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Academic research: Staying or going is 1000% a personal decision.
That being said, students/postdocs thinking of leaving need to read this piece. https://twitter.com/harcel/status/1339164715059130369
That being said, students/postdocs thinking of leaving need to read this piece. https://twitter.com/harcel/status/1339164715059130369
I was thinking of jumping ship around the same time @Harcel actually did. By chance, I got a job I was excited about and ended up sticking around. I am very happy I did. I think the job I have now is one of the most rewarding jobs that could possibly exist (for me).
And often the job is super hard and demanding. And some days I feel totally BURNT OUT. But when you love what you’re doing, and there’s that big picture motivation of understanding the Universe, it makes it easy to bounce back and get pumped about it again.
I can also say that I *gasp* didn’t like being a postdoc as much as I like being a professor. I often felt like I was staring at a computer 24/7 working super hard on something that 5 people will eventually read.
Having more job security and a diverse range of tasks as a prof suites me better. If I’m sick of my research I’ll go think about how to be a better teacher or how to improve some aspect of my community. Opportunities/duties that are not common during postdoc years & I like them.
Obviously I feel very fortunate to have been able to stay, because getting a tenure-track job is SUPER HARD. And way harder right now thanks to COVID.
But I will say that I see a lot of students and postdocs look at the market and immediately assume there’s no way they’ll be able to succeed in getting an academic job (or non-academic job in astro), then decide *super early* to make their plan B into their plan A.
Contingency plans are great! Make them.
But please don’t automatically interpret a difficult job market as an impossible job market. There are measurable, concrete metrics that will make you competitive, so if you want it, it is not wild to work toward fulfilling those metrics.
But please don’t automatically interpret a difficult job market as an impossible job market. There are measurable, concrete metrics that will make you competitive, so if you want it, it is not wild to work toward fulfilling those metrics.
But just to swing back around: your career path is 1000% your choice!
But I think Marcel’s piece gives valuable insight into the long-term challenges of such a difficult decision.
But I think Marcel’s piece gives valuable insight into the long-term challenges of such a difficult decision.
Anyway, thanks @Harcel for writing it! I hope you can find a way back to astro that fits your needs. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see a number of people boomerang back over the past few years. All best!
So some folks have understandably taken this thread to mean that I’m not recognizing the very real problems facing BIPOC/women folks in often being forced out of the field and facing more substantial barriers. I’m sorry I didn’t clarify — those are clearly *not* choice.
Actually the sole reason I was thinking about leaving as a postdoc was because of harassment and bullying. That stuff is insidious and pervasive, and indeed far worse for BIPOC than folks like me. I had a lot of privilege but still felt like I had few options to continue.
The thread as written above was intended to address folks who feel supported in the field, want very much to stay in, but see the job market as super dire anyway and not worth staying.
I’m sorry that I didn’t state that explicitly upfront.
I’m sorry that I didn’t state that explicitly upfront.
One point I think worth stating though is that you can also have a personal evolution in how you feel about the science over long periods of time. There may be long periods where you hate it because of crappy experiences: hating it is ok (crappy experiences, not ok).
