OP seems to have asked a question and then made personal attacks at people providing the answers. What motivates this?
Disagree. Op’s question is valid though not perfectly stated. And, people have attacked OP too. OP seems to just give it back. Wouldn’t be surprised if OP is Ken Judd
OP is an indian IT guy who is eying an MBA.
OP seems to have asked a question and then made personal attacks at people providing the answers. What motivates this?Disagree. Op’s question is valid though not perfectly stated. And, people have attacked OP too. OP seems to just give it back. Wouldn’t be surprised if OP is Ken Judd
Because academics pays out precisely when you want it to. I would rather bust my hump in my 20s and 30s, then sit back and spend time with my kids and grandkids in my 50s, 60s, and 70s not having to worry about being downsized.
That would be government, not academia
So many problems for the most part
- low pay
- bad location
- mental health of faculty and grad students is bad
- high profile academic taking their own lives last couple of years
- Low mobility of income and location later in career
1) Econ prof at R1 school is 94-97th percentile income. For finance R1, it's 95-99th. It's true that humanities professors are poorly paid, but the best advice is not to become one.
2) What could this possibly mean? There are colleges in big cities, small towns, on the coasts, in the mountains, in urban areas, in rural areas. There are literally colleges everywhere.
3) and 4). Sample size? Do you even stats?
5) I have little interest in moving as I am at a great school in a great town. It is true that if you plan to move, you need to stay research active and keep getting good teaching evaluations.
- low pay
It's not low pay. Six figures for the majority.
- bad location
Huh?
- mental health of faculty and grad students is bad
I'm not sure this is true. If it is, it's probably a selection issue.
- high profile academic taking their own lives last couple of years
Yes, but you didn't kill yourself so this must not be a problem. (C'mon... a few examples of suicide doesn't prove anything)
- Low mobility of income and location later in career
True.
I'd challenge the claim om low mobility of income and location later in the career, particularly for location. I know many professors who consult in the private sector, for the government and for political parties. Those provide opportunities to move around. An established academic is more reliable for policy recommendations than almost anyone in the private sector. You just have to know how to market your set of skills.
Mental health issues arise in all professions. Micromanagement is common in industry and it's largely a byproduct of anxiety/narcissism. Depression/burnout are pretty common too. I know some tech people that have employment gaps just to "recover."
I generally think academia has a lot of negative energy and that's why I prefer industry, having worked in both. I think industry would be a lot better if 4-day work weeks became the standard.
So many problems for the most part
- low pay
- bad location
- mental health of faculty and grad students is bad
- high profile academic taking their own lives last couple of years
- Low mobility of income and location later in career1) Econ prof at R1 school is 94-97th percentile income. For finance R1, it's 95-99th. It's true that humanities professors are poorly paid, but the best advice is not to become one.
2) What could this possibly mean? There are colleges in big cities, small towns, on the coasts, in the mountains, in urban areas, in rural areas. There are literally colleges everywhere.
3) and 4). Sample size? Do you even stats?
5) I have little interest in moving as I am at a great school in a great town. It is true that if you plan to move, you need to stay research active and keep getting good teaching evaluations.
You won the academic lottery, congrats. Don’t try to extrapolate that to everyone who wasn’t so lucky. Those of us who weren’t so lucky to fall into proprietary data may feel very differently about the tradeoffs that come with being a professor.
So many problems for the most part
- low pay
- bad location
- mental health of faculty and grad students is bad
- high profile academic taking their own lives last couple of years
- Low mobility of income and location later in career1) Econ prof at R1 school is 94-97th percentile income. For finance R1, it's 95-99th. It's true that humanities professors are poorly paid, but the best advice is not to become one.
2) What could this possibly mean? There are colleges in big cities, small towns, on the coasts, in the mountains, in urban areas, in rural areas. There are literally colleges everywhere.
3) and 4). Sample size? Do you even stats?
5) I have little interest in moving as I am at a great school in a great town. It is true that if you plan to move, you need to stay research active and keep getting good teaching evaluations.You won the academic lottery, congrats. Don’t try to extrapolate that to everyone who wasn’t so lucky. Those of us who weren’t so lucky to fall into proprietary data may feel very differently about the tradeoffs that come with being a professor.
That's reasonable, but OP tried to make it sound like no sane person would become an academic, and that's obviously crazy. Seriously, talk to a lawyer in their 50s still inexplicably working 70 hour weeks despite "making partner", tell them what an academic job consists of, and see the reaction.