PhD Pros & Cons

[MooseTracks]

I keep hearing about how bad the academic job market is and it scares and discourages me. I really want to pursue a PhD in Poli Sci to be a professor, but everyday on Twitter I see people tweeting about the toxic academic culture, quitting academia for industry, etc. I'm very passionate about teaching but I had a few meetings with former supervisor and potential supervisors who kept describing how difficult it is to get placed at a university these days. I keep hearing about how a PhD can also prepare you for an industry job, but I already work in the data industry so it wouldn't make sense to pursue a PhD just for that personally. I'm just feeling very sad and lost -- being a professor, especially to be a mentor to other women of color, is my dream (especially because I did not have that much support in my academic career thus far). Does anyone have any advice?

[Guillermo el Conquistador]

My two cents is that at this stage PhD in political science for you is something you pursue solely for passion. And in order to determine whether you are passionate enough, those who are already in academia, for one reason or another, engage in this kind of "obligatory scaremongering" to make sure that you are doing it neither for money nor for non-academic interests (in plain words, you should care more about how your work improves existing theories than its effect on real world). Based on what you wrote, I'd say you seem passionate enough to embark on an academic career track. Simply try to pay less attention to how other your future colleagues would treat you and more attention to whether there are questions and puzzles which you have a burning desire to solve. I believe that burning desire is sufficient and virtually necessary for you to succeed in academia. It may take some time to find those questions, and doing a master's or PhD program would be a great way to find them out. Once you find them, nothing will deter you.