#leavingacademia — Public Fediverse posts

I'm not an "organizer" and I have spent 50 years avoiding "leadership," but I do think about it sometimes. I often think about the pitfalls and hurdles of #organizing for any positive social change. On my mind lately is how personal motivations and incentives can interact with systemic/structural things to make change difficult.

Because I'm in #higherEd, I'm thinking about two things rn:

1. #University administrators (deans, provosts, presidents, directors, etc.) consistently act like Republican Senators or corporate CEOs when they make policy decisions and interact with "underlings". They can be seen as filling spots that might otherwise have been filled by people who would act in the public interest; they frequently prevent public-interest actions. The #profit-driven US system has installed them there, blocking change from the #faculty and #students from going "higher," and blocking information, resources and also possibly change from coming "down" to the students and faculty. Administrators, I think, have crippling career expectations, often unwritten, that lead them to act almost according to a script, while also clinging to their positions with a deathgrip and often developing a bad case of chip-on-the-shoulder #authoritarianism while doing it.

2. The #facebook group "the professor is out" (TPIO) is for faculty in toxic situations wanting advice and support in #leavingAcademia. Great. However, within a year or two of the group's formation, it was very popular so the creators (apparently) quit or lost their day jobs and seem to have made TPIO their entire income stream. They started selling #merch, coaching, workshops, etc. And they started blocking messages threatening their income, like offers of help from "competing" entities and posts questioning the wisdom of guiding all fleeing academics into doing #dataScience or #UX for the companies that fund the politicians defunding higher ed. The mods gotta pay rent, and now the only way they do this (not to mention staying alive if they get sick) is to generate income from this group.

That's all. It's just a tangled, not always helpful #system. It has evolved to protect itself, in interesting (and frustrating) ways.

#perverseincentives #thoughts

I have 3 calls booked with academic clients from the US who want jobs in Europe ASAP... so there's an intersection between leaving academia and leaving the USA #academia #AcademicChatter #leavingAcademia

The Professor Is Out, a (pretty large) group on FB, has become a bit problematic for me. It started as a support network for people having bad experiences in academia and wanting to leave. Very soon it turned into a space where even saying certain things got your post declined, got you a stern talking-to from the mods, or got you banned. Those things included too-positive descriptions of positive academic environments (even in the context of wanting to leave academia), mention of the social justice and political implications of constant recommendations that academics flee to the corporate world and do UX forever, and (of course) criticism of any of the group's policies, whether implicit or overt.

In the past year the mods have started advertising their businesses, (a) a paid consultancy to help people transition out of academia, with individual coaching and paid webinars, and (b) a merch store.

I'd be more sad if this wasn't so predictable.

#highered #theprofessorisout #acadexit #leavingacademia #industry #ux #capitalism #unintendedConsequences

New posting! There’s no shortage of people and places offering advice to those #leavingacademia and seeking #AltAc careers, but here’s some tips based on my own recent experience of the process.👇Hope it helps, and a big thanks too to all who helped me 😊
https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2024/09/22/pathfinding-some-tips-on-finding-science-jobs-outside-academia/

Leaving the students breaks my heart, teaching was all I ever wanted. And I miss researching (I can't do that, for years, since my brain gets blocked, whenever I try, no matter how interesting the topic is). I hope, I will be able to do research, again, some time.
But for now, I'm done.
#LeavingAcademia
German academia and #WissZeitVG can cause serious health risks!

Highlighting another posting from one of the best new blogs I've come across. Jess' descriptions of #LeavingAcademia are heartfelt and will resonate strongly with those in a similar situation.

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/09/05/jess-is-on-a-break-the-first-30-days/

New posting! After #LeavingAcademia at the end of April, my "jobseeker" status lasted exactly 2 weeks in the end. As of Friday I have now started a new career direction in #MedComms - some thoughts on that in the posting 👇

http://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/09/03/a-new-direction-the-switch-to-medcomms/

I was invited to give a talk about my transition from academia (Biology/Neuroscience) to industry (Software testing/Cyber Security).

