2 ms·

Having had a lot of experience of academia, I’m probably one its harshest critics. But - I don’t regret the PhD. I learnt a lot of skills, learnt from other Ph

Having had a lot of experience of academia, I’m probably one its harshest critics. But - I don’t regret the PhD. I learnt a lot of skills, learnt from other PhD students and postdocs. I will say, make sure your supervisor is a nice person who does not place their career above all else. I was lucky with that, and I think finding such a person in academic is increasingly difficult. Never do a PhD with a supervisor you are unsure about. Finish the PhD in 3 years (U.K.) and get the hell out. There is nothing left in academia for people who genuinely want to improve the world. If your goal is getting paid a reasonable amount for a bit of a silly job, and you can tolerate or enjoy politics and game playing, that’s fine, stay. Hours are flexible, you can get away with not doing anything much at all for your career, and the pensions in the U.K. are still very generous. Over the summers most people don’t actually do any work.

a_bonobo 4y ago
>I will say, make sure your supervisor is a nice person who does not place their career above all else. I was lucky with that, and I think finding such a person in academic is increasingly difficult. Never do a PhD with a supervisor you are unsure about. This is a great point. A bad supervisor will make your time miserable, and universities generally have no interest in weeding out the bad ones. There's an academic whisper-net where this knowledge is spread, but undergrad or MSc students generally have no access to the net. Which is a shame as it would protect them from terrible supervisors who look good to the world. If you're in that position, see if you can find a Prof who you can trust and explicitly ask them about colleagues in a 1-on-1 meeting; at least you'll get some access then.
- marcosfelt 4y ago
  I agree with the whisper net comment. You learn about who's good and bad pretty quickly once you get into a department, but everyone is hush-hush otherwise. We need a glassdoor for academia.

a_bonobo 4y ago

>I will say, make sure your supervisor is a nice person who does not place their career above all else. I was lucky with that, and I think finding such a person in academic is increasingly difficult. Never do a PhD with a supervisor you are unsure about. This is a great point. A bad supervisor will make your time miserable, and universities generally have no interest in weeding out the bad ones. There's an academic whisper-net where this knowledge is spread, but undergrad or MSc students generally have no access to the net. Which is a shame as it would protect them from terrible supervisors who look good to the world. If you're in that position, see if you can find a Prof who you can trust and explicitly ask them about colleagues in a 1-on-1 meeting; at least you'll get some access then.

marcosfelt 4y ago
I agree with the whisper net comment. You learn about who's good and bad pretty quickly once you get into a department, but everyone is hush-hush otherwise. We need a glassdoor for academia.