======= Date Modified 04 Aug 2012 17:00:24 =======
This is a survey about career choice after getting a phd in relation to gender and age. This is just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks!

I'm going to graduate from my Phd on education. I have one publication in a top journal in the field. Professors in my field told me that it's very hard to get a job as an assistant professor directly after finishing a phd. Exceptions aside, local universities abide to the RAE standard in employing academic staff in the research track, thus requiring applicants to have at least 3 or 4 articles published in top journal. This requirement is almost impossible to reach (at least for me). If I want to stay in the game, I probably need to do a post-doc, or do a teaching job but publish in my free time. When I see my phd in terms of career advancement, I feel I have kind of "wasted" my time and I feel stuck in the middle of nowhere because a phd degree neither helps me get to the next career level nor helps me get better paid in the teaching jobs that I could have done with a masters.

So, is it worth it to continue investing in another 2 years in a post-doc? will a post-doc further make me less employable for other jobs that I could have done? Should I quit the academia now and try to get back to the kind of jobs I could have done (e.g. language teaching) and build my career from there?

A little background about me: I'm a qualified english teacher, 33 years old, and am under the pressure of supporting my family. I also have plans to have a baby in a year or so. I don't need a high-paying job but do need some sort of stability in income.

Please share your views and experience. Thanks!