Why there is low recruitment of Theoretical HEP doctarates as prof. in Academia

Question

"I've heard through the grapevine that you have more chance of becoming a professional athlete than becoming a professor in theoretical HEP(high energy physics)" is one of the things i have come across people talking about in stackexchange often.

If it is really true to the extent people project it, why is this the case??

What do most HEP theoretical doctarates end up doing as profession?

Answer 1

The question does not make much sense because asking for probabilities without priors is pointless. To give you an example:

• After getting my PhD I would have given myself a 50% chance of finding a professor position somewhere. I was willing to give it that high a chance because I'm pretty good at what I do.
• After getting my PhD I would have given myself a 0% chance of becoming a professional athlete. I'm pretty sure that number is accurate because I was already 29 at the time and because while decent at some endurance sports, I'm not even close to good enough.

The point I'm trying to make is that probabilities of "becoming a professor" or "becoming an athlete" are pointless to state in a vacuum because you're not taking a random, unbiased sample of society. Perhaps you can ask that question if you wonder how many of the children born over the past year will make it in one or the other, but surely at the time of getting a PhD or at the time of being elite amateur sports people, there has already been a large amount of selection and very few from one camp will eventually end up in the other camp.

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If what you are really asking is why there are few open positions in high energy physics: Well, there are few open positions in any particular discipline. That's because we don't need all that many high energy physicists/Shakespeare scholars/numerical analysts/flexible membrane materials scientists, and people have 30-40 year careers before they vacate a position.

If you are asking whether the number of open positions in high energy physics is less than it used to be -- I don't know whether that's actually true, and it's not worth speculating without actual evidence.

If you are asking why there are fewer open professor positions in high energy physics than graduating PhDs -- well, that's the same in all disciplines again, and has to do with the fact that more people want to get a PhD than there are positions, and universities are willing to accommodate these desires for a variety of reasons (including the fact that most of these people find useful employment elsewhere in society in which they get to use the skills they learned as part of their PhDs).

Answer 2

• "If it is really true to the extent people project it, why is this the case?"

Yes, this is true.
For much more PhD`s in this area are produced than faculty or researcher positions are opened.

• "What do most HEP theoretical doctorates end up doing as profession?"

Applied physics, applied mathematics, engineering (especially math- and science-oriented), software development. Also quantitative finance, military applications, what not.

• There is no rule without exception.

At this juncture, and possibly for several more years to come (with no warranty given), one subarea close to HEP may be granting its PhD`s a better chance of employment: Quantum Computing. Not very exactly HEP, it certainly is a topic emerging from QM and, in some applications, overlapping with QFT.

Figuratively speaking, this is a bandwagon. It is now attracting enthusiasm and investment, both from governments and industry. So, if you are finishing a BS or MS in physics, cogitate on this option.

As a possible starting point, I saw favourable reports on this book.