Some high school students who got extremely good grades in their finals (i.e. good enough for Medicine in non-American countries) decide to major in stuff such as Physics, Anthropology, Linguistics, Chemistry, etc. in the hope of doing research in the future. Why would they pick that?
>If you don't have anything published, your funding will be cut and you will have no income
>There is no guarantee that you will like research and most people hate if over time
>Jobs are meant to be monotonous, not fun
>They can easily major in Medicine, Law, Actuarial Science, Dentistry science, etc and switch to research later on or do a Master's degree in their area of interest
>The market for researchers is very bad at the moment - it is 100+ people competing for a tenured professorship post and it will not be you getting that job
>Being an adjunct professor sucks as all the contracts are short-termed
It is hard to even secure a mortgage with such unstable employment
>If you can't find any professorship job, it is hard to find anyone else to hire you as they know that you will go back to academia as soon as you find another professorship job, so chances are you will either end up unemployed or working at McDonalds during this time
>>7721268
>They can easily major in Medicine, Law, Actuarial Science, Dentistry science,
No you can't.
>>7721268
Life is too easy.
>>7721275
These people get top grades in their finals though. Their marks are good enough for Medicine, Law, Acturial Science, etc. I am not talking about people who did poorly in their finals so they are stuck with picking Biology, Geography, European Studies, etc majors.
>>7721294
I was one of those top grading idiots who did biomedicine because I thought research will be fun! Turns out that I hear it's all politics and some shit. Turns out that I can still scrape into med later after wasting 3 years on an idiotic course with fairly average grades.
However, the undergrad interviewing process is not to be underestimated. They only want people who have high grades and can also interview well.
It's not common knowledge what you wrote in the OP so I wish I'd found it out sooner. Yes it is better to get into what you want and then just do research on the side rather than trying to get into a useless course with a useless major and with useless career prospects.
The problem does go deeper than that, however, as all the best and brightest go into fields like medicine postgrad when they find out that research is a dead end.
>>7721303
>fairly average grades
Why is your grade average if you were so good in high school?
>They only want people who have high grades and can also interview well
A lot of people who picked Biomedicine picked it because they want to switch to Medicine later on. This is probably why getting into a Biomedicine course can be tough itself.
>It's not common knowledge what you wrote in the OP so I wish I'd found it out sooner
Wtf? This IS common knowledge! You can easily google it. Just type in something such as "What is doing research like", "adjunct professors on the rise", etc into Google and you'll get tonnes of results. You're the idiot for not doing research on what it is like to be a researcher beforehand!
>The problem does go deeper than that, however, as all the best and brightest go into fields like medicine postgrad when they find out that research is a dead end
How is that a problem?
Is this the weekly "why do people do things they're interested in" thread?
>>7721354
some people actually are interested in problems in their field and want to devote their lives to it.
>>7721374
>i don't believe these people exist!
what, because you aren't one of them? do you think your professors just wound up in their offices by accident?
>>7721397
>do you think your professors just wound up in their offices by accident?
Ummm... maybe they couldn't find a job after graduating with an undergraduate degree so doing a PhD is their only chance of finding a well-paid job? Maybe these people couldn't get into postgraduate Law?
>>7721408
do you actually go to a university
>>7721421
I do! I am a uni student!
>>7721374
There is a lot of internal politicking I've heard. In my uni I heard that a supervisor hated another supervisor so much that this person went out of their way to permanently screw over the supervisor's student academically.
I've also heard from the horse's mouth that open research is completed shitted on and people don't give a fuck what research is published unless it's in a 'reputable' journal (dictated by the number of citations, so essentially click bait!).
My tutor who was a researcher also did not seem to be the nicest person ever and it seemed to me that they were exceedingly jealous of premeds and went out of their way to mark us down hoping to screw our career chances over.
I have also heard that only people who network well and have friends in high places can end up doing research and supervisors privately gossip about students who are 'unsuitable' for research and would rather promote someone they know who does poorly at research than someone who is suited for the task.
Therefore I don't feel that research is for me and as for devotion I don't feel that such a thing is possible in such a toxic environment.
>>7721408
Take biology as an example. there are people who have decided to pursue a career in biology because they were unsatisfied with the theory of evolution they were taught in biology class, and they had a deep desire to correct it with truth.
>>7721439
I'm pretty sure that's the same guy as before
also, the people who do research must actually enjoy it, mustn't they? otherwise they could easily go into law, couldn't they? if you understood the problems in evolutionary theory, and the inconsistencies within it, I'm sure you would be more sympathetic for the example I gave.
>>7721447
Oh yeah the poster number stayed the same
But still, I get the impression that these people didn't pick Law as they romanticise research too much and it wasn't until later that they realised that they were wrong.
>>7721439
Research just isn't run well in terms of jealousy, competitiveness, internal politics and backstabbing, although the act of researching something might be more pure.
It probably also depends on heavily on who you're working with, I think that's why a lot of people who want to go into research are advised to find someone that they work well with and to ask the opinion of other students before attempting a project. Also find out what kind of work ethic the people you are working with have.
