[ordinaryleastsquared]

I'm finishing up my first (and last) year in a pretty well regarded social science phd program, I also fully swallowed the red pill 6 months ago, so to speak. Being a college professor was a good gig in a bygone era, but things have changed.

I'm not sure how many RVF members are thinking about going this route, but in my college days myself, and many of my friends, were pushed to go on to phd's by our faculty members/advisors etc. Here is the brass tax:

Pros

1) A tenured track position at a university can be a pretty sweet gig, freetime in the summers, travel stipends to conferences, social status, etc.

2) You get to set your own hours, to a certain extent.

3) You get to constantly keep learning throughout your career, and are employed in a fairly secure, lower stress environment, with good job security (tenure track only).

Cons

1) PhD programs in every field produce more graduates then the market can handle, every year. Tenured faculty tend to keep their jobs well into retirement age. Thus the amount of job oppenings per year is structurally skewed against most job market candidates. Getting a PhD from Harvard increases your odds, though most PhD programs are not housed in the Ivies.

2) Even if you are lucky enough to get a job offer after a year or two on the market, it likely will be adjunct these days, and has a good chance at being at Southeast Iowa State Uni in the middle of nowhere.

3) If you end up in smaller sized college town your dating options are going to suck: If you're caught banging your students, you will be fired and never work in academia again. Even dating college girls that are not your students, if caught, will lead to getting judged by your fellow faculty (especially women) and could lead to loose out on contract extensions and tenure. The smaller the town, the harder it is to bang college girls on the low, and the higher chance people (i.e. your faculty peers and chair) will catch on.

4) Its hard to have fun, especially in smaller college towns. Feel like hitting the bars, take a few shots, and talk to girls? If your students see you, they could complain to your chair, or worse, make false allegations. See point 3.

5) You are constantly at the mercey of an instituion that favors women. College campuses are known as bastions of feminism. College girl accuses you of something innapropriate? Everyone from your chair, to the police, to the dean of students will take the side of the girl given her 'protective status' in the instiution (see false UVA rape case).

6) It takes forver to even get to the job market. PhD's take 4-8 years on average, and along they way the most your stipend will pay is $14-20K. You will have no time to make extra money or take side jobs or projects. Think what else you could do with your life in years and energy taken to get the holy PhD.

7) You won't have time or want to read anything for fun or improvement outside of your field. Trust me, you just won't want to. I read the RVF and the news.


I could go on. It's unfortunate, but the academic world, like much of western society, has become a bad route for a man these days. Where I go from here, I do not know. But it will be better than what I have as a phd student.

OLS

[Peregrine]

http://100rsns.blogspot.ca

'Nuf said.

[ordinaryleastsquared]

(03-29-2015 11:01 PM)Peregrine Wrote:  

http://100rsns.blogspot.ca

'Nuf said.

Thanks for sharing that.

[Sp5]

Go to a military recruiter and get an officer's commission in the branch and specialty of your choice.

[Captain Gh]

At the end of the Day just make sure that you'll be making $$$Bank for yourself! The Anger stemming from the Red Pill can and will get to you in sneaky ways if you let it get to you! Make sure that the second you drop out that money will still be coming in your pockets.

[Windom Earle]

(03-29-2015 10:45 PM)ordinaryleastsquared Wrote:  

brass tax

tacks

[Basil Ransom]

Regarding #1: The federal government subsidizes far more people *getting* PHDs, than it does *jobs* for those PHDs once they graduate. It's colossally retarded, and devastating.

Nice to hear you've moved on.

[philosophical_recovery]

I took a pay hit, or made 1/3 what I would in industry, by going to a phd program. I hated it, ended up hating my prof, and bailed and moved across the country before I even got two years in.

I wish I never touched grad school. If it's really needed, your employer will most likely pay for it. I've learned so much more by just reading up on the relevant information and learning things myself.

[Menace]

It's not the PhD per se, but the discipline. Social science? Yes, waste of time completely. Plus you will be surrounded by losers.

PhD in physics or math from a place like MIT? I'm pretty sure you can find gainful employment that pays significantly more than the median wage.

Edit: not advocating for PhD in any discipline.

[Dalaran1991]

Yeah, I started out being Honor Student in Sociology and was groomed to go to Berkeley, but I'm glad I dropped out of that and moved to France.

I think the most fuck up thing in PHD is this: it's biggest pro it's supposed to be that you work on a subject you like, say things you like and teach things you like. But forget all that shit. There's so much fucking politics in academia. You will NOT have autonomy on your work until you get tenured. You have to say and publish things that are politically correct and approved by your department. Your professor disagree with you? Forget it. Your grant department doesn't approve? No money for research. A lot of kiss ass and intrigue playing among your department colleagues.

Competence doesn't really factor much into your success as much as how politically correct your research is. At my school they take a dumbass black female professor who does some stupid reseach on segregation in the local community, while they fired our debate coach professor who gave his heart and mind to train debaters and prepared them for lawschool, simply because he start to promote anti-feminism ideas.

