Wow, this is the second professor I have heard from in the past week who is leaving their "dream job." And I know of another who has been documenting her slow exit. All of your stories have been so thoughtful and inspiring, although it also tells a sad story of the growing problems of attacks on higher education. And I'm rooting for your return to Seattle!
Fantastic piece. You're not alone. It's incredibly freeing (and frightening) to disconnect your identity and self-worth from the academy. Fly! Write! BE!
Jenn! I've been waiting on the edge of my seat to read this post since I saw you mention it on Instagram and I'm witnessing your journey with compassion and so much respect. While self-employment can be a rocky journey for sure, I'm grateful that I've been able to explore this alt-ac journey and still interact with academia and scholars in a way that works for me--and I'm so excited about the audience you've built through PNP. It sounds like you might head back to Seattle, but you're always welcome up here in Massachusetts, too! :) Can't wait to read more of your journey, and am cheering you on!
Cheering you and Kate on, wherever you go and whatever comes next. Last year, I actively discouraged my niece from applying to UT for her doctoral studies, knowing how Texas treats trans people like her. Ever since, I've been pondering the question of why I'm giving my own labor to that same UT system. I'm glad you've found the right answer for you and hope to find my own with as much honesty and sensitivity as you've shown in that essay.
Hi Jenn and firstly thank you for your kindness, generosity and the inspiration you’ve provided to a random bunch of academic strangers across the globe via this list. I’ve found solidarity and the kind of values here that I cherish and that sadly, are all too often missing from our institutional academic spaces. As someone currently facing a ‘transformation’( ie redundancy) process, I can completely appreciate the kind of life changing decisions at stake here and why you made the choice to leave. It’s heartwarming and also heartbreaking to hear - so many brilliant people have now left my institution which is increasingly feeling like a shadow of its former self. It’s also terrible to see the extent to which reactionary politics are undermining and threatening progressive values. It’s happening less quickly in the UK than in the US but it’s there and it’s appalling to witness. My students are my hope for the future- they just don’t buy into autocratic politics and eventually they will overcome them. Meanwhile I wish you joy and salute your incredible courage and honesty. Thanks for being here - you’ve made a difference to a lot of people. ☘️
Wow! I’m also currently (next week!) leaving my “dream” tenure-track job, and academia altogether, to move back to Seattle because I cannot feel at home as a queer woman in Texas. It really is a frightening and dislocating feeling to leave something you worked so hard to achieve, but I love the idea of working to think of yourself as a scholar rather than an academic. Best of luck to you!
Thank you for sharing, Jenn! Having the freedom to decide where to live is so important for personal well-being and happiness. I'm glad you are choosing that for you and your partner. I wish you the very best with your new endeavors and that you will enjoy your new found freedom from the academy!
Thinking of you, Jenn! This is such a big, brave move, and such a good reminder that there's more to life (so much more!) than the prestige of the institution that employs us! Wishing you and your partner the best as you figure out your next steps!
Jenn, thank you for sharing your journey in deciding to leave academia. I feel incredibly grateful that our paths crossed and that I got to learn so much from you. In my teaching, I use many strategies/lessons that I learned while TAing/AIing for you. Just yesterday I went back to some of the ideology slides from 307. And I think I already told you, but your PNP posts helped me navigate the writing process when I was in a huge time crunch to finish writing the dissertation and writing from another country and had no opportunity to have casual conversations with advisors or other grad students. In other words, I admire you. I look up to you. I am grateful I know you. And I am glad you are doing what is best for you and your family. Teaching in Texas has become a stressful nightmare –as if being on the TT wasn't already– and at least once a week, I walk out of the classroom thinking today is the day I will get reported to the DEI police. You trained a lot of good scholars who will fight the good fight on your behalf. (Abrazos desde West Texas <3).
