Mengejar gelar PhD vs. memasuki dunia kerja setelah sarjana
Jika Anda bertindak
Menempuh program doktor (PhD)
25%
Jika Anda tidak bertindak
Masuk industri setelah lulus sarjana
32%
Persentase orang yang kemudian menyesali setiap pilihan. Diagram batang dan catatan lengkap ditampilkan di bawah.
Career
Terakhir ditinjau 2026-05-13
Kualitas bukti 4.0/5
Skor tinjauan delapan dimensi terhadap
rubrik kualitas
. Setiap dimensi dinilai 1–5.
D1 Verifikasi sumber
4/5
D2 Otoritas & independensi sumber
4/5
D3 Akurasi tingkat penyesalan
2/5
D4 Keterbandingan sumber
3/5
D5 Pola Gilovich
5/5
D6 Kualitas prosa
5/5
D7 Kelengkapan peringatan
5/5
D8 Kualitas sampel
4/5
Rata-rata4.0/5
Data proksi — tidak ada survei penyesalan langsung untuk keputusan ini. Tingkat diturunkan dari skor kepuasan dan data hambatan akses daripada pertanyaan yang langsung menanyakan tentang penyesalan. Lihat peringatan di bawah.
Penyesalan atas tindakan
Menempuh program doktor (PhD)
25%
25% mahasiswa PhD tidak puas dengan keputusan mereka untuk menempuh PhD (75% merasa puas; survei Nature 2019)
Lulusan PhD AS, semua bidang
retrospektif, dalam 5 tahun kelulusan
Penyesalan atas kelambanan
Masuk industri setelah lulus sarjana
32%
32% orang dewasa AS yang memiliki setidaknya gelar sarjana mengatakan bahwa, jika ditinjau kembali, mereka akan menyelesaikan pendidikan lebih lanjut (Federal Reserve SHED)
Pekerja AS dengan gelar sarjana di bidang penelitian-bersebelahan
retrospektif, tidak ada kerangka waktu tetap
% menyesal dengan pilihan ini
Menempuh program doktor (PhD)Masuk industri setelah lulus sarjana
25%32%
inaction dominates — Tidak bertindak mendominasi — sebagian besar menyesali karena tidak bertindak.
Keputusan terkait
Keputusan yang serupa secara semantik — area yang sama, kompromi yang berbeda.
No survey asks PhD holders a clean “do you regret your doctorate” question, so both sides here rest on adjacent proxies. On the action side, Nature’s 2019 survey of more than 6,300 PhD students worldwide found that 75% were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD (and 71% with the experience overall) — leaving roughly a quarter who were not satisfied with the decision. PayScale’s separate survey of 248,000 US degree-holders adds broad context on degree regret: about two-thirds reported some college regret, with 27% naming student loans as their biggest misgiving. That survey’s public reporting does not break results out by degree level, so it says nothing PhD-specific. The 25% figure is the complement of the satisfaction rate, not a direct regret count, and it draws on current students rather than graduates years later.
On the inaction side, the Federal Reserve’s 2022 SHED survey found that 32% of US adults with at least a bachelor’s degree would have completed more education if they could decide again, while only 9% would have done less or skipped college entirely. That “more education” signal is broad graduate-education aspiration, not a PhD-specific wish: no survey isolates how many bachelor’s-only workers specifically regret not earning a doctorate. Gallup’s large education-decisions poll measured only field of study (36% would change it), institution (28%), and degree type (12% would obtain a different one), and explicitly did not ask about the amount or level of education.
Read together, the two proxies are close, with a slight edge toward wishing one had pursued more education (a -0.07 action-minus-inaction gap) — broadly consistent with Gilovich’s finding that inaction regret tends to dominate over the long run. The contrast should be treated as roughly comparable rather than precise, since the two figures come from different surveys measuring different constructs. Regret also varies sharply by field: STEM PhDs who move to industry frequently report high satisfaction and compensation, while humanities PhDs who could not secure tenure-track positions report considerably more. The doctoral choice remains consequential and hard to reverse — five to seven years of foregone income and career development cannot be recovered if the intended academic path does not materialise.
Sumber: tindakan
Buku besar klaim
Setiap angka di bawah ini adalah apa yang dilaporkan masing-masing sumber, dengan kutipan kata demi kata yang kami andalkan dan bagaimana kami sampai pada angka kami. Klik tautan mana saja untuk memverifikasi langsung.
2/2 sumber diverifikasi secara independen kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip
[1]Springer Nature (Nature 2019 PhD survey) — Nature PhD survey puts spotlight on mental health, harassment and student debt
Terverifikasi
Studi primer
75% of PhD students were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD; the complementary 25% were not satisfied with the decision
Kutipan
“"Overall, the results indicated that most PhD students were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD (75 percent) and were also generally satisfied with their PhD experience (71 percent)."
”
Data sumber dari
2019-11-13
Diakses
2026-06-30
Verifikasi
Kutipan diambil ulang secara independen dan dikonfirmasi kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip selama audit pendasaran kami.
Perhitungan
Nature's 2019 PhD survey (conducted with Shift Learning), over 6,300 PhD students worldwide. The report states 75% were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD; the action-regret rate of 0.25 is the direct complement of that decision- satisfaction figure. This is the closest direct affirmation-of- decision measure available; it surveys current PhD students, not a nationally representative US-graduate sample, so it is treated as a proxy (proxy_only: true).
[2]CBS News (reporting PayScale 2019 survey) — Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees
Terverifikasi
Sumber referensi
PayScale 2019 survey of 248,000 US degree-holders: about two-thirds reported a college regret, with 27% citing student loans as their top misgiving
Kutipan
“"In a PayScale survey of 248,000 respondents this past spring, two-thirds of employees report having regrets when it comes to their advanced degrees. About 27% of survey respondents listed student loans as their top misgiving."
