> Probably 80% of the recent PhD grads I know are looking to leave academia, despite the fact that they went into it to pursue a career in academia

Has this changed recently?

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divbzero 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Not that I’m aware of? Most PhD grads not staying academia seems to be a long-running phenomenon. The number of permanent academic positions simply does not match up against the number of PhD grads.

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intrasight an hour ago | parent [-]

Some disciplines are much better at managing the PhD admissions to match the job opportunities. Philosophy for example.

But I don't think that's done with most science PhDs. Is that because of a culture of exploiting cheap labor?

	▲	overfeed 13 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Is that because of a culture of exploiting cheap labor? It's not just a culture; there is a lot of government and industry grant money funding (and enabling) the exploitation in the sciences. If applied philosophy is found to be productizable and/or beneficial to National Interest, the same exploitation would grow in Philosophy departments.
	▲	buellerbueller 35 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Or perhaps because of the vast appetite for the benefits that accrue from scientific research, without wanting to truly fund science and education.

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analog31 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My dad got his PhD in the 1950s,and went straight to industry. He said it was always this way.

However there have been a couple of long term trends: Switch to gig economy for college teaching, and loss of manufacturing industry. My first job out of grad school was in a factory.

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2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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spwa4 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes, in positivist sciences 20% intending to stay would be very high by historical standards.

This paper https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/93208 gives and estimate 87% PhD holders leave before becoming (tenured) faculty. And that's academia-wide. In the sciences more will be leaving. In exact sciences yet again more.

Truth is most people leave before even getting a PhD, so it's even worse (and the advice is to think long and hard before doing a PhD, and certainly starting one because you can't find a job for a few months is sure to result in disappointment)

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amelius 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I suppose the Trump administration didn't improve the situation.