As opposed to getting out into industry/a completely different field.
And was it due to choice vs. inability to find a stable permanent position?
As opposed to getting out into industry/a completely different field.
And was it due to choice vs. inability to find a stable permanent position?
Comments
3/5
1/4 (only 2 graduated)
How do you mean? Like, tenure track job in academia?
Three of us became professors, some of my cohorts are working as postdocs and research scientists. I’d say more than 50% went into the industry though due to better pay.
Every person who did a PhD with my supervisor (at a low-ranked state school) has a TT job in academia or in a very related industry.
This is why I often comment here that rankings don’t matter as much as many people think. By that token, neither does supervisor productivity as our supervisor is not a publishing machine. He’s a fantastically careful scientist though, and has trained all of his students exceptionally well.
All of them. But I’m in a pretty theoretical field.
1/4, and that’s because only 1/4 wanted to stay in academia.
My PhD cohort was 10. 8/10 graduated. I am the only one still in academia.
I’m a historian and there were four people in my cohort. All of us graduated around 2020 and three of us, including myself, are still in academia with tenure track jobs. The one who left is running a small business with his spouse.
None of the eight of us from my program. I’m the closest one to academia because I’m doing a postdoc but it’s an industry postdoc which is basically an academic postdoc with better pay, a good work life balance, and no grant writing/money concerns (fully internally funded from our clinic)
There were maybe 10 PhD students ahead of and including me. Only 1 or 2 joined the PhD track every year, maybe 2 people stayed in academia and they just doe some adjunct work. Everyone else including me went into industry by choice, I don’t remember anyone else wanting to go into academia or talking about it
Hmmm. I am in history, and have not kept track of everyone, but I think somewhat less than half ever landed TT jobs. A couple of those found the career unsatisfying and did something else.
5/11 have TT jobs, others are in industry
1/4 I am the only one who is still in academia. If I include the cohort before and after mine, the number is 5/14. The faculty in my program definitely pushed everyone to stay, but certain labs tended to have a lot of people stay in academia, while others tended to have very few (most left for government research-type jobs).
I was about to say probably 50%, but then I started thinking about it, struggling to remember a few of the people who were actually in my cohort depending on how you define it, but in my case I’m mostly defining it as the people in my lab, and the answer is…
Most. Five out of six I think?
I attended 2 different unis. From the most prestigious one I feel like 50%+ became professors of some kind, at least 10 of my class mates. From the less prestigious one, I don’t know any who did.
My cohort was 14, we lost 3 along the way. I believe 4-5 of us are employed in academia in some capacity.
Top 10 school in the field.
Out of my cohort of ~13, only 2 became professors and one of those left for industry not long after. I’d say there was 1 more that had the potential and drive to make it, but he chose industry. One more is with a big national lab but not sure if permanent or still a postdoc.
None of my supervisor’s graduates became university professors despite some long postdoc careers, but one became a permanent staff scientist at a national lab, pretty much a PI so I guess that counts.
Physics btw.
4/10.
4 bombed out with an MS.
I don’t know what the other 2 did.
Out of my cohort of roughly 40, about 3 or 4 left before finishing the PhD. About 40% of those who graduated remained in academia about a decade later. Most are doing things relevant to their PhD.(e.g. industry, own company, clinicians). Large public R1.
16 people started 10 yrs ago, 1 switched programs so idk, 2 MD/PhD still in residency, 3 postdocs, 10 outside academia.
Of the 10 (or so), I am the only one who remains in academia and I’m hanging on by a thread by commuting to another state just to keep my career alive. I’ve published multiple books, but no one wants me for anything other than contingent duty. It feels like booty calls with no commitment.
Cohort of 11 (History). I’m the only one left in full-time academia. Some didn’t finish. One who finished decided that he’d rather be a librarian. One moved all the way up to provost at a very small Evangelical college, and is now working for bigger bucks at an accrediting agency. And then there’s me, an associate professor at an R1, and up for full next year. The others who finished didn’t find TT jobs. (The market was a disaster then as well.)
I think that one of the key factors explaining the attrition rate from the “industry” is that our program was rather inhumane in numerous ways, and this incentivized students to get out of academia. We all seem to have left with a bad taste in our mouths. I could complain on and on about it. But there’s no point, and I understand that things have changed significantly under new leadership. There’s no longer this belief that professors are born Phoenix-like from the ashes of immolated PhD students.
I stuck it out in part because my advisor was the exception to the rule. He never treated me as an inferior, let alone a servant. I will forever be grateful to him, since I love the academic life.
9/10. But I’ve heard since Covid the latter cohorts are barely over 50%. Graduated from a major R1 too. If true, it’s really sad.
Hard remember who exactly was in my cohort, but most got tenure track jobs in academia.
There were 12 of us in our year (started in 2014, humanities department) and four of us currently have academic jobs, all permanent. The rest didn’t necessarily fail to get an academic post but decided not to go for one in the first place.
