So my field is chemistry and I want to become a professor in a good university in a good country, in particular, the US. I’m going to go to grad school this year, and will eventually apply abroad, and things are going well. The only reason for all of this is having my desired job, I’m not interested in working in industry nor working in my country.
Actually I have little chance for being able to enter US in the near future, but I have hope. But the MAIN PROBLEM: By some googling, I’ve found out the situation for Ph.D chemists in the US is nowhere near good, especially in the field of organic/medicinal chemistry, my main interest. And you need to “be lucky to enter academia”. Does anyone have any accurate estimates or something? Where can I find accurate information regarding this?
What is the situation in Canada, Australia, and Germany? Other European countries?
300+ applicants for every tenured position. Good luck.
What is the situation in other English-speaking and German-speaking countries?
ANOTHER QUESTION: What about applying for a different but related field? If so, which field is better? I’m also skilled in programming. Should I cancel the whole thing and choose another field in Master’s? Would it make a marked difference? I got a week to decide about my Master’s program. I actually made it with much difficulty and ranked among the top, but I don’t mind going back.
What about getting a Ph.D from a top US university and going to another country, e.g. a European country? Would it be much different?
Or pursuing a different field from scratch? If so, what are the best alternatives?
Getting a tenured faculty position in any field right now is extraordinarily hard. Do not pursue 7 years of graduate school with that as your only goal.
If you are not a US citizen, you are seriously going to have your work cut out for you trying to work in the US.