Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide

Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide

【Content Introduction】
“You actually want to leave”—for most scholars, the biggest obstacle to leaving academia may be admitting this.
An estimated 93% of graduate students in the humanities and social sciences fail to secure tenure-track positions, yet many still view a tenured professorship as the sole outcome of a successful doctoral degree. In this challenging academic job market, Leaving Academia helps graduate students and scholars in any academic field find fulfilling careers outside of higher education. Concise and practical, this book offers valuable advice for visiting and adjunct lecturers seeking new opportunities, scholars caught in the "tenure trap," graduate students interested in non-academic careers, and scholars hoping to more effectively support students and colleagues in temporary positions.
After earning a doctorate in classics from the University of Virginia and working as an assistant professor at Tulane University, Christopher Catlin ultimately decided to leave academia and land a job at a global consulting firm. In this book, he condenses the lessons he learned from this two-year-plus job search, along with more than 150 informational interviews he conducted during that time and interviews with 12 professionals who left higher education and entered various fields, into this ready-to-use guide.
The advice in the book covers a wide range of topics - from self-assessment, exploring career options, building relationships, enriching professional resumes, developing skills, to resume writing, interview preparation, how to translate your professional skills to non-academics, adapting to the new workplace, etc.; it even includes emotional aspects, especially the struggle, fear, shame and sadness that many scholars experience when they lose their academic identity.
This book will help you proactively face the challenges of transitioning out of academia.
【Expert Recommendation】
The humanities and social sciences offer many intellectual rewards, but they are a difficult way to make a living. For many frustrated by the competition for fewer and fewer permanent jobs, the professorship, once a passionate calling, is no longer viable. Many humanists are forced to look elsewhere for reasonable salaries, health insurance, geographic stability, and professional dignity. This book helps us face this reality and adapt to this new normal. And importantly, Catlin offers advice on managing fear and shame, nurturing the grief that accompanies the loss of our sense of self as scholars.
—Yan Slobodkin (Postdoctoral Fellow, SIFK Center, University of Chicago)
I loved this book so much that I bought it for a loved one. Some of the advice in this book is particularly helpful for academics transitioning into (or returning to) industry or corporate settings. I also found it useful for: 1) affirming that there is life outside of academia; and 2) providing practical steps for leaving academia—from replanning or publishing a project to conducting informational interviews. I was particularly inspired by the inspiring interview advice, and even though I wasn't quite sure what would happen next, I've already started doing it.
—Amazon Reader This book should be an eye-opener for junior researchers and doctoral students, and I recommend it for early graduate school reading. Leaving Academia can help readers prepare for possible career changes in the future.
—Eric Walczak, London School of Economics Book Review The prospect of leaving the ivory tower for a new career has never been so accessible, nor so appealing. Each chapter of this guide is packed with practical, actionable information, underpinned by Catlin's compelling story of personal reinvention. Leaving Academia offers an escape plan for researchers and scholars frustrated by the maze of academic life.
—Chris Humphrey, PhD, founder of Jobs on Toast. "Leaving Academia" is a vibrant and intelligent account of Christopher Catlin's practical and emotional journey from academia to business. The book offers fascinating discussions on resume writing, informational interviews, and other skills, but equally valuable is Catlin's description of what it's like to change careers. If you—or your students—are considering making this transition, you should read it.
—Leonard Cassuto, Ph.D., author of The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It "Leaving Academia is here! Graduate students and recent PhDs need this book now. This compelling narrative for thriving careers outside of academia is highly relevant to graduate students and PhDs in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences."
—Dr. John Paulas, President of PhD Matters Ltd. I'm a social science scholar who's considering leaving academia. Like many of us, I have absolutely no idea how to adapt my skills to a new job outside of academia. This book is fantastic, and it really opens up new possibilities through its practical examples of real people who have transitioned out of academia. However, I think the most useful part of the book for me is definitely how it helps you identify the many skills you possess as an academic (often without even realizing you have them) and, crucially, how to market them and apply them in another context. This made the book even more interesting to me, as it comes from an academic who doesn't specialize in a field that's easily transferable to the private sector. I recommend this book to anyone considering leaving academia, especially if they feel their skills are "unmarketable" or unapproachable!
—Amazon Reader

2023-09-01

华东师范大学出版社

Mint Experiment

232

9787576040005