I’m in linguistics and was part time, so was across maybe 3 cohorts? My actual cohort (started the same time as me) was me and one other, and I’m the only one in academia on a slight tangent field. That and we didn’t really operate on intake cohorts, we all sort of drizzled in, bar one year where 5 showed up at once.
Of my overall cohort (started while I was there and graduated within a year or so of me), there were 13 of us (I’ll only count 12 cause one was one gent who was a retired academic doing a second PhD for S&Gs), 8 are in academia, 2 at the same university (1 in the department, one (me) in a different faculty), and AFAIK 3 of us have tenure, maybe more now (lost track of a few when I moved faculties). Of the non-academics at least one is teaching, 2 didn’t finish (though one plans to return when health allows), and I never heard from the other two again. I run into some of them at conferences occasionally.
If you add people who started before me and graduated/left while I was there, that’s another 4 or 5. One of that group was my fill in supervisor for a semester and has tenure, another is in academia at another university. One failed out (which takes effort, really). One or two…disappeared? I don’t remember them graduating but don’t remember seeing them after a PhD progress mini-conference when I was maybe half way?
Should add these ‘cohorts’ are a bit wobbly because they were in the same school, had one of two supervisors in Linguistics, but may have technically been culture studies, Applied Linguistics or similar PhDs not linguists.
I am literally the only one, who is NOT in the academia out of my cohort. I’ve got a PhD in Theology & Religious Studies.
50%.
4 out of 5 (80%) stayed in academia.
I think my PhD ‘cohort’ (people who started together) was 8. We did not all finish together due to the nature of humanities research and the program (some PhD students started with an MA, some did not).
6 finished, 1 transferred, and one left ABD when his wife got a job. Looks like all 7 of us that finished are still in academia: 4 in their initial placements, and 3 (myself included) who bounced around a bit.
FWIW, I did not go to a Top 10 or Ivy university.
I would say maybe 2/3? Some wanted to stay, but we just graduated around the pandemic and they just went back to their previous jobs
3 of 6.
Two didn’t finish, one kind of disappeared to rural France?
Two, last time I checked. Not counting the bunch that ended up in university administration shuffling grant money around.
My husband and I are the only R1 professors from our PhD cohort of ~20. There’s one other person left postdoc-ing who it might work out for. The rest have moved on to industry or community college/adjunct work.
Our class is actually pretty good. The year above us had zero profs. I’m the first professor my advisor produced, and I’m the first US R1 produced from the whole research group historically.
That’s a non-ivy-league school for ya. The odds are never in your favor.
Sidenote, I was also the only woman hired in the US in the year I got my job. There were only about 10 jobs total that year. The job market is rough.
My cohort was 6. I am currently a TT assistant professor and there is another who has an academic scientist type position. All others are industry
Three are professors, one is a lab manager at a uni, and the other is a biotech executive.
My cohort was about 10; I think 3 got their PhDs; and I believe I’m the only one in academia.
Of the 4 of us I’m not sure what 1 is up to after his postdoc, but I know two of us are in academia still. One was done right after PhD.
2/8. Humanities. PhD in 2002.
7 out of 8 are still in academia from my cohort. The one who left, left immediately after the PhD to become a high school teacher.
Of the 32 in my cohort in biomedical science there is 1 professor as of this year, just accepted, starting his position in January. There are probably 2 more who are still postdocs. We all came in together in 2013.
From my close group of 7, including me, 1 is still in academia. And that person is not me.
1983 started with 14, 4 graduated, all with professorships or retired or dead:(. I was the baby of our class.
For weird historical reasons, there were technically two different programs with overlapping but largely similar remit at my school, so technically two cohorts.
Of my cohort of 7, 4 finished. I’m the only one left.
If you include the other program, I think we hit 11, of which 6 finished, and 2 are still in academia.
Those who didn’t finish: basically entirely choice (or were asked to leave because of bad behavior).
Those who finished but didn’t end up in academia: largely lack of stable jobs.
I had a cohort of 7 in ag STEM. Of the PhDs: one went TT R1 (me), three went to government, one is a community college professor in her hometown and also runs a small organic farm. For the two masters, both went to industry and are super happy!
Like 1 ha. And at a somewhat no-name midwestern state school (which she seems to love, no shade).
I remember there being something like 10-12 in my cohort, though my memory is a bit hazy. Including myself, I think maybe about 7 finished, but it’s hard to track because everyone took a different amount of time and by the end we had scattered around a bit.
Of those that finished, I’m only aware of one who is in a tenure track position (mainly because she was smart about pivoting at the right time), though there might be another person who ended up on the TT. Maybe 2-4 of us (including myself) are in full-time NTT positions. I know one guy who went into publishing.
When I joined the program back in 2012, it had a decent reputation for placement despite being a middle-of-the-pack program. I should have seen the writing on the wall, though, because some of that was resting on laurels. The people who were defending when I started did alright, but then each year fewer and fewer graduates ended up in tenure track positions. There will still be one or two per cohort, but it’s becoming less frequent.
