I’m a 3rd year astrophysics PhD student in the US (passed my candidacy exam, failed my research proposal for reasons I'll explain later). I’ve always loved astro and wanted to do something in theoretical stellar astrophysics after working on projects during undergrad. The very idea of it got me through undergrad. However, the specific research niche I am interested in is not done by many faculty in the USA (mostly in Europe). At the time as a senior undergrad, I was not comfortable with applying for Europe PhDs (nor could I, they mostly require MS) so I applied to US schools and chose the school that had a breadth of astronomy research. No one at the school does theoretical stellar astrophysics, but I attended, primarily because if I didn't like the research with one professor, at least I had the most alternatives there.

I am 18 months working with this one new assistant professor who does star formation observation research. She is very nice, patient and supportive but even now as someone who just passed candidacy, I just don’t find interest in the subfield I am studying and it's too observational and not theoretical/computational enough for my liking. It’s extremely disheartening and I have no intrinsic motivation/drive to read the literature in my field or to jump into my data sometimes. I tried to be professional and would treat it like a full time job, but it doesn’t even pay enough for me to care like I should. The literature reading/troubleshooting with issues in my data is demanding and requires much longer work hours compared to a regular 9-5 industry job. I find myself having more fun building up my coding skills and exploring other interests, but I rarely feel passionate about my subfield or talking with faculty/fellow grad students about the subfield. I feel like everyone else in the program cares about their subject and I just do not. At this point, I am determined to move into industry after my PhD (data science, SWE, ML) and I told my advisor.

I seriously considered mastering out, but I decided not to for several reasons.

-My advisor is wonderful to work with.

-I value the connections with fellow astronomy students and students I played soccer with at my school, and leaving would mean rebuilding my social life.

-The current job market for Data Science isn't favorable. Completing my PhD could provide valuable skills for tech roles and potentially lead to a higher starting salary.

-Although I've felt pressured to publish by faculty and even a fellow graduate student, I now aim for personal milestones: publishing at least one paper, presenting at a conference, and completing my thesis and graduating ASAP.

-A part of me still desires the fulfillment of achieving the highest degree in my beloved field.

Does anyone else have non-academic reasons for pursuing their PhD?