[Crownife]

Would Masters in engineering or sciences be a bad thing?

[Menace]

(03-30-2015 02:51 PM)Crownife Wrote:  

Would Masters in engineering or sciences be a bad thing?

Generally those are the most useful kinds of higher degrees. For example, in industry (like pharma), if you only have a BSc, you will be a lab drone. If you have a MSc, you will not only be paid more, but will have more opportunity for supervisory roles, although you will still be beneath a PhD. Incidentally, I would not go into pharma now, so this is just an example.

A decent job with a MSc is being a lab manager for a professor. You're in a university setting (pussy opportunities), you still do some science, but you don't have to write grants, etc. Pays $60-80K I think.

[Nightwing]

in North America, your doctorate is completely useless. Nobody respects it.

[Dalaran1991]

(03-30-2015 03:39 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

in North America, your doctorate is completely useless. Nobody respects it.

Same thing in France. If anything the academia world here is even more elitist. A Phd doesn't mean shit, but if you are actually full professor that commands a lot of respect.

I'm at The Sorbonne right now and we have a 35 year old attractive professor. Guy is a fucking genius and did a co-degree at Columbia. Girls giggle at his sight all the time.

In France people give half a rat ass about dating your students it seems. One of our most famous professors are also famous for goggling young nubile students. One time my research director (woman) got really mad at him because he gave a big tit blonde A despite her never coming to class the entire semester.

So I guess if you can make academia works for you it's a pussy paradise.

[monster]

Drop out of a PHD program because you have better opportunities, not because the current political climate of academia. Political climates change with the years.

And after all, the best way to enact change is from WITHIN.

[RexImperator]

"I can't change the world, but I can change the world inside of me."

[The_CEO]

Woman are also dropping out of academia for similar reasons.
It's not a good profession right now - at least for Humanities and Social Sciences aspirants.

On the other hand, now you won't be able to write your dissertation on Social Dynamics!

[RexImperator]

We've had other threads on this, but a lot of the liberal arts have been ruined with the political correctness and "cultural Marxism" stuff.

[Nightwing]

(03-30-2015 03:48 PM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 03:39 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

in North America, your doctorate is completely useless. Nobody respects it.

Same thing in France. If anything the academia world here is even more elitist. A Phd doesn't mean shit, but if you are actually full professor that commands a lot of respect.

I'm at The Sorbonne right now and we have a 35 year old attractive professor. Guy is a fucking genius and did a co-degree at Columbia. Girls giggle at his sight all the time.

In France people give half a rat ass about dating your students it seems. One of our most famous professors are also famous for goggling young nubile students. One time my research director (woman) got really mad at him because he gave a big tit blonde A despite her never coming to class the entire semester.

So I guess if you can make academia works for you it's a pussy paradise.

Congrats on the formation at the Sorbonne.

I tell you, the only reason for academia is pussy, and easy cash, which is why I love academia. France is one of the most progressive countries in the West. You can't stop students from getting attracted to you, because you are always gesturing around when explaining, some girls have fetishes/daddy issues. He probably screwed your woman director on the side, or she wanted to get screwed. When I beome a professor, I sure as hell would screw my female department director, and if I were a genius it would obviously be part of my strategy for success. I don't really care about full-time, I know you get to be called 'Professeur', and it actually means something, but I just want enough money to subsidize my habits: girls, vacation, girls.

For girls, if you're good-looking, all you need is part-time. Like you said, the girls giggle at him.

[ordinaryleastsquared]

(03-30-2015 07:05 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 03:48 PM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 03:39 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

in North America, your doctorate is completely useless. Nobody respects it.

Same thing in France. If anything the academia world here is even more elitist. A Phd doesn't mean shit, but if you are actually full professor that commands a lot of respect.

I'm at The Sorbonne right now and we have a 35 year old attractive professor. Guy is a fucking genius and did a co-degree at Columbia. Girls giggle at his sight all the time.

In France people give half a rat ass about dating your students it seems. One of our most famous professors are also famous for goggling young nubile students. One time my research director (woman) got really mad at him because he gave a big tit blonde A despite her never coming to class the entire semester.

So I guess if you can make academia works for you it's a pussy paradise.

Congrats on the formation at the Sorbonne.

I tell you, the only reason for academia is pussy, and easy cash, which is why I love academia. France is one of the most progressive countries in the West. You can't stop students from getting attracted to you, because you are always gesturing around when explaining, some girls have fetishes/daddy issues. He probably screwed your woman director on the side, or she wanted to get screwed. When I beome a professor, I sure as hell would screw my female department director, and if I were a genius it would obviously be part of my strategy for success. I don't really care about full-time, I know you get to be called 'Professeur', and it actually means something, but I just want enough money to subsidize my habits: girls, vacation, girls.

