In my experience, few people who choose to leave the academic track regret it. There's a whole wide world out there. If you really love the academic life (spending lots of time on research, living in places like Lansing, and dealing with the interpersonal dynamics of working with the same small group of people for many years), stay. If not, don't be afraid to leave for greener pastures.

Don't get me wrong: Many people do love the academic life. They find research a pleasure, they enjoy working with students, and they enjoy the relative freedom the job affords. If you were such a person, you would know it.

@Boklam One question: Why does being trans make you want to leave academia?

Most universities and hiring committees are quite liberal, by which I mean they make lots of noise about diversity. Whether they actually give you a hard time is a different question, though I think having an official pro-diversity position makes open harassment much less likely.

The tech world seems to have pretty much the same dynamic: officially welcoming policies, but probably not universal acceptance.

So I'm curious why you would weigh the one over the other.

@Boklam to some extent, I just don't trust antidiscrimination rules to hold up to a hiring committee. The more people involved, the more likely that small biases can add up.

I mean, hell, my undergrad advisor would hate me if he knew I was transitioning. He's the kind of Catholic who drives an hour each way with two kids so he can attend Latin mass, and privately hates his gay coworker. Well, he wouldn't say hate, but I would.

And I am more worried about students than about colleagues. Sure, I have some power over them, but that doesn't mean there would not be a constant stream of discomforts. I don't know that I would ever be confident enough to put up with the perceived scrutiny, either. At least this way, I have much more control over who I interact with. I can socially shield myself until I "finish baking", for lack of a better phrase

Also, research fucking sucks. I cannot get it to work in my brain. You can't break the task into smaller pieces, and it's self-led, so I just end up unable to even start

And since the whole point is that everything is unknown, it's rarely even obvious where to start

@LivInTheLookingGlass Yeah it sounds like you don't really love research (to put it mildly), and for people who don't really love research... I think you'll be glad you left.

Are you a US citizen or an international student? In my experience maintaining F-1 status as a Masters student is a lot more pain than as a PhD student.

@Yev US citizen