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> "Good heavens! If there's anything else you can imagine doing, don't stay in math" I heard similar advice from people in many different lines of work includi
by yodsanklai 12y ago
> "Good heavens! If there's anything else you can imagine doing, don't stay in math"
I heard similar advice from people in many different lines of work including laws, finance, medicine, academia... usually they add it's not as interesting as it used to be.
It's a matter of compromise. I wish I could have the salary of banker, the freedom of a tenured professor and the prestige of a doctor.
- impendia 12y ago> the freedom of a tenured professor Well, one disadvantage of academia is that you don't really get to choose where to live, even if your CV is quite good. Indeed, there are a number of academic couples that make crazy long-distance commuter marriages work because they weren't able to get jobs at the same institution (or in the same city).
- michaelochurch 12y agoIt didn't used to be that way. The academic job market melted down in the 1980s and now commuter marriages are the norm. These days, there are too many PhDs and few full-time faculty positions. It's horrible, but academia doesn't have to be that way, and wasn't always.