- #36
arunma
- 927
- 4
eliya said:I'm new here and I don't have a PhD, in fact, I'm just starting my B.S. now.
The fact that Katz' article is on a university website and not just somewhere on the internet is making me feel that its purpose is to serve as a filter. I mean, they put it there for students to read and to deter those who want to get a PhD for the wrong reasons, those who really want to get a PhD will pursue it anyway.
Eh...even though I fully agree with Katz, I feel I should point one thing out. Just because it's on a university website doesn't mean the university endorses it. Dr. Katz has tenure, and one of the ideas behind tenure is that professors can say whatever they want without losing their jobs. Within reason, he's free to express his opinion on his website, and they can't stop him. If you take a look at Dr. Katz's other essays and musings, you'll find he's got a lot of weird things to say. In one article he defends homophobia, and in another he talks about the importance of terrorism (however you feel about these issues, it's clearly not the sort of thing a university would endorse). I recall reading somewhere that the university states that they don't endorse his essays.
Anyway, Katz's article has been around for awhile. The first time I read it, I dismissed it as stupidity. Personally I think that Dr. Katz himself is a nutjob. I independently came to the conclusion that getting a PhD was a complete waste of my time. Unfortunately it was just a few months ago, I was in the middle of year three of grad school by then, and at that point I figured it's worth completing just so I can go around calling myself doctor too.
eliya said:I really can't comment on how much work there is for Physics PhD's in academia, but it all reminds me how my parents always warned me to not become a musician. Generally speaking, they were and still are right. It's hard to make a living as a musician, but it's totally doable if you really want it as your job. You might need to make some sacrifices and it might suck in the beginning, but eventually you will find your sweet spot.
I hope someone will come here and correct me, since I don't want to be right about this. But I'm not sure if physics PhDs do necessarily find that sweet spot. I know of one postdoc in my research group who was running what Katz would call the postdoc treadmill for something like six years. He didn't get a tenure-track professorship, has mentioned that he would gladly leave physics if another job opportunity presented itself, and ended up taking a non-tenure-track physics job which he isn't too happy about. I know that all the successful physics PhDs will talk about how anyone can make it in physics if they apply themselves (and this guy is really good at his job), but when you're approaching your mid-thirties and haven't found a permanent position as a physicist, I have to wonder if Katz is right and the whole system is broken.
Oh, I'm not just working off of one data point here. I know another former postdoc who now lives with his parents. I know another who ended up teaching middle school. And of course there's no short supply of PhDs who ended up being programmers. Sure that's not a bad gig, but I could have gotten a B.S. in computer engineering and saved six years of my life if I wanted to do that.
So anyway, I really have to agree with the nutjob on this one. Physics isn't a religious vocation, it's a job. And it would be nice if physics PhDs could find stable, 40 hour/week jobs that pay well enough to afford house and support a family of four. To me that seems like the mark of a "sweet spot," and I don't see many physicists getting there apart from the tenured faculty. Am I missing something? Am I just hanging out with the wrong physicists?
eliya said:I know that being a musician is far from being a physicist...
I'm not so sure about that. Like you, my parents warned me not to become a musician, except that instead of musician they said physicist. I sort of feel like I've run off to join a rock band. I'm doing what I love, and I have few ways of actually making money by doing it. But hey, I'm about as disgruntled as Katz, so what do I know?
I guess I'm going with DrDu's recommendation and treating my PhD as my last chance to do something interesting. After that I'll probably ditch physics altogether for something with better job security.