> Grad students are worked like dogs
They do... but the thing is the work for themselves, which I think is a different kind of hard work.
> and in the end only few of them attain their goal of becoming a professor
Is that the goal?
They do... but the thing is the work for themselves, which I think is a different kind of hard work.
> and in the end only few of them attain their goal of becoming a professor
Is that the goal?
They work for professors who sometimes care that they eventually get a PhD and sometimes don’t care if they live or die.
I love hard work, but not if it’s paired with a toxic environment where I’m going to be working like a slave for a decade and maybe will never achieve anything close to the impact I thought I’d have.
> goal?
Not sure, but if not what is the goal? To be in a research lab forever as an assistant or to do your own research? The latter requires power and position, like a professorship.
I think we need to break this mindset. It’s your research. Not your professors. By the end, your professor probably doesn’t really understand it anymore because you’ve pushed the envelope beyond them.
> but if not what is the goal?
Go into industry.
As a student. Yes? How would they stop you?
> Is that the goal?
I have seen only a small slice of all the theoretical computer science PhD students in my parts of the world (Central and Western Europe) but almost universally they passionately loved their work (both research and teaching) and would prefer to do it in the future.
"Becoming a professor" is one of the easiest ways to continue doing what you are doing, so I would say yes, it is a goal.
Like I have said elsewhere also, we are blessed to have many industry jobs in CS which are quite mentally challenging, and so for us it does not need to be the only choice. But still, a permanent academic position offers many things that the industry cannot -- hence a goal for many.