IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2022 - 101

employment and to build financial
security, then I don't think a Ph.D.
adds much. Consider that a power
electronics engineer in the United
States with a bachelor's degree and a
couple of years' experience is probably
making US$60-80,000 per year.
An engineer with a Master's degree is
probably making US$80-100,000 per
year. For the student with a bachelor's
degree to get a Ph.D. is probably
going to take 4-6 years. Even if they
entered a Ph.D. program with full
support that means they are sacrificing
US$250-500,000 in income while
they work on their degree. An engineer
with a Master's degree might
need more like 3-4 years to complete
a Ph.D. which means they are
sacrificing about the same amount
of money.
How long does it take to earn that
money back? A Ph.D. does not double
one's salary over those with a Master's
degree. Depending on the company
and the position, a Ph.D.
increases one's salary by 10-20%. So,
if a student with a Master's degree
takes only 3 years to complete a
Ph.D., graduates with no student loan
debt, and takes a job at 20% higher
pay than if they only had a Master's
degree it would take 15 years to catch
up the earnings sacrificed while in
school. One may argue with my
assumed numbers but
the result
remains the same-it takes a long
time to make up the financial sacrifice
of a few years regular salary to
get the Ph.D.
When I point this out sometimes I
am asked " What if I work full time
and work on my Ph.D. part time? "
This is a fair question as this is how I
earned my Master's degree. However,
it is exponentially harder to get a
Ph.D. in engineering while also working
part time. I encourage students
considering this to have a detailed
discussion with the faculty at the
schools they are considering. In general,
I think the chance of success for
a part time engineering Ph.D. is low. I
urge students who are determined to
get a Ph.D. to just make the sacrifice
and go full time.
June 2022 z IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE 101
If the answer to the question is
that the student became an engineer
to design and create and make the
world a better place then a Ph.D.
can further those ambitions, mainly
by enabling a more research oriented
career.
The next question I ask is where in
the world do you want to work? Does
it matter? Are you strongly interested
in working in a particular place, such
as your home country? Since all of
my students went to school at the
University of Colorado-Boulder in

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2022

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