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<p>Key phrase being “once they receive tenure”. </p>
<p>Considering how competitive even getting a tenure track job is nowadays, much less receiving tenure after several years, it’s far from a sure thing even with an elite top PhD in hand and LORs from movers and shakers in one’s field. One friend who recently got her PhD from a Top 5 program and advised by a notable academic in her field has been adjuncting for 2 years while continuing to research/publish in hopes of landing that elusive tenure-track position. There’s just too many fresh/recent PhD graduate applicants and not enough new open tenure track positions for most of them. </p>
<p>While the situation isn’t as bad in STEM fields, the trend towards moving towards more adjuncts and less full-time faculty is also affecting them. Also, in some fields, the most cutting edge and interesting research actually takes place in private industry due to funding and university politics. </p>
<p>A key factor in why some STEM PhD graduate folks I’ve known…including a relative never considered academia or left it even after gaining a tenure-track/tenured faculty position. </p>
<p>However, doing research in private industry has its own organizational politics issues…along with the fact you’re unlikely to have as much leeway in what you research and how you go about doing it because of considerations for the private company’s bottom-line. </p>