Dữ liệu đại diện — không có cuộc khảo sát trực tiếp nào về sự hối tiếc cho quyết định này. Tỷ lệ được lấy từ điểm hài lòng và dữ liệu rào cản tiếp cận thay vì câu hỏi trực tiếp về sự hối tiếc. Xem cảnh báo bên dưới.
Hối hận vì hành động
Theo học tiến sĩ
25%
25% nghiên cứu sinh tiến sĩ không hài lòng với quyết định làm tiến sĩ của mình (75% hài lòng; khảo sát của Nature 2019)
Tiến sĩ tốt nghiệp Mỹ, tất cả các lĩnh vực
hồi cứu, trong vòng 5 năm sau tốt nghiệp
Hối hận vì không hành động
Đi làm ngay sau khi tốt nghiệp cử nhân
32%
32% người trưởng thành Mỹ có ít nhất bằng cử nhân nói rằng khi nhìn lại họ đã hoàn thành thêm học vấn (Federal Reserve SHED)
Người lao động Mỹ có bằng cử nhân trong các lĩnh vực liên quan đến nghiên cứu
hồi cứu, không có khung thời gian cố định
% hối tiếc về lựa chọn này
Theo học tiến sĩĐi làm ngay sau khi tốt nghiệp cử nhân
25%32%
inaction dominates — Không hành động chiếm ưu thế — hầu hết hối tiếc vì đã không hành động.
Quyết định liên quan
Các quyết định tương tự về mặt ngữ nghĩa — cùng lĩnh vực, đánh đổi khác nhau.
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.
Nguồn: hành động
Sổ cái xác nhận
Mỗi con số dưới đây là những gì mỗi nguồn đã báo cáo, cùng với trích dẫn nguyên văn mà chúng tôi dựa vào và cách chúng tôi đưa ra con số của mình. Nhấp vào bất kỳ liên kết nào để xác minh trực tiếp.
2/2 nguồn được xác minh độc lập đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn
[1]Springer Nature (Nature 2019 PhD survey) — Nature PhD survey puts spotlight on mental health, harassment and student debt
Đã xác minh
Nghiên cứu chính
75% of PhD students were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD; the complementary 25% were not satisfied with the decision
Trích đoạn
“"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)."
”
Dữ liệu nguồn từ
2019-11-13
Truy cập
2026-06-30
Xác minh
Trích đoạn đã được tải lại độc lập và xác nhận đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn trong quá trình kiểm định căn cứ của chúng tôi.
Tính toán
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
Đã xác minh
Nguồn tham khảo
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
Trích đoạn
“"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."
”
Dữ liệu nguồn từ
2019-06-25
Truy cập
2026-06-30
Xác minh
Trích đoạn đã được tải lại độc lập và xác nhận đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn trong quá trình kiểm định căn cứ của chúng tôi.
Tính toán
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.
Nguồn: không hành động
Sổ cái xác nhận
Mỗi con số dưới đây là những gì mỗi nguồn đã báo cáo, cùng với trích dẫn nguyên văn mà chúng tôi dựa vào và cách chúng tôi đưa ra con số của mình. Nhấp vào bất kỳ liên kết nào để xác minh trực tiếp.
2/2 nguồn được xác minh độc lập đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn
[1]Federal Reserve Board (SHED) — Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022 — Higher Education and Student Loans
Đã xác minh
↗ 1 other entry
Báo cáo chính phủ
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
Trích đoạn
“"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."
”
Dữ liệu nguồn từ
2023-05-22
Truy cập
2026-06-30
Xác minh
Trích đoạn đã được tải lại độc lập và xác nhận đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn trong quá trình kiểm định căn cứ của chúng tôi.
Tính toán
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
Đã xác minh
↗ 3 other entries
Nghiên cứu chính
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
Trích đoạn
“"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."
”
Dữ liệu nguồn từ
2017-06-01
Truy cập
2026-06-30
Xác minh
Trích đoạn đã được tải lại độc lập và xác nhận đúng từng chữ so với nguồn được trích dẫn trong quá trình kiểm định căn cứ của chúng tôi.
Tính toán
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.
Lưu ý
Neither rate is a direct "do you regret pursuing (or not pursuing) a PhD" survey, so this entry is published as proxy_only. The 25% action-regret figure is the complement of the 75% of PhD students who told Nature's 2019 survey they were satisfied with their decision to pursue a PhD; it surveys current doctoral students worldwide, not US graduates years later. PayScale's 248,000-respondent regret survey provides broad context: about two-thirds of US degree-holders reported some college regret, with 27% citing student loans; that survey's public reporting does not break results out by degree level, so it is not a doctorate-specific measure. The 32% inaction-regret figure is the Federal Reserve SHED finding that 32% of US adults with at least a bachelor's would have completed MORE education in hindsight -- a broad graduate-education aspiration measure, NOT specific to doctorates. No survey directly quantifies how many bachelor's- only workers wish they had earned a PhD; Gallup's education-decisions poll measured only field of study, institution, and degree type (12% would change degree type) and explicitly did not ask about the amount of education. Because both sides rest on adjacent proxies, the small action-minus-inaction gap (-0.07) should be read as "roughly comparable, with a slight edge to wishing one had done more education" rather than a precise contrast. Regret also varies sharply by field: STEM PhDs who move to industry frequently report high satisfaction, while humanities PhDs who could not secure tenure-track positions report more. The decision is consequential and hard to reverse: five to seven years of foregone income cannot be recovered if the intended academic path does not materialise.
