Leaving Academia: Where Scientists Go Next

Is leaving academia common?

Leaving academia is a normal career move. It does not mean you failed. In 2023, 40.7% of employed doctoral scientists and engineers living in the United States worked in 4-year educational institutions, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Private for-profit employers and government also employed substantial numbers. The split varies by field. Within that group, 40.0% of those in the biological, agricultural, and environmental life sciences worked in 4-year educational institutions, 34.2% worked for private for-profit employers, and 10.3% worked in federal, state or local government. Of those in physical sciences, geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, 45.6% worked for private for-profit employers and 32.5% worked in 4-year educational institutions. Of those in computer and information sciences, 57.2% worked for private for-profit employers and 34.1% worked in 4-year educational institutions.

A postdoc is a common route after a PhD. The Survey of Earned Doctorates for 2025 reports that among 28,284 science and engineering doctorate recipients with a definite postgraduation commitment, 12,019 reported a US postdoc. The figure describes a destination among several. If you are a postdoc, the guide to what a postdoc is can help you describe the role in plain terms.

Where do doctoral scientists work?

Outside 4-year educational institutions, the sectors in these figures are private for-profit employers and government. Private for-profit employers include companies that do research, development, testing, consulting, data work, and product support. Government roles can sit in agencies, laboratories, regulatory bodies, and public health or environmental organizations. Other employers exist, but the figures used here cover those sectors. Job titles vary by employer. You may see research scientist, data scientist, analyst, regulatory affairs specialist, medical affairs professional, environmental consultant, quality specialist, science writer, policy analyst, or program manager. The title matters less than the work: what problem the team solves, what evidence it uses, and what you would be responsible for.

The same survey reports median annual salaries for full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers with a doctorate in science. The overall median was $130,000. In 4-year educational institutions it was $100,000, in private for-profit employers $170,000, and in the federal government $144,000 where published. Those are broad medians, not offers or starting salaries. If you are comparing the academic and industry paths, the guide to academia vs industry can help you organize the tradeoffs.

Which skills transfer?

The skills that transfer are the ones you can show with evidence. Research training builds question design, data analysis, literature review, writing, project management, and the ability to learn a new domain. Outside academia, employers often care less about the title of your dissertation and more about whether you can define a problem, choose a method, explain limits, and work with people who have different expertise. If you have taught, mentored, managed a project, written grants, handled data, or presented to non-specialists, those are work experiences. Name the skill in plain language and give an example of the task and result. Avoid translating every academic activity into a corporate buzzword. A clear description of what you did is stronger.

How do I translate an academic CV?

Start with a short targeted resume for the job you want, not a shortened academic CV. A resume is a targeted argument; a CV is a full record. Lead with a short profile that states your field, methods, and the kinds of problems you can work on. Then list experience in reverse order. For each role, write what you did, the tools or methods you used, and the outcome or audience. Use verbs that describe the action: designed, analyzed, modeled, wrote, presented, managed, tested, reviewed. Move publications to a selected section or an additional section. Keep only the ones relevant to the target role. For a postdoc, describe the project in the same way you would describe a job: scope, collaborators, methods, and output. If you are leaving a PhD program, list the research you completed and the skills you used. You do not need to present it as a failed academic track.

What about leaving academia in the UK?

The material for this guide does not include UK sector counts or salary figures, so this section stays qualitative. Job titles and sector boundaries differ from the US. In the UK, a PhD may be listed as a researcher in industry, a government agency, a nonprofit, or a university. Read the duties in the job ad. Look for evidence that the employer values research training: data analysis, writing for different audiences, project delivery, regulatory awareness, and subject knowledge. Academic CV conventions can be closer to a full record, but for non-academic applications a shorter resume with a clear skills summary is usually easier to read. Check the specific hiring process because application forms, cover letters, and interviews vary by employer.

What to do next

Pick a small set of role families and sectors to test. Read current job ads for repeated skills, and write down the gap between what the ads ask for and what your CV shows.
Rewrite your academic CV as a targeted resume for a target role. Lead with a plain profile, put evidence under experience, and move publications to a selected section.
Talk to people who do the work you want. Ask about daily tasks, hiring, and what they use from their research training. Ask for information, not a job.
Check pay and practical constraints before you apply. The site's salary pages can help you compare published figures by field and sector.