Author: Jennifer Polk
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It’s OK to quit your PhD
My latest post for University Affairs says it’s OK to “quit” — and I put that in parentheses for a good reason. The narrative surrounding not completing a PhD is a negative one: quitting, leaving, failing. But for a great many people, the reality is that they’re moving on because it’s right for them. It’s
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It’s OK to quit your PhD
Occasionally I’m asked about quitting, particularly “quitting” a PhD program. This happened several times last week, when I was in Vancouver. Contrary to what you may hear or what your own internal critics tell you, there’s no shame in moving on. I remember a long post on a Versatile PhD forum from “PJ,” an ABD thinking about
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My speaking schedule so far, winter-spring 2016
See my latest post for University Affairs for some reflections on my AHA experience — I co-hosted the Career Fair in Atlanta earlier this month — and info about upcoming events! For more details and updates, check my Events page. Here are the postcards I had printed to bring with me. They were great to
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Don’t give in to your inner critic
Are you doing your work, or are you making excuses? I ask lovingly, of course 🙂 My friend Lisa Munro, a fellow history PhD who works as an academic editor and writing consultant, cut right to the chase in a recent blog post. “Sticking to a writing schedule is difficult because it requires me to prioritize
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Alison Norman, Research Associate, Transition Q&A
About Alison Norman Alison Norman earned her PhD in history from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She’s currently a Research Advisor in the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. She’s also a Research Associate in the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at the School for the
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Congratulations to us!
I attended the Canadian Online Publishing Awards ceremony last evening in Toronto, with my University Affairs editor Ashleigh VanHouten. The magazine took home 5 gold wins in the blue division (business-to-business), including best blog or column for From PhD to Life! I don’t know exactly what content the magazine shared when it entered my blog
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How much I make
Or, as my University Affairs editor put it, “Let’s talk money”! Talking about money can make for an awkward conversation. But money is also a basic fact of life. So, I decided to tell the world how much I make and how I make it. I think it’s helpful for us self-employed folk to talk
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Kenna Barrett, Director of Development, Transition Q & A
At a talk I once gave a woman in the audience was feeling awkward that she’d have a better shot at going backward in her career than forward. She meant that she could go back to the job she had before doing her doctorate, but wasn’t thrilled about doing that. I totally get that. Here’s
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Do PhDs really want tenure-track jobs?
Last week the US National Endowment for the Humanities announced a major new funding initiative for career preparation programming for graduate students. In response, professor and higher ed commentator Marc Bousquet argued that there was little need for these programs: “While no one is going to argue against supporting degree holders who search for nonprofessorial employment, there’s little evidence
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Grad school is part of your career
Last week I participated in an event for engineering graduate students at McMaster University. I was interviewed over Google Hangout by three students. They asked me excellent questions about my career. It was a fun experience, and one that got me thinking. I went “straight through”: high school, BA, MA, PhD. By the time I