Discover more from Overcoming Bias
In 1993, at the age of 34, I began a Ph.D. at Caltech, which I finished four years later. I probably didn’t make much more money afterward, but I’m a lot more satisfied with my life. Apparently this is a common outcome of late life schooling:
This paper addresses the economic returns on tertiary degrees obtained in ages above 30 for individuals with upper-secondary schooling [in] Sweden [where] labor market legislation supports employees who take a leave to study. … Late degrees were found to increase the employment rate by 18 percentage points and earnings while employed by 12 percent. … The effects were absent in the higher parts of the earnings distribution, and females gained more than men. (more)
Human lives are long. If you are willing to work, you can radically change direction, even at the age of 34.
Second Chances
Last fall, at age 51 I entered the George Mason economics PhD program and I'm happy as a clam. I expect to have a +/- 20 year career ahead of me instead of the 40 years of my classmates, but that does not make it any less meaningful to me. I think I appreciate the opportunity more because I have a larger base of life experience for comparison.
I got an MBA at night when i was 30. but didn't really capitalize on it and kept on at my gvernment job. At 37 I went and got my law degree at night graduating when I was 41. i learned from my prior experience and focused on clerkships and graduated number one in my class. my income increased roughly ten times over the government job that i had. Am now at 63 thinking of pursuing a degree in geology to cash in on the oil and gas boom but my wife has balked. But inspired by this Swedish survey I might just do it.