[wpietri]

I think there are other factors at play, too. E.g., top-down power structures and rigid paths for students. A friend's advisor was bonkers: unhelpful and mean in person when my friend could find the advisor, but generally the prof couldn't be found. To the extent that the prof would hide in their office and pretend to not be there.

My friend of course eventually let other profs and the department head know, but nobody was willing to actually do anything, so she limped along like this for years with other profs quietly helping on the side. She eventually graduated with her PhD, so by the stats the system worked, but it was miserable.

For all tech's flaws, nobody expects you to put up with a miserable asshole boss for 6 years just to be allowed to stay in the industry. And unlike my academic pals, whose options at any point were generally ~0 and would sometimes spike up to 2-3, there are just an ocean of tech jobs. I'm about to start hiring again and competition is fierce.