It's somewhat interesting that this is specifically an American essay genre. People join or leave academia in Europe as well, but people seem less angry about i

It's somewhat interesting that this is specifically an American essay genre. People join or leave academia in Europe as well, but people seem less angry about it either way. You can work at a university or you can work at a company or a think-tank or in the government or start your own company. Different choices, different pros and cons. I like the university, though there are things I don't like about it certainly. Some people will go in both directions during a career (this highly varies by country within Europe, though). One graphics guy I'm acquainted with spent almost a decade in academia, then spent 4-5 years working as senior technical staff at a company, and now is back in academia. In CS, the typical tradeoff is that you get more resources but somewhat less direct freedom at companies. In academia you have fewer resources and have to bring in your own grants, but the resource constraint is the main constraint, a sort of indirect restriction on your research freedom (how strong of one depends on your resource needs). Lots of other differences depending on your preferences. Easier to publish papers in academia (no approval needed and it's valued); easier to do software development in industry (resources/coordination exists, and it's valued). Academic schedules tend to be more flexible; work-from-home and non-9/5 schedules are common and don't typically require approval. Teaching is typically required, which can be a pro or a con. Etc.