Interested in hearing why two members of an academic couple would decide to leave academe at the same time? Check out my latest IHE piece: "A Dual Exit":
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/on_the_fence/woolf8
Questions and comments are welcome!
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Gun Death Cult
21 hours ago
3 comments:
I only skimmed the article, but they seem to support everything we already knew about academia. That's good because it shows that my fears (low pay, bad or uncaring administration, heavy workload, etc.) aren't just in our head. That's bad because it shows that nothing has changed.
Personally, it's helpful because it only solidifies my decision NOT to stay in academia. Sometimes we like to think it will be different at this school or in that city, but, as is often the case, we were only hoping.
Good grief..their comments only confirm everything we knew already about academia. I agree with Michael completely.
No, the fears are definitely not just in our heads. But I think Nadia's experience in particular suggests that leaving the academy and starting over in another field is really, really difficult. Even if one is lucky enough to land a non-academic job after a fairly short search, starting off at the bottom is never easy. Nor is the pay very good.
Still, the point is that there are other opportunities out there for academics and absolutely no reason why we should force ourselves to be miserable if we are in fact unhappy in the ivory tower (or unable to find work).
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