5 ms·

the opportunity cost of doing a PhD is, more and more, becomingly increasingly beyond what is tolerable for many academics. tenure lines are evaporating, adjun

the opportunity cost of doing a PhD is, more and more, becomingly increasingly beyond what is tolerable for many academics. tenure lines are evaporating, adjuncting is a nightmare, postdoc comp is pitiful... Meanwhile PhD students are competing for ever smaller slices of ever smaller pies in terms of fellowships. meanwhile, universities are being taken over by MBAs and running them like corporations. many people (not just PhD students but staff, etc.) eventually throw in the towel and say 'fuck it, i'll just go work for an actual corporation where i'll make a decent salary.'

jeffwass 10y ago
What universities are you talking about, being taken over by MBA's? In my experience, it's pretty much academic faculty with decent track records that move on to the uni Dean/President path.
bduerst 10y ago
Working in the commercial sector for a PhD isn't "throwing in the towel". Academia has always been political and competitive just from the limited economics of it, so don't construct an MBA scapegoat for "ruining" it.
- thefastlane 10y ago
  i think the argument that the economics of building a career in academia have gotten worse over time is a defensible one. the data concerning tenure line trends ([0], [1]) don't necessarily tell the entire story, but it's rather compelling in and of itself. [0] http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/Faculty_Trends_0.pdf http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/Faculty_Trends_0.pdf [1] http://agb.org/trusteeship/2013/5/changing-academic-workforce http://agb.org/trusteeship/2013/5/changing-academic-workforc... as for throwing in the towel, i didn't mean that in a disparaging sense. just that, for some, leaving academia is a decision made with a measure of regret. for some, it can involve a sober reassessment of the opportunity costs involved -- sometimes these costs only unfold/show themselves along the way -- in which one simply can no longer justify (to oneself) continuing on one's current path.
- Obi_Juan_Kenobi 10y ago
  There's definitely a little bitterness as a molecular biology PhD right now. The senior and emeritus faculty got in during a wave of setting up departments in the 60s and 70s. Jobs really were almost growing on trees, and the career trajectories they took are just so beyond what's possible today, well it does get a little depressing. That said, I think most people recognize that that was a singular era.

jeffwass 10y ago

What universities are you talking about, being taken over by MBA's? In my experience, it's pretty much academic faculty with decent track records that move on to the uni Dean/President path.

bduerst 10y ago

Working in the commercial sector for a PhD isn't "throwing in the towel". Academia has always been political and competitive just from the limited economics of it, so don't construct an MBA scapegoat for "ruining" it.

thefastlane 10y ago
i think the argument that the economics of building a career in academia have gotten worse over time is a defensible one. the data concerning tenure line trends ([0], [1]) don't necessarily tell the entire story, but it's rather compelling in and of itself. [0] http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/Faculty_Trends_0.pdf http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/Faculty_Trends_0.pdf [1] http://agb.org/trusteeship/2013/5/changing-academic-workforce http://agb.org/trusteeship/2013/5/changing-academic-workforc... as for throwing in the towel, i didn't mean that in a disparaging sense. just that, for some, leaving academia is a decision made with a measure of regret. for some, it can involve a sober reassessment of the opportunity costs involved -- sometimes these costs only unfold/show themselves along the way -- in which one simply can no longer justify (to oneself) continuing on one's current path.
Obi_Juan_Kenobi 10y ago
There's definitely a little bitterness as a molecular biology PhD right now. The senior and emeritus faculty got in during a wave of setting up departments in the 60s and 70s. Jobs really were almost growing on trees, and the career trajectories they took are just so beyond what's possible today, well it does get a little depressing. That said, I think most people recognize that that was a singular era.