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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

• thefastlane 11y 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 11y 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.