Dear Reader,
Last week, I contributed a talk to an online summit about rethinking success, security, and meaningful work in and beyond academia.
One of the underlying messages is that “Should I stay in academia or leave?” is often the wrong question to ask yourself.
That’s because this question bundles together a bunch of different things:
- your job title;
- your identity—how you think of yourself;
- your colleagues, broadly defined;
- your working conditions; and, related,
- your sense of status or security.
Plus, of course, the actual activities that make up your work.
You will almost certainly feel differently about each one of those things, and about each one of those one of those things, if that makes sense.
You might no longer want to be a professor, but still love teaching. No contradiction there.
You might be finished publishing academic journal articles, but still enjoy investigating difficult questions.
You might not want an academic career, but still want intellectual challenge, autonomy, meaningful work, and thoughtful colleagues.
Or perhaps you do want to work in the academic sector, but not under the same conditions you’re working in now.
This is why if your career next steps were plotted out on a decision tree, the first choice wouldn’t be “stay or leave?”
Before you can make a useful decision about what’s next, it helps to get much more specific.
What parts of your work actually matter to you?
What do you enjoy doing—and under what conditions?
What would you genuinely miss? Be specific; get nuanced.
What are you attached to because you value it, and what are you attached to because academic culture taught you to embrace it?
What do you want to keep doing or experiencing, whether your next chapter is inside academia or beyond it?
You may discover that what you want is to stay put but make meaningful changes (specific ones).
Or maybe you do want a change—a different employer, new colleagues, changed responsibilities and tasks—but want to make sure what’s next preserves the best of what you have now.
Cool. You’re on the right track.
Oh, and those bits may be available in more places than you currently realize.
So before asking yourself, “Should I stay or leave?” try asking “What parts of this work do I want more of in my future? And what parts am I ready to stop organizing my life around?
Where are you at with all this? Do reply and let me know.
I mean it: I’d love to know more about who’s reading, so I can respond to what’s actually on your minds.
What’s Happening
- Want to have a quick chat to talk about whether working with me is right for you? Let’s do it. Reply to this email and let me know what’s on your mind.
- The PhD Career Clarity Program is open for enrollment! Perfect for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who are ready to leave academia and land meaningful jobs where they’ll feel valued and respected.
- Free Wednesday co-working continues; sign up on my website.
- I’ve got some new videos on my channel. Check them out here: From PhD to Life on YouTube.
Cheers, and thanks for reading,
Jen
Jennifer Polk, PhD
Free Webinar Job search advice for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs ready to leave academia
