[rumanator]

> The private sector does do research, and for RoI /it actually has to work/.

The private sector does research with researchers, not product managers.

The process is exactly the same. It's not a public vs private thing. It's a research vs production thing. Research is open-ended and iterative and exploratory. Product design is close-ended, focused, and with hard requirements. Research has zero to do with product management, and you don't change the nature of the problem by pretending that a scientific discovery is a product expecting to be launched.

> Academia is a cesspit of politics and dishonesty.

Oh awesome. Have you ever did any corporate work? Because if you believe that academia suffers from this problem but corporations don't then I have a few bridges I'd like to sell you.

At least in academia you do need to have your publications to back you up. In corporate environments all you have is the cesspool part.

[anonthrowaway3]

Many companies now hire PhDs to do production work, and it ends up being a complete disaster. There is not much need for pure researchers in most of industry.

And in my experience teams with these academic data "scientists" are far worse cesspools than normal engineering teams who deliver actual products and value.

Also, what are publications supposed to show? They are often a negative indicator of actual capability. Ever interviewed a data scientist who looks good on paper with tons of publications who can't even write a for loop? I have.