Hi there, I just saw your original post for the first time... I could've written it myself! I am also two years in and not so happy... I feel like I'm waiting for my life to start at the moment and I'm in limbo till the PhD is finished...

I don't know if I have any advice for you because I'm in the exact same situation - but I think if you want to do something else then you should at least look into it. I just had an interview for a job in a different area - I don't know if I will definitely leave yet but I want to at least see what else is out there for me!

The thing I think about whether you will regret it or not is that once you make the decision to leave academia you will be surrounded by a whole new set of people (in whatever job you go into) who probably won't give a toss whether you have a PhD or not! Which will make it much easier to cope with the fact of not getting one... It's only when you're still in the middle of the whole academia craze that you feel like you 'should' get one.

That's what I'm hoping anyway! Good luck with whatever you decide!!!

I would think very hard before giving up your PhD, especially since you are thinking of becoming a teacher. I was a teacher for a few years and it was sometimes very stressful. Be careful you aren't 'jumping out of the chip pan and into the fire'.

Is there an education department at your Uni you can talk to about what teahcing involves at that level? You may also think about asking a school if you can go in and observe for a few days - I thought I wanted to be a teacher when I was young, but a week of work experience stopped that idea LOL!

It's october week at the minute, so next week when the schools are back I'm going to see about getting a few days in the classroom. I've done a lot of activities with school children as we have a research communication programme at uni that I've been pretty involved in. I love it. I know that if I do decide to leave and follow the teaching route that it's going to be hard work and I know that teaching can be stressful and difficult, but the teaching activities that i've done since being a post grad have been the things I have enjoyed most and gotten the most out of. I am just so miserable at the minute I really need to do something about it. I come in everyday and have little motivation to do my work. I love my subject, I really do, but the frustration and tedium of my PhD is slowly sucking the enthusiasm from me!

Rosy, it's just sometimes a comfort to know that you're not the only one that's having issues while everyone around you seems happy in their work! I just keep looking at all the options, the easiest is to stay and plod on, I have no doubt that I can get my PhD, that's not the issue, it's the fact that I don't think it's going to help me in the future, sure the title would be a nice ego boost but is it worth another two/three years by the time I'm written up just for that when I know I don't want a career in academia? And if I wanted to go into industry, are those years not better spent gaining practical experience? I just keep going round in circles at the minute. I haven't spoken to me supervisor yet, which I know I must, he's not going to kick me out for having doubts about my future is he?!!