Hard to say, but my first job out of grad school was as a process engineer at Intel. The pay grade for a fresh PhD was called "Grade 7", while that of fresh MS is either a "Grade 5" or "Grade 6". The thing is, grade promotions take maybe 2-3 years, so all other things equal, not only did I lose money by not being industry each of my PhD years, I could have been at the same grade level more quickly.
Yes, there are career paths that are only attainable by having a PhD, but those are really only for the top PhD students, so an elite group of an already elite group. The rest of us join career tracks that are accessible by lower credentialed employees by grinding out an equivalent industry experience.
I see. So what you are saying is that the career opportunities did not justify the opportunity cost. Thanks for sharing! As a prospective PhD student, this helps me gauge the worth better.
Yes, there are career paths that are only attainable by having a PhD, but those are really only for the top PhD students, so an elite group of an already elite group. The rest of us join career tracks that are accessible by lower credentialed employees by grinding out an equivalent industry experience.