Leaving academia doesn’t mean going corporate

Stock image of person showing a bar chart to a colleague. Text overlay reads "Leaving academia doesn't have to mean going corporate."

One of the concerns PhDs have when contemplating leaving academia is wanting to do research without selling out to giant corporations that only care about profits.

A social science PhD may well worry that leaving academia means working as a researcher at Meta (Facebook) or another soulless entity where their insights will be used to manipulate users for corporate ends.

Yikes, eh? A lot of PhDs are thinking “no thank you” right now!

Now there’s a lot we could talk about here. (Me to these narratives: 👀)

Let me focus on just one thing.

While it’s true that corporations hire academics to work in research fields such as user experience (UX) and marketing, these and other research roles exist far beyond the FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) and AI startups with questionable missions.

For example, I know humanities and social science PhDs in UX research roles for government departments and hospital systems. Does that strike you as better?

Universities hire researchers and analysts too, as full-time, ongoing staff. And, no, I’m not talking about professors, postdocs, and research associates on soft money contracts here. There are other roles for researchers, even on university campuses!

If you find yourself engaged in all or nothing thinking about what leaving academia will mean for you, make sure you’re not overlooking options. To put it another way, there’s almost always a door number three, four, five, and more.

I take on a few more myths and missteps in my free on-demand training.

You may be ready to join my PhD Career Clarity Program. Most people start with this free webinar.

For Professors, Postdocs, and Other Overworked, Underappreciated PhDs Ready to Change Careers
After this free 80-minute training you will know how to focus on what’s important instead of letting academia dictate your future; job search strategically without wasting time trying to follow advice that doesn’t apply; apply for the right jobs, ones that let you do what you love without burnout
Powered by
Powered by

Something else on your mind? Email me at Jen@FromPhDtoLife.com