So I'm collecting ideas: What would you like to hear about in such a talk?

#LeavingAcademia #Industry #Neuroscience #SoftwareTesting

43% of companies already have or plan to adopt AI interviews by 2024. Are you ready?

People #leavingAcademia need to know how to ace their #interviews, get their #CV / #resume past automated systems, and how to stay informed on what companies are looking for.

They use #AI, so we have to use it too!

If this all sounds like a lot, it's the conversations I have most week with my community.

There are still spaces to join BBA for $30 USD/ £25.

Doors close Friday 30th!
https://www.resumebuilder.com/4-in-10-companies-will-be-using-ai-interviews-by-2024/

A thought...
Is it emotional baggage or emotional walls meant to protect you from the institutional harm that's been perpetrated?

#academia #academic #altAc #leavingAcademia #academics #AcademicChatter #ucu

New posting! And another one dealing with me #LeavingAcademia as part of the #GreatResignation. This one has a slightly broader focus - why it's sometimes right to walk away, and that staying isn't always the best course of action. I've a feeling that #careers in #academia will struggle to stand up to scrutiny in this post-pandemic work environment. See what you think (as ever, comments always welcome!)

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/05/14/walk-away/

New posting! This is the latest in the series of postings examining my departure from #academia, and the way that taking part in the #GreatResignation has shaken me out of a torpor that took hold several years ago. #LeavingAcademia

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/04/30/goodbye-to-all-that/

New posting! Another more personal one, this time focusing on why although I'm #LeavingAcademia I have no regrets for staying as long as I did. And why perhaps all #academics should regularly ask themselves why they're staying, to be sure they're making positive #career choices.

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/04/16/no-regrets-a-salute-to-all-my-students/

Is a lack of recognition for open and reproducible research driving people out of academia? A *fantastic* episode of Impostor Podcast with @ianhussey Karolina Urbanska & Jade Pickering 🌟

#OpenScience #Podcasts #SciencePodcasts #scicomm #openresearch #leavingacademia

I'm looking for someone that can help me convert an academic CV into a professional resume. This is the kind of task I could agonize over for years, so for the sake of time I really need to outsource it. Has anyone used a resume conversion service before, and if so, how did it go? I'd be grateful for any recommendations, tips, etc.
#LeavingAcademia #AltAc

New posting! And a very personal one.

In January I handed in my resignation, and will be leaving the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, the University of Würzburg, and the Physics of Parasitism network at the end of April.

I am #LeavingAcademia.

More discussion of this decision, the reasons for it, and what it means for TIR, in the posting below.

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/03/19/changing-lanes/

Fed up and burnt out: ‘quiet quitting’ hits academia
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00633-w
"…they’re neither quitting nor being quiet about their desire to create healthier work–life boundaries, prioritize their #MentalHealth and reject toxic workplace cultures"

#work #WorklifeBalance #academia #leavingacademia #altac #careertransition

Today is my last day in a university position so I wanted to write a few things about #leavingacademia⬇️

A thread on #NLP, Computational Linguistics and #Meaning. Above all: on loving your object of study and owning it. \1

By the way, I forgot to say I am co-hosting a free 3 day masterclass on Facebook and LinkedIn on Empowering Your Academic Career Pivot. Let me know if you'd like the catch-up website link!
#AltAc #AcademicChatter #LeavingAcademia

Do you want to leave academia? Don’t know where to start?
CV & Confidence Revamp is a 6-wk online course combines hypnotherapy & coaching to support your non-academic CV and build the confidence to succeed on the job market!
When: Monday 27th March - Friday 5th May 2023
Where: online on zoom, course website, private discussion group.

https://www.lunaleadership.com/cv-revamp

#AltAc #AcademicChatter #LeavingAcademia

@pjyng Thank you for this and I'm sure all the #AcademicChatter folk will be interested in your perspective on #LeavingAcademia