I read this Goodbye Academia: Get a Life and Disposable Academic with interest.
Why? For the Goodbye post, the author provides some realistic personal anecdotes and perspective that tells those who are interested in academia the pros and cons of pursuing an academic career, through a PhD study. Not every one wants to pursue such an academic pathway, and though there were many who succeeded in achieving their goals, and having their dreams come true, it is not surprising that many others are enjoying or “struggling” their way through.
In the Disposable Academic post:
Indeed, the production of PhDs has far outstripped demand for university lecturers. In a recent book, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, an academic and a journalist, report that America produced more than 100,000 doctoral degrees between 2005 and 2009. In the same period there were just 16,000 new professorships.
This seems to match an Asian “motto” of: “Lots of “monks”, small amount of porridge”. Landing on an academic career seems to become a dream for many, but a fantasy or even an ideology for many academically bright scholars. A reality check means that many scholars have to strive hard in order to compete in the field.
To me, that is a hard lesson to learn, as I reflected on my own graduate study.
“Measurements and incentives might be changed, too. Some university departments and academics regard numbers of PhD graduates as an indicator of success and compete to produce more. For the students, a measure of how quickly those students get a permanent job, and what they earn, would be more useful.” Disposable Academic
So, get a life.