Is tenure even worth it?

[DataTranslator]

I concluded it was not worth it. I left at the assistant professor level.
I miss teaching and doing research, but I’m glad I don’t participate in the academic game anymore.

I have found ways of being creative doing ML research in the private sector.

[Neo-Reloaded]

It's depressing considering these are the succesful stories which are surrounded by a lot of "unsuccesful" ones. But this is the result of living in this materialistic world, where people are only thinking in terms of money and competition. We need more compassion in this world.

[surajpowar]

I totally understand your take. I am currently a grad student and I am really thinking to do post doc before even applying for Academia jobs. Simply because it being over competitive and extremely hard to get a position.

[aryansaxena]

I'm starting my PhD next week, will be working on data driven dynamical systems, loads of ODEs, analysis, ML and AI. I am seriously considering leveraging my doctorate to getting a position in industry rather than academia.

[thelocalsage]

I think the place where my skills align best with the needs of the world is probably in academia, but i just can’t keep being so poor anymore. it just ruins your life. i just finished my master’s, and I’d love to get a PhD, but in grad school I was working 60 or more hours a week with a learning disability and still had to get on food stamps. i don’t know how that ship stays afloat for anyone, let alone how to make it work for me. c’est la vie, i suppose.

[bennoarchimboldi]

Very interesting. Would you say if someone is not really keen on getting an academic position, he shouldn’t worry about unemployment? Or is it equally challenging to get an industry job with a math PhD? If he’s doing something related to machine learning then I assume it’s easier to get an industry job than it is for a number theorist. But would you say it wouldn’t be too difficult for a number theorist to get an industry job even if his work has no direct applications? (I know number theory can be applied to cryptography but I guess most cryptography positions in industry require extensive coding skills. So industry cryptographers are basically software engineers rather than mathematicians. So let’s just assume this number theorist is not very well versed in coding…. Should he worry about unemployment or….?)