Ask HN: Has anyone gone from work to academia post mid 30's? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Has anyone gone from work to academia post mid 30's?

13 pointsdaxfohl16 comments

I'm 42 and meh. I've run my own company, worked in a couple startups, and am employed by a big-4 now. I see the people above me and blech: I could get on a bigger stage "architecting" bigger projects but who cares.

I feel my heart is in academia. I've felt that for years. Has anyone made the jump this late in the game?

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I tried. I got my master's degree and ran screaming. It took me a few months to to design and produce my thesis experiment, and a year and a half to finagle the politics required to run it.

Small fishes fighting each other over scraps, and children who couldn't deal with graduation.

Furthermore, you had better have all the money you will ever need already stashed away.

Apparently the job market is hot in computer science:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/09/no-clear-solu...

In any case, if you're thinking of enrolling in a Ph.D. program, I strongly urge you to investigate the job market first. In math (my field), the job market is difficult and becoming more so. Apparently it is more so in the humanities and social sciences, less so in statistics.

Academia as in attending school, or going into teaching or research?

I am considering this to bolster my skills and career options, either for ECE or full CS degree. I don't have the accomplishments you do. Instead I see academia as one of several possible solutions to change a dead-end career.

However the million dollar question is how I can survive college full-time when I also need a job to pay all of my bills. Financial aid options are not as flexible as they were when going for your first Bachelor's degree. And then there's the problem of time management in your 30's and beyond...

Do you have a Phd? if not then its another 5-8 years of effort before you even qualify to apply for any meaningful academic position.

And as others have mentioned on this thread, you better have savings to last you a decade before considering such an endeavor.

It just seems so impractical. Our society really needs a way people can change careers in middle age. It’s almost impossible right now without a ton of sacrifice.

I too listened to my heart and after years of thinking about it, made the jump.

I too worked as a contractor for many of the top consulting firms. In my late 40's I returned to academia to a do a PhD in software engineering. Graduated last year and back on the consulting trail. The years doing the PhD were an emotional roller coaster ride, but that is par for that course. I have no regrets having had that "adventure". But for me continuing on as a Post-Doc or doing more adjunct teaching are unappealing. Becoming a F/T academic is rather difficult, lots of applicants for every position advertised and you need to have an impressive list of papers, etc to be considered.

What about academia appeals to you? You enjoy writing grant proposals? What are you expecting?

I personally know two people who quit high paying industry jobs and moved to reputable research grant universities (within US) as Assistant Professors in their late 30s. This was about 8 years ago. Fast forward to the present, one guy is a full professor while the other is still an associate professor. The difference was that one used his expertise and experience to write and get more grants, publish more papers, and is popular for his research (both inside and outside the university). The other is known for his teaching (within the university), took it slow and didn't publish as much.

I also know another guy who got his PhD, moved to academia (research lab and all), quit and moved to gaming industry to code, worked for 5 years, and now moved back to academia (once again, research lab and all). Then there is another person who got his PhD, worked as a post-doc, worked as an Assistant Professor, quit because he didn't enjoy it, and now is working next to me, enjoying an industry position.

I think all of them are truly enjoying what they do. I guess the question for you is what would you like the most?

There are several questions that you'd have to answer for yourself:

(1) Are you in for teaching? Or are you into research, i.e., having freedom in what you work on? Keep in mind that if you join as a Assistant Prof. on a tenure-track role, you'd still have to prove yourself in the long run. This could mean working on some projects that you may/may not enjoy in the short term.

(2) If you are in for the teaching, do you care about where you teach? Community colleges or small universities are always looking for people to teach (as a full time professor, or as a part time lecturer). Do you differentiate between these as much over the love of teaching?

(3) You probably could try out guest lecturing to check if you truly enjoy teaching. Or maybe teach just for a semester, if that is any appealing.

I personally have a PhD, wanted to be in academia for a long time but jumped to industry for numerous personal reasons. This is my 5th year in industry and I love what I work on. However, I still feel that my heart is in academia. To get a reality check, I'll be guest-/co-lecturing several sessions of a course at a public university this fall. I'm curious how things will turn out. Good luck to you too!

The other comments about grant proposals and politics is true in a lot of instances. For a different approach, look at a liberal arts college that has a CS program: https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2017/2/212444-liberal-arts-ac...

Well, I am headed back to school for an Economics degree. Not quite what you are asking for but I do hope to teach afterwards as well as launch a startup based upon some economic concepts I have been thinking about.

I have held a few academic jobs then went to corporate, then back to academia. It wasn't a hard adjustment to go back. It was harder for me to go back to corporate jobs after.

For what it's worth my wife's uncle quite his job as a civil engineer at 50 and went to grad school to study social anthropology. Despite starting so late he still managed to end up as an Associate Professor, the author of several well regarded books and papers and was generally considered authority in his niche.

Although I'm not 'in' academia I do work 30% on a research project at a University. I find it a rewarding balance between keeping up with what is happening in research and getting to participate in that world without having to completely give up my connections with industry.

I would say early to mid 30s is quite common. You can do a post-doc or get a research scientist position in the industry after your PhD, and work for couple of years or so before you apply for academic positions. Something like PhD->Watson/MSR->academic role is not uncommon.

My dad has worked in banking and credit risk for 35 years and then quit, and is now working on his PhD - he found a passion in teaching. He graduates with it in August. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have - feel free to email me (contact info in profile).

Is it weird being the old guy in classes? That’s honestly what I’d worry the most about.

I think it's only weird if you make it weird. I often spent time with the older students on my course.

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