>>7721447
Yes I'm the same guy as before.
>>7721449
are you being pressured into pursuing research or something and don't want to?
>>7721464
No, I just don't get why anyone will want to do research.
>>7721488
None of the reasons you guys provided makes sense.
Did you do research yourself? You are probably romanticising it too much yourself.
Off topic but I did applied math research when I was in hs. I'm an American tho, all I did was contact professors at a bunch of unis and one of them eventually let me work with him for the summer. It was a lot of fun and I may get something published soon.
>>7721525
Probably different in different departments. Like maths vs physics vs biology vs chemistry.
>>7721527
I think research is fundamentally the same though
ITT: People who heard research is bad, and don't have any interest / ability to do research themselves / never tried.
Stay mad, stay bad, stay unpublished
>>7721450
modern research is by nature multidisipline and cooperative so yeah you better be happy doing monotomous shit and playing get along - depending on what the lab. I've had great experiences at the labs I worked at I'm just a social fucktard so I didn't bond well with others.
Research will also eat away all your free time as you are liable to spend it reading, supposing with other members of the team, and spending a good amount of your time supporting others by attending their synposiums, attending faculty events etc
Its very political that way and people go out of their way to spend time with set groups of people.
>talking behind their back
for sure this happens a lot, and in the cases you mention about professors shit talking people it will happen to your face as well if they don't like you/trust you. They are in very strong positions of power and if anything they could probably double back on the ideation that they are supporting you by providing you with valuable criticism.
If you want to do research don't be fucking naive. Look at how much time it takes for a paper ( singular ) to be published. if you aren't a super productive person you aren't going to be pushing the average PHD completion time, which depending on the faculty and school is upwards of 5 years.
if you aren't sure then look then naive, and gt involved. find a topic at your local university that is being actively researched ( that you find interesting ) and actively get in their face. If you can bond with one of the lab members then you can stay with them and chat while they experiment. If you spend enough time and bug them enough they will include you as most researchers i've met are super conscientious and care a great deal about their impact on others in the lab. If i was a normal functioning person I'd say lab work might be more fulfilling because of the type of person it attracts.
>>7721525
I never experienced the slightest bit of politics in my years of research. Get into a field where there are more ideas than there are researchers, rather than the other way around. It's actually quite thrilling for a while, and maybe for some people the thrill never wears off.
>>7721548
>I hear it's all politics and some shit
>I hear
>I HEAR
yeah nice try, research in my uni is very peaceful and productive
>>7721550
Geez all jobs becoming boring over time! You do the same sort of shit every day!
>>7721559
>You do the same everyday!
>You research interesting, changing problems trying new approaches and pushing the state of the art every day!
>That's boring!
>>7721550
Anon probably just has nice people in their department/area who are conducive to work with.
>>7721561
Most people get bored of their jobs overtime
A Math major should just pick Engineering and learn to love that. It is possible to learn to love a job and engineering pays very well.
>>7721571
>You will get bored of the work you love
>Might as well force yourself to do something you don't like from the get go
How about no? I intend to be happy with myself, thank you.
>>7721581
>You might have unstable periods in your job!
>Might as well force yourself to do something you don't like from the get go
>Bonus: Force yourself to do something you dislike because work isn't meant to be fun
Again: I intend to be happy with myself and live a fulfilling life working in something I love. Money can't get you that.
>>7721581
It just sounds quite comfy. It's nice to hear that there are people like that out there.
>>7721586
You can earn six figures with an engineering job!
No job is truly fun. All jobs are stressful in their own ways and all jobs have their own shitty aspects
>>7721603
Your argument is making more money makes doing something you dislike worth it.
It depends on how greedy you are, which in my case is not at all.
>Going into academia for research
>Not starting your own company, hiring employees and promoting research, the economy, and scientific awareness while also actually getting stuff done with multiple people
>Not actually doing something that will get your work recognized and credit duly given to you
>Letting shitty university politics and federal research grants rule your life
You're falling for the biggest meme.
>B-But the thing I want to research has no benefit to humanity and is based entirely in theory that will never be verified or have a tangible effect on my or anyone's life
Why the fuck are you learning more to do this?
>>7721408
You're literally coming up with a complex story in order to not admit that some people honestly want to be researchers. Did you even read what you said? I for one, will attempt a stab at research. My degree isn't a hack though so I won't get screwed if it doesn't work out.
>>7721618
I second this. I'm not aiming to make 6 figures. I've lived off welfare at one point in my childhood. Life isn't all about money and you don't get much spare time if you get a job in engineering. Your career becomes your life. I'd rather work in something I love or have a job that doesn't take up a large amount of my life.
>>7721603
I'm a field biologist, my job is amazing. Working outside all day, getting to see amazing sites and do amazing things. The natural world is my playground.
>>7721630
>he thinks the "research" that r&d departments do in businesses is in any way comparable to academic research
no wonder you think academia is useless. you don't actually like research and that's fine. why are you mad at people who do like it?