About halfway through my time there, the department finally started seriously talking about alt-ac career preparation (a bit too late for it to benefit me). The faculty had an impeccable pedigree and so just kind of assumed that their students would manage to follow in their footsteps. They couldn’t put themselves in the shoes of people who might not want to go into academia (or might not be able despite the will).
In my PhD program (top but not elite program, interdisciplinary humanities), my cohort kind of split up because some people took extra time due to COVID. So between the people I started with and people I finished with, two people got tenure track jobs (one had to quit for personal reasons though + I don’t know what she’s doing now), two people are lecturers at a top university, one is a curator at a very prestigious museum, one had a curatorial job but quit for mysterious reasons and is now adjuncting at a community college, and one is a VAP. I had a nice postdoc but then had a baby and am now adjuncting in this terrible economy, though I’ve been pursuing alt ac work for personal + economic reasons. Most of us got fellowships, postdocs, or VAPs 1-2 years out of graduation. I
think a huge amount of where people placed was luck and circumstance with some very volatile changes in my field due to politics and covid.
Yo we really gotta qualify these answers with when you graduated
Out of my cohort of 16, I think 3-4 of us are still in academia
Cohort of 7- two of us, but only I am FR and we both have side jobs in the field.
Cohort of 15, Education. Finished in 2024.
2 have tenure-track jobs, 5 are in research or industry gigs. 2 are still in the program, 3 dropped out, and I’ve lost track of the other 3.
My supervisor’s lab has a better ratio, but those of us with jobs in academia have moved out of province, sometimes out of country, for full-time tenure-track work. Our subfield is fairly niche and there are not many hires per year (3 in 2024, by my count).
My cohort was 15
13 graduated
7 stayed in academia (are postdocs rn)
4 in industry
IDK the rest
Stayed? I avoided it before I even walked across the stage. I think 3 from my initial cohort are in academia, and its the university where they did their PhD.
Academia is a shithole for 95% of PhD grads.
My cohort (humanities) was 8 people, none of us stayed in academia except technically for one that still hasn’t finished the PhD and is adjuncting in the meantime. Mostly due to lack of academic jobs.
Let’s see..
We started at 12. Out of these, 3 mastered out. Of the 9 remaining, one works at a university in an admin role, 1 has a TT job, 3 have non-TT academic jobs. One is still trying to land something. The rest have pivoted to something else.
I am the only one of PhDs at around my time, and one slightly older. Most quit because it is simply toxic and unsupportive of life itself
None of the six PhD graduates during my time stayed in academia. Three of us work for the government (USGS or county), two work for the local national lab, and the last was doing their PhD part-time, and just continued working their full-time job like normal.
I only know of one person who graduated from our department and ended up in a TT position, and that’s only because they did their PhD at a much better school. Our department is also more focused on MS students, so it is not surprising that none of the PhD students end up in academia.
There were like 13 at first. Two left after their first year. Then everyone else graduated and 5 of us stayed in academia. One of them left after getting tenure. I’m still pre tenure so I might also leave…
Cohort of five in social sciences that started in 2019. One left ABD. One left academia. Two are now in TT positions. One is in a postdoc.
I did a PhD in a world top20 uni, between myself and 5 peers 3 of us are tenured in a world top 20 uni, one still in the postdoc life, one dropped out
4 of us started together in 1995; 5 finished- one transferred in from a closely related program. All now tenured professors with active research programs. 4 at full. 1 NAS member.
I’m not the intended cohort for this question, I’m old. But I’m going to answer anyway. For fun.
It’s been a while. Currently professor in a Bioscience at an R1.
I started grad school in 1979. I was one of 5 in my class. The one I remember best, brilliant woman coming from a school I could never have gotten into myself. I admired her greatly. She transferred out to an even better program after her first year. Last I saw her, she was helping run an educational institute.
Another of my classmates ended up high in the research administration and policy offices of NIH.
Another guy, Bill. CalTech undergrad. I’ve never met anyone closer to Sheldon Cooper. Even kind of looked like him. He just kind of oozed brilliance, except not in an arrogant way. He was just bloody smart and socially awkward. What I remember most about him was the research he’d worked on as an undergrad. He’d been working on what appeared to me to be a small biological curiosity. The potential causes of the curiosity included one obvious, and quite mundane possibility, which he had experimentally ruled out as well as one could. The hard part of the problem, was that there were no other obvious potential causes, and Bill believed there might be a new principle to be discovered in the answer. Reasonable enough!
Anyway, Bill also left the program after the first year. He went back to CalTech and returned to work on his curiosity. I heard from a friend, that he’d finally cracked it, but it turned out to be the mundane cause he thought he’d ruled out.
The last member of my class was named Keith. Keith was slight of build, had long curly hair, was outgoing and nice to everyone. I have no memory of Keith beyond that.
And me. The dumbest one of the group. 🤣