By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: My chair is so young! How do I cope?

 — Feeling Ancient

A: An older “nontraditional” student, Marlene had returned for her doctorate after three of her four kids were grown and on their own. She held down a full-time job in medical billing, her youngest was now in high school, and her husband still looked forward to her dinners. So Marlene embarked on a lifelong dream—with her husband’s encouragement and promise to do some of the cooking, she enrolled in a doctoral program. She was extremely bright, and we were working together on her Proposal.

On the phone, Marlene fumed for ten minutes. Her chair had track-changed almost every page of her draft and added a four-paragraph single-spaced memo stuffed with questions. Marlene shouted over the phone, “I’m calling the doctoral police!”

I understood why Marlene was so upset. At fifty-two, she had (bravely) entered graduate school. The professor was younger by at least fifteen years, and he challenged Marlene at just about every sentence.

Older Students Are Increasing

Marlene’s situation is not unusual. Like many other older students, she chose an online program to accommodate her full-time job and family responsibilities. With a passionate interest in helping elementary school reluctant readers (as two of her own kids had been), she had put aside graduate study for decades because of her job and family.

Most doctoral candidates I help to complete their degrees are in their forties and fifties, with a surprising number in their early to mid-sixties. They often blurt out their ages apologetically, and I ignore the self-deprecation and immediately congratulate them for their guts, spirit, and drive. In fact, there seem to be increasing headlines of graduates who are 50-60-70 and beyond! (Anja, 2021; Kuther, 2019; Saxena, 2023).

But they often find working with younger professors—who could be their children or even grandchildren—difficult (kind of like greeting a new doctor who looks like he just started shaving). The issues that arise threaten to sabotage the students’ degree programs and dissertations (Racine, 2019; Stapleton, 2023).

As an Older Student, You Have Advantages

But if you’re an older student, you have some advantages. Research confirms you’re more persistent than younger students in reaching academic goals, more self-reliant, and more purposeful in mastering the required skills (Bertone & Green, 2018; Deshpande, 2016; Dunn et al., 2014; Offerman, 2011).

Today’s older doctoral students are more mature, bring to the learning situation a wealth of career experience, and often have greater motivation than younger students. Effective faculty members understand the older students and expect to learn as well as to teach and to act more as a colleague at times than a supervisor (Offerman, 2011).

Whether your chair and committee members embrace such an ideal perspective, you can still navigate successfully through your doctoral experience by keeping several things in mind.

What You Can Do

1. Forget age and age comparisons (“He’s half my age, already tenured, published in five top journals, with twenty-three grants!”). Remember why you’re a graduate student and what your degree will do for you.
2. Age is a mindset. Look at all the older vibrant, productive, creative role models in academia, the arts, business, entertainment, sports . . . (make your own list). See also Hothi (2020).
3. If you’re an online student, your status can be a blessing—you don’t have to stare into that impossibly fresh professorial face two or three times a week (unless the professors insist on Skype conferences and the class meets by Zoom).
4. With your extensive experience in your field, swallow your pride. You may know a lot more about your topic than your professors and seethe at some of the critiques. But your professors likely know what’s more acceptable for your dissertation.
5. If, though, especially if yours is an applied dissertation, some of the professors’ critiques may be based on inexperience with procedures at your research site. Verbalize your corrections and support them by your experience. And do so diplomatically. “Professor ____, I realize you may not be familiar with ——, but . . . .” (They have egos too!)
6. After you get back that blood-red track-changed paper, arrange a meeting. Admit your doctoral frailties, be open to the critiques, and ask for clarification. As Offerman (2011) said, good advisors and chairs collaborate with their students. If you don’t understand, persist.
7. Don’t whine. Your professors have their own problems.
8. In person, in the phone, or in email or text, act professional, as you do at your day job. You will gain the professors’ respect.
9. Remember your own real-world experiences in issues with colleagues and family and how you solved or responded reasonably and creatively. Transferring and applying your abilities can help you weather the tempests of an advanced degree program, and especially the professors and dissertation.
10. Seek outside help if you feel you could really benefit from it for both content and tech tricks (such as a peer, a recently-graduated colleague, a coach, an editor).
11. See an especially heartening and informative roundup, “Getting a PhD in Your 50s and 60s” (Anja, 2021) and a very encouraging personal testimony at getting a doctorate at age 58 (Racine, 2019).
12. Make friends with your cohort members, whatever their ages. They can be fun, simpatico, supportive and helpful.
13. Treat yourself with self-respect. You have a right to your professors’ guidance and explanations (after all, you’re paying for it).
14. Do the work diligently and do it well.

As an older graduate student, you’ve plunged into a highly challenging educational path that others half your age often avoid. (If they started, they frequently quit, especially before completing the dissertation.) Of course, there are many obstacles, and you may find job and career opportunities limited. But remember your dream.

So wear your age proudly and be grateful for your life experiences and determination to succeed. When you’re older than your professors, use your previous experiences, interpersonal skills, and infinite patience to complete your long-awaited degree.

* * * * * *

References

Anja. (2021). Getting a PhD in your 50s and 60s. Aging Greatly.

Bertone, S., & Green, P. (2018). Knowing your research students: Devising models of doctoral education for success. In F. F. Padró, R. Erwee, Me. Harmes, Ma. Harmes, & P. A. Danaher (Eds.). Postgraduate education in higher education (pp. 471-498). Springer.

Deshpande, A. (2016). A qualitative examination of challenges influencing doctoral students in an online doctoral program. International Education Studies, 9(6), 139-149.

Dunn, K. E., Rakes, G. C., & Rakes, T. A. (2014). Influence of academic self-regulation, critical thinking, and age on online graduate students’ academic help-seeking. Distance Education, 35(1), 75-89.

Hothi, H. (2020). What is the age limit for a PhD? Community Blog.

Kuther, T. (2019). It’s Never Too Late: How to Apply to Grad School When You’re Over 65. ThoughtCo.

Offerman, M. (2011). Profile of the nontraditional doctoral degree student. New Directions for Adult Continuing Education, 129, 21-30.

Racine, C. (2019, October 2). Starting a PhD . . . at 58 years old? Thesis Whisperer.

Saxena, P. (2023).  From Stay-at-Home Mom to Doctorate Student at 50. The PhD Place.

Stapleton, A. (2023). Older PhDs student experiences – should you pursue a PhD later in life? Academia Insider.

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Dissertation coach, nurturer, bolsterer, handholder, and editor; scholarly and mainstream writing consultant; author of writing craft, spiritual, and academic articles; and spiritual and motivational counselor, Noelle Sterne has published many pieces in print and online venues, including Author Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children’s Book Insider, Graduate Schools Magazine, GradShare, InnerSelf, Inspire Me Today, Transformation Magazine, Unity Magazine, Women in Higher Education, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. Noelle’s ninth story for Chicken Soup for the Soul appears in June 2025 in the volume Self-Care Isn’t Selfish. With a Ph.D. from Columbia University, Noelle has for 30 years helped doctoral candidates wrestle their dissertations to completion (finally). Based on her practice, her Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015) addresses students’ often overlooked or ignored but crucial nonacademic difficulties that can seriously prolong their agony. See the PowerPoint teaser here. In Noelle`s Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), she draws examples from her academic consulting and other aspects of life to help readers release regrets and reach lifelong yearnings. Following one of her own, she is currently working on her third novel. Visit Noelle at www.trustyourlifenow.com