Flambeur
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
- Messages
- 4,787
- Reaction score
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Working on my PhD right now, ABD stage.. Doing well enough to where I think I will have a decent, well-paying tenture-track job once I am done, and the only question is whether it will be a top or average school. Still, every once in a while, I wonder if I am getting sick of the politics, being constantly watched and not having as much anonymity/privacy as I'd like, being evaluated and judged by too few people in too subjective of a way, with very little as a means of self-defense. I am also not entirely happy with the trajectory of the US university system or its students - there are just so many distractions, regulation, political correctness intertwined with political machinations, etc. I kind of miss being in the industry where I had a relatively relaxed yet meaningful F100 job with a company that treated me exceedingly well, and where I probably had more freedom to protect/defend myself from stupid/bored people. Fallout with a boss? Get in with another department/project. Fallout in the company? If you are good enough you can get a job with another.
Moreover, I feel like in the academic world there is always a competition to be the smartest guy in the room, and there are very few times people will actually openly and sincerely appreciate and value your work, no matter how good it is. Even before the PhD, I felt pretty appreciated and valued in my past jobs. People seem to value novel and interesting ideas more in the corporate world, while in the academia you actually have to conform and strategically aim your research in a much more structured manner (academic research is way more subjective and politically driven than people outside of the schools think, and even though I usually manage to benefit from these things, it's tiring and discouraging). To be fair, sometimes I think that being an academic has the potential to corrupt you in certain ways more than the private sector ever will.
I also miss the shorter project-reward cycles and faster career advancement, especially as I am not getting any younger.. and I actually like academic research.
Anyway, remind me why the corporate world sucks and why I should stay an academic instead of taking my new skills back to industry.
Moreover, I feel like in the academic world there is always a competition to be the smartest guy in the room, and there are very few times people will actually openly and sincerely appreciate and value your work, no matter how good it is. Even before the PhD, I felt pretty appreciated and valued in my past jobs. People seem to value novel and interesting ideas more in the corporate world, while in the academia you actually have to conform and strategically aim your research in a much more structured manner (academic research is way more subjective and politically driven than people outside of the schools think, and even though I usually manage to benefit from these things, it's tiring and discouraging). To be fair, sometimes I think that being an academic has the potential to corrupt you in certain ways more than the private sector ever will.
I also miss the shorter project-reward cycles and faster career advancement, especially as I am not getting any younger.. and I actually like academic research.
Anyway, remind me why the corporate world sucks and why I should stay an academic instead of taking my new skills back to industry.