Why PhDs keep leaving academia
For a long time, there was a clear path: finish your PhD, complete a postdoc, become a professor....
I read the email. And then deleted it.
Once upon a time, I wasn't selected for a role I applied for because even though I had the skills...
Quitting before it’s too late.
I saw a post from someone who had just quit their PhD program. The person cited realizing they didn't have the passion or capacity for academic research. All I could think of was: Kudos to you for realizing that.Kudos for realizing it early.Kudos for being brave...
Know who YOU are first.
"I am getting a PhD in *insert discipline.* What industries and job titles will be the best for me?" This is a legitimate question. And here is why asking other people to tell you what YOU should do with YOUR degree can be a terrible idea. The person you are asking...
What every PhD can learn from this confidence coach’s failures.
After four years in graduate school, Ken Li was fired from the lab where he was pursuing his PhD. After getting kicked out of the lab, he didn't even feel motivated to get a master's degree and so he forfeited it. For years afterward, he carried the sense of shame and...
Don’t turn your PhD into a box.
If I have a PhD in biochemistry, then I need to find a biochemistry job. If I have a PhD in philosophy, then I need to find a job where I can directly use my philosophy degree. If I spent six years studying neuroscience, then surely I need to become a neuroscientist....
No experience is wasted.
Recently, one of my community college students emailed me to inform me that he got into medical school. I was so thrilled that I asked him to send his white coat ceremony pictures. Yesterday, he emailed the pictures. Here's why I am sharing that story. In Navigating...
The culture of waiting in academia.
The academic system teaches us to wait. You wait for admission into a school or program. You wait for approval to conduct research. You wait for an editor to say your paper is good enough to share with the world. Nothing wrong with institutional processes. But oh, can...
Specialization ≠ limitation
For the most part, higher education teaches us to become specialists. Nothing wrong with it until I see folks confusing specialization with limitation. In a world where careers are increasingly nonlinear, your ability to unpack, recombine, and redeploy your...
Remind yourself of the past.
A few years ago, I was perusing the publications that had cited my papers and came across a patent application. My eyes bulged, and I clicked through to read what the patent was for. It was for a wound-healing device and my earlier work on epithelial cells seemed to...
If you didn’t buy your PhD online AND…
If you didn't buy your Ph.D. online AND: 1. You attended an accredited school.2. You read literature and worked with an advisor to choose a research question.3. You designed experimental tools to help you explore that research question that had NO answers.4. You...