Administrative vs Academic

[dramos2016]

I see most PhD students frustrated for not finding a job on the academic side of things. But what about the administrative side? 

Does it count as "giving up" if you choose to go the route of running a department - deanship - etc?

There are certainly more jobs available, and most of them will end up paying better than professorships. Plus, the opportunity to teach a class here and there is almost always available. 

I'm curious what other's thing - or why you have chosen to go/not go to the administrative side of things?

[fuzzylogician]

At least in my field, department heads, Deans, etc. are all professors who have chosen to take on an administrative position at some point in their career, usually after already being quite established academically. They still (usually) have academic responsibilities, to varying degrees given their other admin responsibilities. These are not positions you apply for straight out of grad school, so it's not even an option one could consider. You'd have to find an academic job and be successful at it for a while before you could consider this move (which I personally don't think of as giving up, but I think that's irrelevant because it's a different career move at a different career stage than what you're imagining). And in that case, we're right back to where we started, with the problem of availability of academic jobs. 

[rising_star]

As @fuzzylogician said, to be a dean on the academic side, you typically need to have already been a full professor and department chair. Without that, you're unlikely to be considered. Things work differently on the student affairs side where the primary concern is your years of experience in administrative work. That typically requires starting at a lower level administrative position and then working your way up to Assistant Director, Associate Director, and then Director. These days many higher ed admin positions require a Master's in higher education or college student personnel, with the PhD typically listed as optional or, more rarely, preferred. Take a look at the Administrative section of Higheredjobs.com to get a better sense of what I mean by this. 

That said, there are some appealing things about the administrative side, including a more regular/predictable work schedule and potentially less pressure to have a 50+ workweek. This, of course, depends on the type of admin position you're in. The other issue though is that the PhD makes you overqualified for those positions, which can make it harder to get hired since people may be concerned that you'll bolt for the first faculty position that becomes available. 

[bhr]

As others have said, it depends. Department heads/Deans usually have an academic track to them, but there are academic specialists tracks that can lead to those jobs. Taking a job as a director of technology, or WPA/WAC coordinator are respectable tracks, depending on your field and goals.