r/LeavingAcademia
22k members
r/LeavingAcademia is a subreddit with 22k members. The most common kinds of discussions are advice requests and pain & anger, and the community frequently discusses phd, academia, job, leaving academia, and industry.
Leaving academia happens all the time. It has to happen, actually, to many people. Not everyone can become or wants to become tenured researchers/professors. Here, we can discuss reasons to leave or to stay, how to smoothe the transition and how to succeed "outside".
Popular Themes in r/LeavingAcademia
#1
Advice Requests
: "Transitioning Out After a Postdoc That Went Nowhere"
18 posts
#2
Pain & Anger
: "leaving academia feels like breaking up with someone who never really loved me back"
14 posts
Popular Topics in r/LeavingAcademia
#1
Phd
: "Quitting my Phd tomorrow. I’m terrified but I can’t keep going."
121 posts
#2
Academia
: "Academia is such a scam!"
79 posts
#3
Job
: "4 months into a new Job outside academia"
74 posts
#4
Leaving Academia
: "Leaving Academia feels like breaking up with someone who never really loved me back"
58 posts
#5
Industry
: "I've decided to leave academia - looking for advice on Industry"
51 posts
#6
Leaving
: "A Retrospect on Leaving a Doctorate"
48 posts
#7
Transition
: "Transitioning Out After a Postdoc That Went Nowhere"
44 posts
#8
Career
: "A Retrospect on Leaving a Doctorate"
38 posts
#9
Postdoc
: "When did you know it was time to leave academia?"
29 posts
#10
Research
: "Anyone considering leaving due to how pointless teaching feels in the age of AI?"
21 posts
Member Growth in r/LeavingAcademia
Yearly
+7k members(47.8%)
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About
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Last updated: June 10, 2026