and my kids are young but this is what I hope for. I wouldn't encourage them to go for a PhD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...does the apple fall far from the tree? Would you be surprised if your child earned a PhD as well? Apparently 22% of tenure-track professors have a parent with a PhD. For context, about 2% of adults in the United States have a PhD though I'm sure that number is much higher in the DC area.

One parent is a professor and one works in non-profit (non-research position). One DC is a big question asker, excels academically, and I could see them taking the PhD path if they wanted, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. The other DC is more of a concrete thinker and lives mostly in the present. On some dimensions, DC 2 is more similar to certain extended family members.

We are both PhDs. My kid is intelligent enough to get one and smart enough not to.

This is funny, when I think PhD, I think privilege far more than I think "intelligent." A PhD is more about having the time and the privilege, and does not necessarily require any higher level of intelligence than a college degree, really. Now most of the PhDs I am thinking of are psychology, art history, history, etc. Once you get into the hard sciences then yes, that's pretty impressive. But still requires privilege.

Our DD is pursuing a PhD in hard sciences because she likes research/benchwork. She is not privileged. PhD's in hard science usually cover tuition and living expenses. While she won't be saving a lot of money in her 20s, she won't be encumbered by loans. Her field requires a PhD. She has no interest in working at a university after graduation. While DH and I have graduate degrees, neither of us has a PhD so we haven't discouraged her. We do need people who specialize to advance medicine! PhDs are necessary in many fields but unfortunately, the market is oversaturated. We hate to burst her bubble - and she has been and will study at the top school in her area of interest but it's not guarantee of a long career, especially as a woman.

We are both PhDs. Our kids wanted to follow in our footsteps but we encouraged them to seek a better paying path, so they are both MD-PhDs. Best of both worlds.

Anonymous wrote:...does the apple fall far from the tree? Would you be surprised if your child earned a PhD as well? Apparently 22% of tenure-track professors have a parent with a PhD. For context, about 2% of adults in the United States have a PhD though I'm sure that number is much higher in the DC area.

One parent is a professor and one works in non-profit (non-research position). One DC is a big question asker, excels academically, and I could see them taking the PhD path if they wanted, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. The other DC is more of a concrete thinker and lives mostly in the present. On some dimensions, DC 2 is more similar to certain extended family members.

Only is a family with both parents Ph.D. in Economics with three children. First child (son) is a drug addict and lives on the street. 2nd son is a functioning alcoholic. 3rd (daughter) has a Ph.D. in something and has three children by three different men and never married. Obviously, Ph.Ds didn't keep this family from being as dysfunctional as parents with no education.

I think it’s also cultural. The parents in my family are all academics (PhD, PhD, masters — there’s a remarriage in there but all three were present in our lives) and me and my sisters are all academic minded to some degree: oldest has a PhD; middle was an English major so couldn’t justify the cost of pursuing a postgrad education but is still very involved in academic literature, etc; youngest (me) has a masters. I started university sort of assuming I would go on to get a PhD but eventually realized that I’m not really cut out for research. But I love certain aspects/ideals of academia — that fact people are committed to knowledge and learning as an end in and of itself, the idea that reasoned debate and the own flow of information should be standard, etc — and would love to eventually get a job (staff/tech role) at a university. On one hand I know intimately how horribly toxic academia can be, but on the other hand it’s what I’m used to. White collar office cultural still feels vaguely alien to me even though I’ve been working in it for over a decade.

I think it’s mostly about exposure, and maybe parental expectations. I think you also see this with professional degrees. For instance, doctor parent with at least one kid who becomes a doctor, same for attorneys, engineers, etc.