You’d think that once you get that academic job and get through whatever process you have to go through to keep it (tenure, probation, or whatever it’s called where you live), it would be plain sailing. You have been judged by your peers to know what you are doing and be doing it well. Unfortunately, […]
Read More »Ethos & Influences
There is lots of advice out there about academic writing and academic careers. Posts in this category elaborate on some of the things mentioned on the about page to give you a better sense of how I approach academic work and the relationship between academic work and other parts of your life. Subcategories include:
Permission to think big thoughts
If you don’t make and protect time for thinking big thoughts, writing, and other research tasks no one else will.
Research doesn’t always look like real work, especially to outsiders, but it is. In this post, I give you some tips on valuing that work for yourself and on finding time to do it regularly.
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Are you waiting for permission?
One of the attractions of an academic career is the autonomy it affords. That means no one is going to give you permission. Or, perhaps more accurately, they already have.
Trusting your judgement is hard. You risk criticism. Disapproval. Perhaps even attack. Even though criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, many academics struggle with it.
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You can take your time
Your dissertation is not an end. It is a beginning.
Getting a tenure track job (or equivalent academic appointment) is not an end. It is a beginning.
And even if your ultimate goal is “Be a full-professor, with an international reputation in my field.” (and it’s okay if that isn’t your goal), you aren’t going to get there in 3-5 years.
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The importance of quitting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The importance of quitting Quitting has a bad rap. Winners never quit and quitters never win. When the going gets tough, the tough keep going. I can see how you don’t want to give up at the first hurdle, but sometimes quitting is actually a good option. The option […]
Read More »Maybe I’m not crazy
Sometimes I think that you will all just think I’ve lost my mind. (cue Robbie Williams “…It was mine to give away…”) The academic labour market, heck the entire labour market, is going to hell in a handbasket and I’m telling you to think about your passion and your best contribution. I’m suggesting that you […]
Read More »Is your inner perfectionist making things take longer?
Do you have an Inner Perfectionist? Your Inner Perfectionist can be really helpful and probably has been at various points in your career. They make sure you do your best work. Help you through the end game of writing in which all the big ideas are there and you need to make it really shine. […]
Read More »There’s more than one kind of academic career
In all the debates about the academic labour market, it seems that an academic career is an academic career. The academic labour market is a mess. Funding is squeezed. Tenure lines (or, in the UK, open-term positions) are not being replaced. There is a huge increase in insecure and poorly paid teaching and research jobs with […]
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I hate goals
I don’t find them motivating at all. If setting goals works for you, go ahead. You are in good company at this time of year. But if goals just make you panic about not achieving them and being a failure, I give you permission not to set any. I don’t care if you write an […]
Read More »Don’t let obligation get you down
You got into academia because you were excited by ideas. Particular ideas. Stuff you read made you think “But what about …” Or “I wonder if …” You do research to answer those questions and contribute to the conversations that inspired them. Have you lost that excitement? All research goes in phases. Sometimes you do have to […]
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