There wasn&#x27;t a return on investment for pursuing a PhD for me, I&#x27;d venture to guess that I took a salary hit by staying in school for my bachelor&#x27;s degree vs. dropping out.<p>But the work that I do isn&#x27;t research, and I&#x27;m not advancing the field -- just solving business problems. If I was born in the late 60s vs late 70s, pursuing an academic career would have been a great option, but that ship sailed.