”
Data sumber dari
2019-06-25
Diakses
2026-06-30
Verifikasi
Kutipan diambil ulang secara independen dan dikonfirmasi kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip selama audit pendasaran kami.
Perhitungan
PayScale "Biggest College Regrets" survey, 248,000 US respondents with at least a bachelor's degree (April-May 2019), as reported by CBS News. About two-thirds reported some college regret, with 27% citing student loans as their top misgiving. The CBS article breaks "no regret" responses down by field of study and by generation, not by degree level, and does not report a PhD- or doctorate-specific figure. Included as broad context on degree regret, not as the headline action rate.
Sumber: tidak bertindak
Buku besar klaim
Setiap angka di bawah ini adalah apa yang dilaporkan masing-masing sumber, dengan kutipan kata demi kata yang kami andalkan dan bagaimana kami sampai pada angka kami. Klik tautan mana saja untuk memverifikasi langsung.
2/2 sumber diverifikasi secara independen kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip
[1]Federal Reserve Board (SHED) — Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022 — Higher Education and Student Loans
Terverifikasi
↗ 1 other entry
Laporan pemerintah
32% of those who completed at least a bachelor's degree would have completed more education in hindsight; only 9% of people who went to college would have completed less education or not gone at all
Kutipan
“"32 percent of those who completed at least a bachelor's degree ... would have completed more education ... A far smaller 9 percent of people who went to college said that they would have completed less education or not gone to college if they could make their education decisions again."
”
Data sumber dari
2023-05-22
Diakses
2026-06-30
Verifikasi
Kutipan diambil ulang secara independen dan dikonfirmasi kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip selama audit pendasaran kami.
Perhitungan
Federal Reserve 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), published May 2023. The 0.32 inaction- regret rate is the SHED finding that 32% of bachelor's-or-higher holders would have completed MORE education if they could decide again — the closest direct measure of "wish I had pursued more education." This is broad graduate-education aspiration, NOT a PhD-specific figure, so the entry is marked proxy_only: true.
[2]Gallup — Half of U.S. Adults Would Change at Least One Education Decision
Terverifikasi
↗ 3 other entries
Studi primer
Of the three education decisions Gallup asked about, 36% of postsecondary-educated adults would change their field of study, 28% their institution, and 12% would obtain a different degree type
Kutipan
“"Thirty-six percent of U.S. adults who pursued or completed a postsecondary degree would choose a different field of study. Significantly fewer (28%) would select a different institution, and just 12% would obtain a different degree type."
”
Data sumber dari
2017-06-01
Diakses
2026-06-30
Verifikasi
Kutipan diambil ulang secara independen dan dikonfirmasi kata demi kata terhadap sumber terkutip selama audit pendasaran kami.
Perhitungan
Gallup survey of 89,492 U.S. adults (June 29, 2016 – March 26, 2017). Gallup asked only about three decisions — field of study, institution, and degree type — and did NOT measure desire for more or higher education. The 12% "would obtain a different degree type" is the only graduate-credential-relevant figure and is included as context bounding the SHED "more education" signal; it is not itself a "wish I had done a PhD" rate. No survey directly measures regret over not pursuing a doctorate.
Catatan
Kedua angka ini bukan hasil survei langsung yang menanyakan "apakah Anda menyesal menempuh (atau tidak menempuh) PhD", sehingga entri ini diterbitkan sebagai proxy_only. Angka penyesalan-tindakan sebesar 25% adalah komplemen dari 75% mahasiswa PhD yang, dalam survei Nature 2019, menyatakan puas dengan keputusan mereka untuk menempuh PhD; survei ini menjaring mahasiswa doktoral yang sedang berkuliah di seluruh dunia, bukan lulusan AS bertahun-tahun kemudian. Survei penyesalan PayScale dengan 248.000 responden memberikan konteks luas: sekitar dua pertiga pemegang gelar di AS melaporkan adanya penyesalan terkait kuliah, dengan 27% menyebut pinjaman mahasiswa; pelaporan publik survei tersebut tidak memilah hasil berdasarkan jenjang gelar, sehingga bukan merupakan ukuran khusus untuk doktorat. Angka penyesalan-kepasifan sebesar 32% berasal dari temuan Federal Reserve SHED bahwa 32% orang dewasa AS dengan setidaknya gelar sarjana, jika ditinjau kembali, akan menyelesaikan LEBIH banyak pendidikan -- sebuah ukuran aspirasi pendidikan pascasarjana secara luas, BUKAN khusus untuk doktorat. Tidak ada survei yang secara langsung mengukur berapa banyak pekerja bergelar sarjana saja yang berharap mereka telah meraih PhD; jajak pendapat Gallup tentang keputusan pendidikan hanya mengukur bidang studi, institusi, dan jenis gelar (12% akan mengubah jenis gelar) dan secara eksplisit tidak menanyakan jumlah pendidikan. Karena kedua sisi bertumpu pada proksi yang berdekatan, selisih kecil tindakan-dikurangi-kepasifan (-0,07) sebaiknya dibaca sebagai "kurang lebih sebanding, dengan sedikit kecenderungan ke arah berharap telah menempuh lebih banyak pendidikan" alih-alih sebagai kontras yang presisi. Penyesalan juga sangat bervariasi menurut bidang: lulusan PhD STEM yang beralih ke industri sering melaporkan kepuasan tinggi, sedangkan lulusan PhD humaniora yang tidak berhasil memperoleh posisi tenure-track melaporkan lebih banyak penyesalan. Keputusan ini berdampak besar dan sulit dibalik: lima hingga tujuh tahun pendapatan yang hilang tidak dapat dipulihkan jika jalur akademis yang diharapkan tidak terwujud.
