Is there a negative bias towards students planning on government/industry?

[biasquestion]

Is there a negative bias at top schools toward students going into a PhD program knowing they will be pursuing a government or industry position? Is this a crucial component to finding an advisor?

[Bayesian1701]

I don’t think so.  Most of the programs I interacted with (Baylor, UT, Duke, TAMU, Mizzou, Virginia Tech) have a significant (40%+) portion of their students go into industry.  I haven’t seen places with a lot of people going into government work but I don’t there is as many positions (I maybe be wrong) as industry/academia.  If people do at all the time there shouldn’t be much of a bias.  That being said, there are probably some advisors and programs that look down on industry work but I don’t know of any.  

Edited March 25, 2018 by Bayesian1701

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I don't think so, but you may not want to put it in your application that you have *no* intention of going into academia. The PhD degree is one that trains you to conduct academic research, but most PhD advisors are are understanding if you choose a different path outside the academe.

[bayessays]

Agreed that it's probably not a huge negative, and nobody will care once you are in the program, but for your SOP you should probably just hint that you would like an academic career.