Possibility of PhD over 40?

[dissonance_]

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[WisNeuro]

50/50's sound like super humans! I can't imagine how one would stay funded and manage to be a skilled clinician at the same time. My PI works 80+ hours/week to stay funded with projects in the pipeline.

Depends on the situation and level of institutional support. One of the nice things about the VA at times, ability to do clinical research and not needing extramural funding.

 

[EmotRegulation]

In general ... yes ... many accredited universities are not interested in hiring a newly-minted PhD - who hasn't yet established a promising track record showing his or her capacity to make significant contributions to the field in the near future - if the newly-minted PhD is older. The university is quietly thinking: where is the return on investment? On the other hand, if you have already begun to establish a name for yourself in your field (e.g., think Impact Factor as in publishing), and have shown the capacity to obtain funding (plenty of grant money), then you're probably going to attract interest from some universities. In short, most PhD tenure-track positions in psychology are already challenging to find, and they're even more challenging to find if you're a newly-minted older PhD who is competing for the same tenure-track positions as many other ambitious PhDs (e.g., everyone else in your cohort). Plus, many older tenured faculty are not retiring, and are continuing to work well into their 60's, 70's, or older.

Thank you.

I'm just not sure I agree with this post (faculty member here). It's not "universities" who are "thinking" who are the primary stakeholders, or the primary decision makers. So lets talk about "search committees." Might search committees have an age-bias? Of course they might. Some might have a bias toward younger folks and some might actually relish the thought of working with someone who has more life experience. Age has never been the primary factor in any discussions my faculty has had related to searchers, more about "can this applicant be successful here considering their background, experiences, and with the resources we can offer them?" And sure, tenure-track positions are hard to get, but easier in clinical than in other areas of psychology, because the majority of clinical PhDs go on to do clinical work.

 

[PhDToBe]

Two people began my (balanced Ph.D.) program in their late 30s and have done very well. Neither had children, if that matters.