Most of the people I know with PhD's did them while working many years after leaving university. I don'think I have met anyone who got a PhD to become an academic. No that's wrong I know of one person who got her PhD in film studies who did.
I know a lot of people who got a PhD to become an academic and did so right after their BA degree. That is partly to do with the company I keep. Most of those are people who have had tenure track positions for over 20 years. Good jobs in academic really are becoming harder and harder to get.
