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This is a question about whether I should leave academia. I understand it's very hard to answer the question, I would nevertheless like to know every opinion.

Some background: Got a PhD in pure math at 2012 in the US. Due to family reason only looked for jobs in my hometown right after graduate. Worked as a lecturer (teaching staff) in the department of mathematics for 8 years but never did a postdoc. I like doing research and teaching. Teach 6 courses per academic year. Have 9 papers, 7 of them are single-authored (I would like to say in my hometown no one is in my research field, so it's very hard to find coauthors). Due to workplace politics my contract as a lecturer does not get renewed. I hate corruption in academia very much.

I still have the heart and energy to learn (especially new things, like Physics), do research and publish papers. If you are talking about research resources, there is no problem for this because all my publications are not research-funded. Perhaps what I think I don't have is the heart and energy to work in academia and deal with all the non research things, like meeting people, writing research grant proposal (yes, perhaps my definition of research is very narrow).

My PhD advisor (who is a really nice guy, by the way) encourages me to look for academic jobs in some other countries. But after working for 8 years at university I have seen enough corruption in academia and ugliness of the people who are fighting for their tenure positions. I am very sick of it. Sometimes I do think of applying academic jobs in some other countries but I am afraid of falling into something I know I hate. Of course, I understand there is no free lunch.

If I leave academia, I could just find some part-time teaching jobs or private tutoring to make a living. Sometimes I do think of taking a master course in Physics or even doing a PhD (if I am able to do so). Leaving the possibility of having such an offer, if I do so it seems I am pushing myself back to academia.

Any opinion and suggestion is welcome. I can also provide more information (as long as it would not reveal my identity) if you need.

Thank you.

Ho Man-Ho
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  • which country? and context – SSimon Jun 05 '20 at 18:21
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    Are you sure this question is good for the site, ie have you done the research for that? For me it looks a little bit like personal advice. – user111388 Jun 05 '20 at 19:28
  • @SSimon Hong Kong. By context you mean? – Ho Man-Ho Jun 05 '20 at 19:29
  • I'm in Macao, my friend in Taiwan. @GRR the academy in Asia is really toxic. But industry is even more – SSimon Jun 05 '20 at 19:54
  • Start a YouTube channel and generate ad revenue. Go look at 3blue1brown to see what high quality content looks like and you’ll be off to the races. – GrayLiterature Jun 05 '20 at 19:57
  • Due to family reason only looked for jobs in my hometown right after graduate. --- For some context about other locations, I think the only people who had ANY degree in mathematics in my hometown (when I was growing up) were our two high school math teachers who had undergraduate math degrees (actually, one was in mathematics education I think). – Dave L Renfro Jun 05 '20 at 20:23
  • There is a certain unhelpful stigma of leaving academia, among the academics itself. From what I know people who do leave academia with a PhD are often quite successful in `real jobs' due to their strong problem-solving skills and work ethics. You tried one thing, and you could just as well try something else. Definitely non-academic jobs have their own pressures, but some of the things that make you feel sick in academia will not be there. Furthermore, in the current climate Universities may have big problems, but things like Data Science will just keep growing. – Evgeny Shinder Jun 05 '20 at 22:53
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    I don't know how we can help here -- in the end, it's about what you want, not what you should do, and I'm not clear from reading what it is that you want. – Wolfgang Bangerth Jun 05 '20 at 23:20

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