I commend you for staying on the track and having the determination to use your Ph.D. for academia. I decided when I applied for Ph.D. programs that that life wasn’t for me. It is never easy because even once you get to the point of being a professor the competition never stops. The next 30-40 years will consist of applying to grants and bringing students and paying those students. It’s a rough life and it’s harder now than it was 30 years ago. The competition is ever more fierce. However, once you have that position, it is very rewarding to publish the work that is the most important to you and to see your students succeed.

Very good post about the reality of the PhD program nowadays. I am also a PhD student and my parents, my boyfriend, my friends…they are all very proud of me and when I expressed concerns about what I will be able to do after my graduation, they simply don’t understand why I have concerns. They believe having a PhD will open all the doors for me, and a job is definitely guaranteed for me. This is a misconception and clearly show a disconnection between the myth of having a PhD and the need for new PhD graduate in the work place. Reality is that academia has very limited position to offer and I have witnessed that maintaining good relationship is better than actually working hard for a degree to secure a faculty position. It is the same in the Industry, having “contacts” is the key to get a decent job, not being a doctor. Sometimes, especially in engineering fields, it is considered a handicap. People don’t want to pay you too much, or you are too specialized, or even overqualified for the job.
Our concerns are real and I agree that our hard work should not allow us to avoid knowing what is going on outside the graduate school bubble that we are in.