- Is it any wonder that only 8% of PhDs make it to that level—even though 70% say that it’s their career goal?
The pathway in modern academic science involves up to twenty years spent as a “trainee,” with little respect from your peers and even littler compensation. Furthermore, when that period ends, you become an isolated administrator forced to keep up with a rat race of grant applications instead of doing the science that you love.
I'm not sure that even 8% make it to tenure-track; that sounds high to me (1 in 13). I survived to run my own research lab, spent a decade driving myself to unhappiness, then left in the middle of the worst economic climate in 80 years. Although unemployed, I was still happier not having to wrangle grants, graduate students, and grumpy administrators.
Mind if I ask what you ended up doing after leaving and unemployment? Industry or a total shift in career or something else?
Not sure if you saw, but the author did make some corrections, which seem to make sense with what you're saying,Corrections: The original article had a suggestion that only 8% of postdocs get a tenure track position. It should have read that 8% of people who enter a PhD program achieve a tenure track position.
I think that many people think that they will "not be one of those". That they would be the exception. But this is reality... I love doing research. I love academia. I want to teach. And I know that academia is the right place to me (also because the alternatives are not interesting). But I am not willing to play that stupid game of impact factors and stressful competition. So what do I do?
A socially planned economy would restore prestige to academia and expand its opportunities, I'm sure.