why do people go into science?

[jrtom]

Women In Science

The title is actually somewhat misleading, as it has more to do with reasons why people go into science as a career. I think some of it is oversimplified, but it's worth reading.

Comments

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Much of what you've said here (in terms of generalities) isn't new to me; I've been a PhD student for, well, um, about 7 years. (Plus two years prior to that of being a MSc student.) The income differential is, if anything, even stronger for people in my field (CS), although at least there are a fair number of employment opportunities for PhDs (in various industrial research labs) that pay pretty well, have good professional recognition, and even let you publish if you want to.

I'm surprised at your report of K-12 salaries; my mom was an elementary school teacher for a while (while I was in high school) and as I recall salaries were lower then, even in a fairly affluent area (Northern Virginia). (OTOH, that was *cough* > 15 years ago. gak.)

International students, comparison: yes and no. The proportions I see are about the same, but the quality varies more, in my experience. I would agree that their dedication (if not necessarily the commitment to the PhD per se) is typically higher, but they tend to be not nearly as good at communicating their results and their significance, in my experience. (One could argue that the real measure is in the science--and to a large extent that's true--but if no one reads your papers (or understands your talks) then it hardly matters how smart you are.)

I also have a friend who's an astronomy postdoc. :)

My research, not surprisingly, also involves 12-16 hours/day of staring at a computer. :) I'd say that it's exciting--or at least engaging and interesting--to the extent that I'm able to learn new things and solve new problems. The reading of all the back literature so as to be able to demonstrate that really, no one's done this before, though, can be, well, less than stimulating.

Glad you've found a niche for yourself, in any case.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

My apolgies if anything I said was excessive - I usually assume everyone on the internet is a layman when I'm feeling nice. (They're 15-year-old boys when I'm feeling mean.)

K-12 salaries are DEFINITELY very regional. The numbers I quoted were for the Northeast: $40-50k in NYC and Boston; $23k in Western MA.

Grad students in Astronomy have a single goal: PhD, and teach at a university. Any other professions we end up with (such as community college, K-12, telescope operator, satellite programmer, NASA engineer, Wall Street) come from washing out of the PhD program with an MS. International grad students have only one modification in their career goals: take the PhD to a Uni. back home (if they're non-Western), or take it to another EU state if they are Western.

Doing research is only exciting if you're thoroughly a geek committed to that field. I was 99% committed, which wasn't quite enough. ;) I'll go back to grad school for my mid-life crisis.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

No apologies necessary. Although I must say that I am shocked--shocked!--that you haven't perused my personal website in detail. ;)

It's not 100% certain that I'll end up finishing my PhD, for a variety of reasons. (I'll be starting a full-time job in June and--in theory--writing my dissertation on the side.) If I don't, I may or may not go back for my mid-life crisis. We'll see, I guess. :)

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the last thing I need right now is another distraction/attention divider. But thanks. :) [Ref]