- I do not know one person with a PhD who is a quitter. That is why, despite the ring to it, “quit lit” is such a bad descriptor of the burgeoning genre of articles written by academics leaving the profession. It has a strong whiff of voluntarism about it, placing the responsibility of the “decision” to leave squarely with those doing the leaving. People are leaving academia not because they are quitters but because the system is broken. Their stories are more than just plaintive shouts into the wind: they are reminders and invitations. If we must coin a rhyming new genre, let’s call it exit lit.
The reminder is that the current system is not working for everyone – and not just early career researchers: even senior academics are “choosing” to leave academia. And when the system isn’t working for everyone, it is working for no one.
- But, personally, I am not sure if I have another 20 years of dreaming left in me, even if I get that permanent academic job I always wished for. I am not sure if I am resilient enough – or resilient in the right way. I am not sure if I can take the financial, professional and emotional strain of being the change I want to see, in the face of all the pressures on me to be the status quo – or to leave.
I'm a bright-eyed bushy-tailed undergrad about to start the PhD program application process, and I ask myself more and more often if the system is too broken to even be worth a shot. I alternate between "it's different in science because the degree is still useful outside academia" and "My dream is looking like an awful, awful decision." The problem that I see related to this is that some academics (read: the old tenured dudes who can do whatever they want) don't really see the problems in the system because that very system has led them to a comfortable success. They're blind to the burnouts and the crazy job market etc. She does mention, however: and I don't know if I find that more alarming or what.We are more than cogs in a machine: together, we are the machine. It matters how we treat each other. It matters which journals and publishers we choose to publish our ideas with. It matters which conferences we choose to attend. It matters who we collaborate and constitute panels with. And it matters how we talk about our working practices. Being overloaded is not a badge of honour
... the current system is not working for everyone – and not just early career researchers: even senior academics are “choosing” to leave academia. And when the system isn’t working for everyone, it is working for no one.
I've been working on a PhD for mumble years now and I continue to have mixed feelings about it. My research is often rewarding and I like the niche I'm trying to make for myself in a couple different topics. I've learned a lot, significantly more than if I were to have gotten a job and tried to study on my own. I've enjoyed teaching and would love to continue. But I don't know what I'm going to do when I leave. Having seen what is expected of professors -- I don't think I could do it, not without burning out long before I got tenure. Maybe at a liberal arts school where there's more emphasis on teaching and lower expectations for how much grant money you bring in, but that also means (from what I can see) less access to people with the skills to do the kind of mathematical research I like to do. I'll probably end up in a national lab if I can manage a security clearance and stomach the additional pledge of allegiance to the US government. I would definitely do grad school again if I was offered the choice, although I'd make some different choices about specific details. Aside from the job opportunities, I did it to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and that has made grad school "worth it" for me. You didn't ask for it, but here's the one piece of advice I wish someone would have given me when I started: above all else, guard your mental (and physical) health. It only takes one or two bad semesters to really set you back. Without a doubt my failure to do so has added at least a year to my program, and I've seen people develop PTSD symptoms and not finish as a result.
Wow this is so good to hear. Maybe the more vocal side of the internet is the side that regrets it. I think my dream is a teaching-focused position, though I could also see myself in a non-university research setting or, well, I don't know. As you said, it's an intellectual curiosity type of thing. That is really great advice, thank you! I've had some professors mention that as a sort of aside when talking about grad school, and I'm starting to reach the conclusion that the people that are miserable are the people that don't take care of themselves. Anyway, thanks for your insight!!I would definitely do grad school again if I was offered the choice
I don't even know where to start... this person got free undergrad. This person wants to get paid to muse and be curious. This person doesn't want to move for work. This person wants to complain that fairy tales didn't come true. I'm probably being a royal prick... but welcome to life. If you thought any of this was a possibility in the late 20th century OR AT ALL in the 21st century... I feel bad for you. You were hoping for something that died decades ago.