this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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Totally, everyone who continued to a PhD in my area was batshit insane. Entirely fuckin deranged but diligent enough to write thousands of words of cogent garbage that no one could be bothered contesting.
Isn't there some stat that PhD students have 3x the mental health issues than undergrads? Which nowadays is like 100% lol
Given that academia is an absolutely grueling and downright soul-crushing career, I am not surprised only those with mental issues are wild enough to sustain it.
You misunderstood the statistic. Mental health issues are caused/exacerbated by academia not the other way around. Many of my cohort and friends were bullied, harassed, abused, taken advantage of by supervisors and senior academic staff who often have unreasonable demands and expect blinding unquestioning allegiance.
People who run research groups are not selected for based on their people skills but rather academic performance/pedigree, which is the biggest issue IMO.
Academia is a tough gig. Peer review and thesis chairs perform the review of candidates work, trust me they are almost always contested to varying degrees.
You know what gets me? The fact that the public seems to think that academia is well paid, I've had a few people make comments along that line. Cue me, manically laughing when they confusedly ask why anyone is in academia if it's high stress and relatively poorly paid.
Truth. It's well paid higher up the ladder but those jobs are few and far between. Depends on the country as well - the US and UK wages suuuck.
I can't complain. I personally love it and have only worked in supportive teams.
Unless you're in university administration, academia is not well paid. University administrators who are well paid are usually EdDs (essentially, university-focused MBAs) who didn't take the normal academic route of research first.