Seth Godin said it best: "Ironically, playing it safe is the most unsafe thing that you can do." His point is that you have to put yourself out there and take risks to be successful. Sitting back and being "safe" is akin to waiting for problems to occur. People just don't realize it... because they feel safe.

Not directly related, but as the child of a family that amounts to a dynastic succession of academics, I feel the need to disabuse anyone reading of the impression that there is any connection whatsoever, at all, between having professors for parents and getting a tenure-track position.

As it stands, it's nearly impossible for spouses to exert enough leverage to find academic employment at the same institution. If they're lucky, they'll spend a good deal of their career building up the karma to pull that one off; there isn't anything left over for little Billy.

Well, I'll just say that, when I was in grad school at an Ivy League school that 100% of the professors, for whom I knew anything about their parents, were also professors -- and that was a sample between 20 and 30 people.

Things might be different at other schools, but I do know that even the Chronicle of Higher Education is starting to recognize the 'dynastic succession' phenomenon after years of it going on under wraps.

That could have multiple causes. Often, if your parents have achieved a lot academically, you will palce more weight on that aspect of your life. You'll get better grades and you'll be more likely to become an academic yourself.

Since we're swapping anecdotes, as an academic, I have never known anyone to get a position just because their parent works in the field. Ever. The competition is ridiculous, to the point where many Americans opt to go elsewhere and leave the academic jobs to the people willing to work 14 hours a day, 6 days a week.

I would not be surprised if many modern academics would prefer that their offspring go into industry. The rewards are greater and the competition is less, given the level or reward on offer.

Don't forget the genetic aspect -- smart parents tend to have smart kids.

Tenure is not all it's cracked up to be. Today you are looking at being 40 before you acquire tenure. Sure, some people get it earlier, but I believe on average the numbers come out to roughly 40 or late 30's.

In those prime years before 40 will see very poor income given your education level and expenses, and a whole lot of stress and overtime spent in meeting all the requirements. Big publication list, talks, grants, scholarships, postdocs, teaching experience, taking on grad students, and perhaps even committees.

You really need to love the lifestyle, and not money, to stick it through to tenure.