What kind of work is available for pure mathematicians who don't want to teach?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the career prospects for pure mathematicians who prefer not to pursue teaching roles. It explores potential job opportunities outside of academia, particularly in relation to specific areas of interest within pure mathematics, such as computational commutative algebra and algebraic geometry.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions what specific branches of pure mathematics are of interest to those seeking non-teaching careers.
  • Another participant specifies an interest in the computational aspects of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, mentioning Groebner bases and the potential for programming roles.
  • There is a concern expressed about the lack of clarity on job opportunities for PhD graduates in pure mathematics outside of academia, with a desire for more concrete examples of career paths.
  • A suggestion is made to investigate the career trajectories of recent PhD graduates through departmental resources, LinkedIn, and professional organizations like SIAM, as well as potential roles in government and defense sectors.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a shared interest in understanding the career options available to pure mathematicians outside of teaching, but there is no consensus on specific job roles or pathways, and the discussion remains exploratory.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include a lack of specific examples of career outcomes for pure mathematicians and the reliance on anecdotal evidence regarding job placements.

resolvent1
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Are there particular jobs that would be suited to such individuals, besides say programmer or actuary? Or jobs that such people tend to congregate to?

I ask this because I've found over the course of a couple of years as a grad student that I'm not too interested in teaching - though teachers seem to be the primary output of my department.
 
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Just how "pure" are you talking about? Like what branches specifically interest you?
 
To be specific, the computational side of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. Groebner bases and the like. So it's not as if there are no applications, and consequently programming is one natural route. However, I'm not expecting that a company would pay me to sit around and think about theorems. More generally, I'd like to get an overview of where PhD graduates who get their degrees in pure math have generally ended up, other than academia. Surely such people exist, but I've found it very difficult to find what they've been up to, other than vague references to "industry".
 
resolvent1 said:
More generally, I'd like to get an overview of where PhD graduates who get their degrees in pure math have generally ended up, other than academia. Surely such people exist, but I've found it very difficult to find what they've been up to, other than vague references to "industry".

you can find this out by asking your math dept about its PhD graduates, looking at the 'recent graduates' sections of math dept websites for other schools, doing a search on Linkedin for Math PhD's, look on SIAM, etc. I'm sure some of them also go into government and defense-related positions, such as working at RAND
 

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