PhD programmes need to better prepare students for careers outside universities, researchers warn.
Archive: https://archive.is/f1YtL
PhD programmes need to better prepare students for careers outside universities, researchers warn.
Archive: https://archive.is/f1YtL
It does sound paradoxal at first but is actually quite logical. The person without a PHD enters the corporate market at a younger age with a lesser degree. He has an easier access because he can get paid less and is more accepting of more menial tasks. PHD candidates are older, expect higher salaries due to their higher education, but actually have less corporate experience. That’s why the article is calling for a better preparation to work outside of academia jobs
“we just want someone who will take abuse for low pay.” - employers
The working world is very different from the laid back, very slow moving world of Academia.
Someone who has worked 8 years instead of studying has more experience and is therefore more valuable as a worker than someone with no experience even if they have a lot of knowledge and a piece of paper that proves it.
What kind of Academia are you talking about? You publish or perish, write grants to get projects funded, deliver (questionable) results in unreasonable deadlines or you’re out of a grant and therefore on the streets from one day to the next.
Then there’s the usual practice that almost all jobs except for the professor’s are temporary positions and if the project doesn’t get funded, you don’t get the desired results (see above) or you clash with someone in the administration that don’t like you, you’re out of a job when your contract is up for extension. And even if you do a good job, getting a new contract is never a given, therefore stringing temporary contracts together is horrible for your mental health.
When I finally switched from academia to industry because of all that bullshit my new colleagues had to remind me that I no longer have to adhere to these standards, have a permanent position and can relax without working unreasonable hours or unpaid overtime.
i wished that corporate was moving faster than academia, but its actually even slower and more conservative, spend 5 years getting a project to be finally put on the road-map, start working on-it for 2 years, get it descoped and postponed 2 years latter, then suddently have some manager panicking because we can’t meet our contractual commitment This is what I’ve been telling for years and why I was hired, go for a quick and dirty plan-B to have some QA telling you they can’t approve the release.
You can do a lot of critic to academia, but it’s way faster and more efficient than private corporation
There are companies, big companies even, that kill off underperforming projects after less than a year, and most don’t take years to agree projects.