Scott Alexander summarizes reader comments on his post about the academic job market, covering topics like hiring practices, historical context, and comparisons to other industries.
Longer summary
Scott Alexander summarizes reader comments on his previous post about the academic job market. The comments provide additional information on academic hiring practices, historical context for the current state of academia, and comparisons to other job markets like programming and publishing. Many commenters offer practical advice for new PhDs, with a common theme being the importance of research and publications over other activities. The post also includes proposed solutions to academia's issues and numerous warnings about the difficulties of pursuing an academic career.
Shorter summary