Timeline for How many quit mathematics because they (are afraid that they) can not find a permanent job?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
24 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 3, 2017 at 19:54 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 3, 2017 at 20:30 | |||||
| Apr 3, 2017 at 19:06 | answer | added | Timothy Chow | timeline score: 10 | |
| Apr 2, 2017 at 13:46 | comment | added | Gerald Edgar | You could also ask how this statistic compares to other fields. For example: academia.stackexchange.com/q/87490/4484 | |
| Apr 2, 2017 at 8:59 | history | reopened |
Joseph O'Rourke Nikita Kalinin Dan Petersen R.P. Sebastian Goette |
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| Apr 2, 2017 at 1:57 | comment | added | David Roberts♦ | @Bombyxmori eg William Stein, who wanted to make progress on Sage and it wasn't happening in academia. | |
| Apr 2, 2017 at 1:40 | review | Reopen votes | |||
| Apr 2, 2017 at 8:59 | |||||
| Apr 2, 2017 at 0:50 | history | closed |
Carlo Beenakker Joseph Van Name YCor Douglas Zare Gerald Edgar |
Opinion-based | |
| Apr 2, 2017 at 0:47 | comment | added | Bombyx mori | One way to track it is to look up the graduate students list from top [universities][1] and track them down. But this obviously miss people like Yitang Zhang who could not find an academic position and stayed in "industry", or people like Simon Rubinstein Salzedo who opened his own start-up company, etc. On the other hand, a lot of people I know quit mathematics permanently after getting tenure-track positions, or even after they got tenured. So it is something very subtle to ask. [1]: math.columbia.edu/alumni/recent-phd-placement-data | |
| Apr 2, 2017 at 0:24 | answer | added | Paul Siegel | timeline score: 25 | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 22:03 | comment | added | Nikita Kalinin | @DouglasZare, Yes I can. People can quit academia for money: if you have a family and a postdoc without certain future, you can go to industry. Sure, it is a combination of reasons. One may ask: what is the first reason, what is the second... Or ask in percentage: 10% money 30%prestige, 50% working conditions... Definitely, it should be a work of sociologists. It seems that nothing like that was done. | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:46 | comment | added | Douglas Zare | Can you point to even a single individual that you are sure quit mathematics in this sense precisely for this reason and not a combination of reasons? Suppose some people want to do research if they can, then sees they aren't producing research good enough to get the permanent jobs they want. Does this count? What about someone who feels he/she can do more research in industry than in academia, does this count as quitting mathematics? I don't see how one can expect a sensible answer to this question. | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:33 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by Todd Trimble | ||
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:29 | answer | added | Joseph O'Rourke | timeline score: 8 | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:13 | history | edited | Nikita Kalinin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 307 characters in body
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| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:08 | history | edited | Nikita Kalinin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 307 characters in body
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| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:05 | comment | added | Nikita Kalinin | @paulgarrett yes, thank you. I definitely mean "research" mathematics. | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:04 | comment | added | paul garrett | It is not clear to me what "quitting mathematics" means. Does it mean leaving academic mathematics? Does going into finance count as quitting math? Does teaching in community college (or high school) count? | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:04 | comment | added | Gabriel C. Drummond-Cole | This seems like a better fit for academia.stackexchange.com | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 21:03 | comment | added | Nikita Kalinin | @YemonChoi I am not aware of any surveys, so any kind will do. | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 20:50 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 1, 2017 at 22:35 | |||||
| Apr 1, 2017 at 20:41 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | Could you give some guidelines for what kinds of survey data you are interested in (e.g. which time period, which countries)? I am conerned that this question will just attract anecdotes and "extrapolation from limited experience" | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 20:39 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | @Alephnull The OP is asking about people who have completed a PhD and then leave mathematics | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 20:39 | comment | added | Alephnull | Most who quit I think. Many people who get bad grades as an undergraduate decide not to go to graduate school because they can't be competitive. | |
| Apr 1, 2017 at 20:33 | history | asked | Nikita Kalinin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |