Academia: How hard is it really?

[Frozen Fruit]

Is it really so difficult to get a position as an assistant professor then crawl up the ranks? Is there anyone here who has done it and succeeded? Anyone who has tried and failed? Are there any statistics on the matter?

 

[clope023]

And heeeeeeeeeeere's twofish-quant!

 

[lisab]

Here's a good thread about that:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=474010

 

[Math Is Hard]

And heeeeeeeeeeere's twofish-quant!

 

[deluks917]

Imagine you want to work at a "good" university, say top 60. In a given year what fraction of universities are going to have a tenure track position open. I'd say like 1/4. That's 15 jobs a year.

 

[twofish-quant]

Is it really so difficult to get a position as an assistant professor then crawl up the ranks?

Depends on the topic. If you have a Ph.D. in finance or math education, then it's pretty easy to get a job as a professor, but if you were interested in getting a Ph.D. in those topics, you probably would be reading some other board.

In physics it's been tough since 1970 and there are books on this

http://web.mit.edu/dikaiser/www/CWB.html

Also it's tough for structural reasons that are unlikely to change soon.

AIP has statistics left and right

http://www.aip.org/statistics/catalog.html