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So I know that the choice to leave or not academia is a fully personal choice. What I would like to hear is your experience. Basically, focusing on the web I think that there is a strong bias on one side, i.e., not leaving academia, since mainly tenures or people staying in academia make posts on this. And also on the other side as people having decided to leave academia write posts on "how bad academia is".

My personal curiosity is whether one could carry on the academic path if the subject that he/she is studying is not his/her passion but he/she is pretty good at it. It's like a return to normality. Is it true that only highly motivated people can get a tenure? I mean...every Professor love and has always loved what he/she is doing?

Thank you

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    Isn't it like every job? You like some of it, you loath some of it. Leaving a job is also related to knowing what the alternative might be. I think that the question is too opinion-based to be answerable.
    – Wolfgang Bangerth
    Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 11:56
  • I see your point. Let's say I would like to know if there are also academic Professors that carry on doing their job though they do not love the subject that they are teaching/researching on but feel, rather, interest in it (the point being "should anyone be passionate about the subject he/she is willing to become Professor of?).
    – Lusian
    Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 12:03
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    I suspect that "being good at something" and "being passionate about something" are highly correlated. But I would struggle to find where the line is between "being interested in something" and "being passionate about something".
    – Wolfgang Bangerth
    Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 13:21

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Here's some perspective from outside elite universities.

Whether one could carry on the academic path if the subject that he/she is studying is not his/her passion but he/she is pretty good at it.

This may be largely irrelevant after graduate school: Generally, one has broad freedom in choosing research topics (more so after tenure). If you don't find one topic very interesting but find yourself quite good at it, then likely you will find another set of problems on which your unique skill set will make you a good researcher.

Is it true that only highly motivated people can get a tenure?

If by "tenure" you mean tenure in any (accredited) university (in USA), then no. Plenty of people who are not extremely motivated get tenure every year. Obviously, you do need the energy and drive to do decent job in at least 2 components among Teaching, Research, and Service (and the social skill to be not totally annoying). You don't have to love these.

...every Professor love and has always loved what he/she is doing?

Again, if you include all professors from all universities, then the answer is definitely no...... at least in the naive sense of "love".

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