For girls, if you're good-looking, all you need is part-time. Like you said, the girls giggle at him.

Here in the States you can't bang your students, you will get fired or even arrested. I'd be worried about even banging non student college girls if I were a prof. Its stupid, but it would be looked down on here even if you're only 35.

Even if you banged a girl from one of your classes after she graduated you would probably get accused of favoritism. I've seen it happen a few times.

[komatiite]

I respect your decision, OP, and wish you luck in whatever the next chapter in your life will be. I cannot fathom how far down the rabbit hole the typical Social Science program must be at this point at universities.
I remember seeing this a couple months ago, absolutely blew my mind:
"Occupy the Syllabus" http://www.dailycal.org/2015/01/20/occupy-syllabus/

Quote:

The course syllabus employed a standardized canon of theory that began with Plato and Aristotle, then jumped to modern philosophers: Hobbes, Locke, Hegel, Marx, Weber and Foucault, all of whom are white men. The syllabus did not include a single woman or person of color.

Jesus H. Christ. Read it if you must, but you can probably extrapolate the contents of the article from that statement alone.

Here is a pretty topical post in a big Canadian paper today:
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-commen...ectualism/

Quote:

The universities are running a risky race. The more they quiver before the onslaught of the cause-mongers, refuse to take clear and bold stands against protest intimidation tactics, the more they lose their centuries-old prestige.

[RexImperator]

Quote:

The syllabus did not include a single woman or person of color.

Yeah, this is the kind of stuff that has ruined the humanities and liberal arts. Instead of focusing on knowledge and critical thinking it's become more important to prop up the self-esteem of various groups.

It's understandable the kids think this way since that's what public schools have become all about.

[Nightwing]

(03-30-2015 08:26 PM)ordinaryleastsquared Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 07:05 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 03:48 PM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

(03-30-2015 03:39 PM)Nightwing Wrote:  

in North America, your doctorate is completely useless. Nobody respects it.

Same thing in France. If anything the academia world here is even more elitist. A Phd doesn't mean shit, but if you are actually full professor that commands a lot of respect.

I'm at The Sorbonne right now and we have a 35 year old attractive professor. Guy is a fucking genius and did a co-degree at Columbia. Girls giggle at his sight all the time.

In France people give half a rat ass about dating your students it seems. One of our most famous professors are also famous for goggling young nubile students. One time my research director (woman) got really mad at him because he gave a big tit blonde A despite her never coming to class the entire semester.

So I guess if you can make academia works for you it's a pussy paradise.

Congrats on the formation at the Sorbonne.

I tell you, the only reason for academia is pussy, and easy cash, which is why I love academia. France is one of the most progressive countries in the West. You can't stop students from getting attracted to you, because you are always gesturing around when explaining, some girls have fetishes/daddy issues. He probably screwed your woman director on the side, or she wanted to get screwed. When I beome a professor, I sure as hell would screw my female department director, and if I were a genius it would obviously be part of my strategy for success. I don't really care about full-time, I know you get to be called 'Professeur', and it actually means something, but I just want enough money to subsidize my habits: girls, vacation, girls.

For girls, if you're good-looking, all you need is part-time. Like you said, the girls giggle at him.

Here in the States you can't bang your students, you will get fired or even arrested. I'd be worried about even banging non student college girls if I were a prof. Its stupid, but it would be looked down on here even if you're only 35.

Even if you banged a girl from one of your classes after she graduated you would probably get accused of favoritism. I've seen it happen a few times.

Love is love, how can you stop something like that? I know it does happen, but it appears to be hush-hush. Special Secret Extra Lesson: Human Anatomy.

Why would the prof let people know he got together after his student graduated? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the U.S. so heavily populated that this would be a drop in the river? Could there have been internet detectives, and sjw involved?

[ordinaryleastsquared]

^ The prof wouldn't let people know, the girl would: to get attention, exploit the situation, or get revenge for something.

If you dated a student after she graduated and left your class, it wouldn't neccesarily lead to termination. Though she could always claim you pressured her into sex while she was your student, etc. etc. The problem is that back in the day (maybe?) the student wouldn't have been taken seriously. Now she is.

[Phoenix]

Yeah I know many people in Australia who just kind of 'carried on' into higher degrees instead of manning-up and getting a real job. Generally the top of the class group. They see more value in upholding their 'I'm so smart' ego and their 'good grades are what matters most' philosophy that they throw their lives away into the obscurity of some academic department somewhere. Very few will ever become professors - it's mostly about their concurrent big intellectual egos and lack of masculinity, ambition, and assertiveness.

I noticed that the best performers, in terms of actual success, were the 50-80% group (on average), and especially people who were investing significant time in social activities, networking, and career preparation work. Were it not for the tiny minority of cases where I saw a PhD successfully used (not used in Australia of course), I'd go as far as to say 'PhDs are for adults, who want to remain children, by forever staying in school'.