<story><title>Beware survivorship bias in advice on science careers</title><url>https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02634-z</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wanderingmind</author><text>CS PhD is the outlier and not the norm. Most fields even in STEM its impossible to get a high paying job in the field of your thesis.</text></item><item><author>bertr4nd</author><text>While it may be true that many PhDs are not a financially good decision, I think the answer is not necessarily so clear cut for a computer science PhD.&lt;p&gt;I didn’t have any sort of foot in the door at FAANG level companies before my PhD (ask me about my 3x rejections from Microsoft!), but I was able to parlay my CS PhD into such a job, and the earning potential there is profoundly higher than would be found elsewhere.  Enough, even, to offset 6 years of lost earning potential.&lt;p&gt;Obviously this is just my experience, and those talented undergrads who can ace a Google interview are likely better off just taking it, but it’s not like the PhD was a vow of poverty.</text></item><item><author>wanderingmind</author><text>Most of these students have learnt statistics and importance of random stratified sampling. Unfortunately they are not using them in real life to get feedback on an event so important that you might spend a good part of decade of your career on it.&lt;p&gt;That said, personally I think doing a PhD is one of the worst things a person can do them financially long term. I think gambling is one of the few that ranks higher than PhD. They lose the most critical part of life they must be earning and saving to harness the power of compounding to become financially secure. On top, they learn no marketable skills that can get them a job out in industry or corporations.&lt;p&gt;Not teaching economics in school and colleges to all students is partially to blame as many undergrads believe just doing a PhD with minimum wages can make them happy. But when commitments increase and when they realize academic jobs are very few they become disillusioned and desperate.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jleyank</author><text>In chemistry at least, the PhD is the entry card for non-technician work.  Post-docs are seemingly required for the academic path, and are of some use for pharma, but the union card is a must.</text></comment>
<story><title>Beware survivorship bias in advice on science careers</title><url>https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02634-z</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wanderingmind</author><text>CS PhD is the outlier and not the norm. Most fields even in STEM its impossible to get a high paying job in the field of your thesis.</text></item><item><author>bertr4nd</author><text>While it may be true that many PhDs are not a financially good decision, I think the answer is not necessarily so clear cut for a computer science PhD.&lt;p&gt;I didn’t have any sort of foot in the door at FAANG level companies before my PhD (ask me about my 3x rejections from Microsoft!), but I was able to parlay my CS PhD into such a job, and the earning potential there is profoundly higher than would be found elsewhere.  Enough, even, to offset 6 years of lost earning potential.&lt;p&gt;Obviously this is just my experience, and those talented undergrads who can ace a Google interview are likely better off just taking it, but it’s not like the PhD was a vow of poverty.</text></item><item><author>wanderingmind</author><text>Most of these students have learnt statistics and importance of random stratified sampling. Unfortunately they are not using them in real life to get feedback on an event so important that you might spend a good part of decade of your career on it.&lt;p&gt;That said, personally I think doing a PhD is one of the worst things a person can do them financially long term. I think gambling is one of the few that ranks higher than PhD. They lose the most critical part of life they must be earning and saving to harness the power of compounding to become financially secure. On top, they learn no marketable skills that can get them a job out in industry or corporations.&lt;p&gt;Not teaching economics in school and colleges to all students is partially to blame as many undergrads believe just doing a PhD with minimum wages can make them happy. But when commitments increase and when they realize academic jobs are very few they become disillusioned and desperate.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>BeetleB</author><text>Not true. I worked in an engineering company that has a &lt;i&gt;lot&lt;/i&gt; of jobs that require a PhD. Pay well, too.&lt;p&gt;Lots of engineering companies have positions where they value PhDs.&lt;p&gt;Will it offset the cost of not earning all those years? Probably not.&lt;p&gt;Will you get those jobs without a PhD? Probably not.</text></comment>