This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/antiwork by /u/Usual-Interaction-83 on 2023-08-11 17:28:07.
- Graduate students are in complete academic mercy of their PI (they can withhold your degree because you “did not publish enough”; not that requirements should not exist, but the ease of your degree can vary drastically within the same field depending on your PI)
- Graduate students are concentrated in cities (where the largest academic programs exist); yet in NYC they make less than $16/hr and in LA it is about $17/hr
- Grad students in America are 3X more likely than the rest of the population to experience mental health disorders
The people being trained on the most forefront aspects of our collective technological and societal tools/activities are also some of the most exploited individuals in the country.
If you hate academia you can leave… unfortunately this is not the full story. Depending on the source, about half of post-docs are international, on a student visa of some sort. Leaving is a much more perilous option when the two alternatives are staying in a program sucking your life away or upending your life and leaving the country within a few weeks/months.
It is understood (ask professors and students) that PIs have the ideas and students do all the work. Yet, in several states, students have limited unionizing opportunities.
What does it say about the U.S if we treat the next upcoming generation of scientists like this?
I always wanted to be highly specialized in whatever field I end up in; and it was a very difficult choice to leave academia, but I was unable to stomach the amount of crap I may be subjected to. Was I weak? Maybe. However the poor treatment of these students is unacceptable.
To any people that have similar aspirations:
You can get proper training w/o academia by working in the field with your bachelor’s. It is not as traditional, but if you work 10 years in the field I think you have just as much right to call yourself an expert as someone that went to grad school.
To those grad students/postdocs: What was your impression of academia before you started? Has it changed since?