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From: siegman@sierra.STANFORD.EDU (siegman)
Newsgroups: soc.college,comp.edu,misc.jobs.misc
Subject: Re: Academia vs. Industry (for CS PhDs)
Message-ID: <150@sierra.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 16 Jul 90 20:06:44 GMT
References: <9518@hacgate.UUCP> <459@nitrex.UUCP>
Sender: siegman@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Anthony E. Siegman)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 27

Re economic factors:

1) For most any technical (science or engineering) area general
impression is that base salaries in industry are better than in
academia, especially in earlier years.

And (again, this is only "general impression") academics work harder:
more evenings and weekends, more stress.  This is partly self-imposed
competititve drive, especially in later years, partly tenure
competition in earlier years.

2) Consulting opportunities -- if you're willing and able to take
advantage of them -- can make up a lot of the base salary difference,
maybe go well beyond it.  Opportunities for patent or start-up income
much larger in the academic sphere...though of course you have to be
the right combination of lucky and entrepreneurial.

3) Job security in later years: MUCH better in academia.  In industry,
if you don't go into management -- which of course has it's own
problems and threats -- then somewhere past 45 or 50 you are more and
more likely to become an increasingly expensive, and increasingly out
of date, liability rather than asset.  There is now NO legally
supprted mandatory requirement age in universities.

This is, of course, a growing problem for the universities
themnselves, and this situation may change in the future; but for the
present it's a big plus for academic versus industry.