Don't Become a Scientist.
wuphys.wustl.edu
Don't Become a Scientist.
1–10 of 94 posts
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#2Don't be misled by the promise of freedom in academia. It's not like that at all.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#3Eh... I would debate quite a lot of what he said. This is a very field-oriented problem. For instance, in Psychology, the majority of graduate degrees go into counseling. Of the more research oriented people left, there is a vast array of fields available; Neuropsych, Cognitive Psych, Industrial Organizational, and so on. These are fields with public and private sector demand... If you're good, and you publish it is quite possible to land in a tenure track position is 2-3 years. The biological sciences, which my ex went into, are likewise diverse with high (unless you study ichthyology) demand. Finally, know that all academia, like startups, is a dice game. Brilliant is less than half the battle. Being right often counts for nothing. Hardworking, with force of will and personality, and in the right place at the right time (which is not always luck) play an awfully big part of every success. Even when you get in, you can easily end up the flunky of someone with similar credentials, but more success. But hey, that's life, right?
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#4From the government's (and the country's) perspective it makes sense to keep the imbalance between PhD's trained and PhDs hired because graduate students that don't go into academia go into industry. A lot of great companies have come out of disgruntled grad students.
I think the thing we need to figure out is how to deal with the period after a Masters and before a PhD. This is the period where you start doing real research and you learn to work on your own. This period is what makes grad school such valuable training. This is also the period in your life where you are still young and hungry to make an impact. Unfortunately, it's almost easier to stay in school and finish your degree, but once you finish it you're 30 and the hunger and energy are gone. Also, you've already put so much time into a PhD that it's too late to turn back from a career in academia.
Maybe we should redefine the Masters to include some research work.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#5"I became a scientist in order to have the freedom to work on problems which interest me."
I thought a more reasonable path to this would be to join a startup or three, get rich and then spend the rest of your life getting a PhD, working on interesting problems, etc. No? ;)
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#6From the government's (and the country's) perspective it makes sense to keep the imbalance between PhD's trained and PhDs hired because graduate students that don't go into academia go into industry. A lot of great companies have come out of disgruntled grad students. I think the thing we need to figure out is how to deal with the period after a Masters and before a PhD. This is the period where you start doing real…
"you're 30 and the hunger and energy is gone."
If anything you know a lot more in your domain of expertise and are in a better position to start a co. Plus you're hungrier -- grad students make very little money. A formula for startup success.
"Maybe we should redefine the Masters to include some research work."
Actually the Masters does in fact include research work. At least mine did.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#7"I became a scientist in order to have the freedom to work on problems which interest me." I thought a more reasonable path to this would be to join a startup or three, get rich and then spend the rest of your life getting a PhD, working on interesting problems, etc. No? ;)
Since one out of ten fail, that wouldn't be the best strategy.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#8>[... in contrast] a lawyer [begins working] at 25 and makes partner at 31
A very low percentage make partner, lower than the tenure percentage.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#9From the government's (and the country's) perspective it makes sense to keep the imbalance between PhD's trained and PhDs hired because graduate students that don't go into academia go into industry. A lot of great companies have come out of disgruntled grad students. I think the thing we need to figure out is how to deal with the period after a Masters and before a PhD. This is the period where you start doing real…
"you're 30 and the hunger and energy is gone." If anything you know a lot more in your domain of expertise and are in a better position to start a co. Plus you're hungrier -- grad students make very little money. A formula for startup success. "Maybe we should redefine the Masters to include some research work." Actually the Masters does in fact include research work. At least mine did.
In practice, it's hard to completely change course and take on even more risk once you are finished with your Ph.D. Often it's the dropouts that start companies and the PhDs that join them.
In Physics, a Masters typically means 2 years of coursework and passing some set of exams. Most of us join a research group about 1 year into grad school but it's hard to do real research until your classes are done.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#10"I became a scientist in order to have the freedom to work on problems which interest me." I thought a more reasonable path to this would be to join a startup or three, get rich and then spend the rest of your life getting a PhD, working on interesting problems, etc. No? ;)
Since one out of ten fail, that wouldn't be the best strategy.
Those are awesome odds compared to the "standard" way, apparently.