How To Become A Doctoral Student: What It Is and Career Path

What is a doctoral student and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Judson Jeffries

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a doctoral student. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.92 an hour? That's $56,000 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 20,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a doctoral student?

Dr. Judson Jeffries

Professor, Ohio State University

Introduce yourself to some of the more noteworthy people in the field at conferences. Establish a relationship with those folks. I am not saying that your circle should include only the most celebrated academics in your field, but you want to get to know maybe 3 to 4 such persons for the following reasons: 1) to position oneself to get sage, counsel and advice from seasoned academics 2) to learn about various opportunities that may not be publicly advertised and 3) at some point the person 's department will need people to evaluate that person for tenure and promotion. Some departments will ask the junior professor for a list of names. At that point the junior professor will be equipped to provide that list. Finally, go into those fields understanding that you have a responsibility to advocate on behalf of those historically marginalized groups that you're studying. What's more, that person needs to understand that what comes with that is doing research that addresses some of the challenges those groups face.

ScoreDoctoral StudentUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,000

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

3.7

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.11%

Asian 11.82%

Black or African American 11.01%

Hispanic or Latino 17.62%

Unknown 4.52%

White 53.93%

Gender

female 47.14%

male 52.86%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

3.7

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a doctoral student

Explore doctoral student education requirements

Most common doctoral student degrees

Bachelor's

52.7 %

Master's

30.1 %

Doctorate

14.1 %

Start to develop specific doctoral student skills

Skills	Percentages
C++	15.39%
Python	10.78%
Java	10.02%
Cell Culture	6.11%
Chemistry	6.03%

Research doctoral student duties and responsibilities

Manage multiple collaborative projects peripheral to dissertation that leverage experience in characterization and inorganic synthesis.
Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
Used RT-PCR, ELISA, western blot, culture of establish cell lines, and immunohistochemistry.
Apply NMR techniques to assess the effect of a health supplement on neurological changes in Alzheimer s disease.

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