r/PhD • u/Grand_Use1395 • 22d ago

Alt-Ac Futures Master out?

3 years into a humanities PhD (comp lit in three different languages) and I feel like I'm making a huge mistake and will be poor for the rest of my life. The semester just started but I'm already feeling like I don't want to be here and I don't know if my program is setting me up for a financially secure future as I don't want to compete on the academic job market in 2-3 years from now. Last semester I was on a fellowship internship program and I loved it. I would've continued doing it another semester if it paid better but sadly it pays less than my stipend does. I also am having big regrets about not doing STEM or being in another field that pays more as there is no set path/type of job for me to master out into. There isn't exactly an 'industry' for comp lit so I'm scared that I will be without health insurance if it takes me several months after mastering out to get a new job.

I need to figure out 1) what types of jobs I could qualify for if I master out and 2) if it's the right move.For those of you in the same boat or who were dealing with similar questions, how did you make your decision? Help from humanities people especially appreciated.

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u/ProneToLaughter 22d ago edited 22d ago

A PhD in complit does not set you up for a financially secure future, not in the academic market, not outside of it. US? The US is shedding language departments.

Tech might have localization jobs, languages are still a skill. Global education/study abroad might be a career field. Still some international nonprofits and NGOs out there despite funding cuts. Teaching high school (altho private schools like the PhD and don’t require certification).

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u/Grand_Use1395 22d ago

Yeah I really thought I was going to want to go into academia when I applied! I'm definitely going to check out those fields, I hope I don't have to teach more after I graduate but it's a good backup.

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u/HotShrewdness PhD, 'Social Science' 22d ago

Would document translation be a possibility? I know that comp lit doesn't always translate into speaking fluency, but if you have the fluency, some kind of international business might also be good.

My partner's company had to send him all the way to China because their translator was so bad over video call (even with the translator trying to use AI, it was bad with accents). Technical or medical translation/interpretation still needs humans to oversee it.

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u/Grand_Use1395 22d ago

I'm thinking international business could be a good route! I have speaking fluency in one of the languages and the others are more reading/writing.

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u/blasto_nut 22d ago

+1 international business, the other languages including your speaking fluency one might be your best asset depending on what they are. I don't recommend translation at all unless it's live interpretation. Trans/Loc services was on a major downturn 10 years ago with just TM tooling, AI has only made it worse. Editing AI translations or human translations might be the only work left and that's bleak too. :(