You don’t have to hate academia to want something else

Dear Reader,

“I turned 40 last year and I feel very satisfied with my academic career. I just really have nothing else I want to do.”

One of my program members said this during a group discussion.

She’s tenured. She likes her colleagues. She genuinely has no major complaints about her institution or her work.

And I know other professors who feel similarly.

Things are pretty decent, really.

But decent is starting to feel boring.

Can you related?

Or maybe a different kind of work is taking up more of your energy and attention now, and you want to honour that.

Of course, that can lead to new opportunities within academia itself: course releases, administrative leadership, a shift in responsibilities, a new research direction.

Fantastic!

But sometimes a different endeavour entirely starts calling your name.

Why am I telling you this?

Because so much of the conversation around leaving academia assumes people only leave because things have become unbearable.

Burnout. Toxic workplaces. Precarious contracts. Crises big and small.

And yes, for many professors, postdocs, and other PhDs, that’s absolutely true. (I’m very sorry; it sucks.)

But sometimes people leave because they’ve accomplished what they set out to accomplish and other challenges excite them now.

That can still come with grief, uncertainty, fear, financial concerns, and identity stuff.

Especially when you’ve spent years building a career that other people still see as prestigious or desirable.

But I think more academics need permission to acknowledge this:
You don’t need to hate academia to want something else.

You don’t need to wait until everything is awful before exploring other possibilities.

You get to do that right now. This summer.

Sometimes you realize that you don’t want the next 10 years of your life to look like the last 10.

And as a career clarity and job search coach for PhDs, I’m very much here for that.

If you’re in that strange in-between space—not in total crisis, but increasingly aware that your current work no longer feels like your future—you’re not alone.

That’s a big part of the work I do with people.

Not just helping them apply for jobs, but helping them figure out what they want now, what matters to them now, and how to move toward work that fits the person they’ve become.

If this is where you are, the PhD Career Clarity Program is probably the best place to start.

It’s my group program and community for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who want structure, support, and a clear process for figuring out what’s next.

You can read more about the program.

Or just reply to this email and tell me what’s going on.

I’m happy to point you toward the right option, whether that’s the program, a private strategy conversation, or something else.

What’s Happening

This month’s workshop for members is called “Ready But Stuck? Launch Your Career Experiment,” and it’s this Friday, 29 May, at 12pm EDT.
Free Wednesday co-working continues; sign up on my website.

Cheers,

Jen

P.S. Want to explore working with me? Visit my Services page to learn about options, or reply to this email and let me know what you want my help with!

Jennifer Polk, PhD