I am inspired by your courage, your honesty with yourself about how you're feeling and with us about your process for finding your own best path. This was not your dream job, you've revealed there are many other important aspects to a fulfilling career than just the job description or your immediate collaborators. It's brave to be so honest and to take action. Get after YOUR dream job, you can make it happen! And so refreshing (and needed) to hear that your dream job includes taking care of yourself and those you love. XOXO
Thank you for sharing what this process has looked like for you, Jenn. Incredibly helpful, and inspiring, to read (as are all your posts). Also, Stuart Hall 👍👍👍
I'm thrilled that you will be able to keep charting your own path, geographically now as well, and can't wait to follow your work as you do.
I had a different yet similar experience in shaking up who I thought myself to be. It was rocky and scary and definitely worth it. Brava for you and Kate and a new expansive beginning!
I am inspired by your bravery, but also a bit struck and disoriented by your decision. I’ve always seen myself as following in your footsteps thinking had I not met Kate, you, and all of the amazing people at UW Bothell and Seattle I might have never begun my own PhD journey. And now, here I am at the very end (defense is in June) and I’ve already relocated to a new state for the TT position! To see someone I look up to step off the path gives me a mixed feeling of awe and grief. I commend and resonate with your intellectualism untethered from the institution but I also feel an even stronger sense of duty to join the ranks of those who remain steadfast in the turmoil of academia, especially as others turn away. Your teaching through action leaves me a bit frustrated at the responsibility we all share to make this world a better place. Resistance remains necessary by any means. There is no simple resolve.
Jenn—Several thoughts from my 33 years in higher education in some form. One is an important lesson I learned when transitioning from a corporate job years ago. As a part of the transition, I hired a firm to help with targeting geographies and companies. A key lesson from working with that consultant was that I value lifestyle over career advancement. Based on that we decided to return to Colorado, which matched our lifestyle preferences. After having seen many executives exhausted and unhappy over the latest corporate move, I have felt validated.
The second thought is that there is ample life outside of tenured academia. How I am phrasing this is around the creation of “learningscapes.” Traditional higher ed academia overall is in a phase of accelerating demographic and preference decline. The games that institutions have played with tuition discounting, using low paid faculty as adjuncts, and trying to survive by milking the Boomer wealth transfer are coming to an end. But, there is still a growing demand for learning and some alternative ways are needed. In part this need is what we hope to address through our founding EduPartners.coop. That said, it’s not easy but a whole lot of fun.
Last point is that many tenured academics may not be all that happy anyway, I have seen this in my many years of interacting with senior faculty at our flagship institution in Colorado. They stick around because of the pension system but are miserable and too often never grow the skills to do anything other than collect their pensions. A wonderful piece on this from a German academic, Sabine Hossenfelder, says it better than I could ever image. https://youtu.be/LKiBlGDfRU8?si=Qivcg_MTGUSVLYKW.
Happy to read about your breakthrough, albeit hard. You have so much to offer humanity. Leap and the net will appear. See you on the other side friend. Love, Heather
Wow, this is the second professor I have heard from in the past week who is leaving their "dream job." And I know of another who has been documenting her slow exit. All of your stories have been so thoughtful and inspiring, although it also tells a sad story of the growing problems of attacks on higher education. And I'm rooting for your return to Seattle!
Fantastic piece. You're not alone. It's incredibly freeing (and frightening) to disconnect your identity and self-worth from the academy. Fly! Write! BE!
Jenn! I've been waiting on the edge of my seat to read this post since I saw you mention it on Instagram and I'm witnessing your journey with compassion and so much respect. While self-employment can be a rocky journey for sure, I'm grateful that I've been able to explore this alt-ac journey and still interact with academia and scholars in a way that works for me--and I'm so excited about the audience you've built through PNP. It sounds like you might head back to Seattle, but you're always welcome up here in Massachusetts, too! :) Can't wait to read more of your journey, and am cheering you on!
Cheering you and Kate on, wherever you go and whatever comes next. Last year, I actively discouraged my niece from applying to UT for her doctoral studies, knowing how Texas treats trans people like her. Ever since, I've been pondering the question of why I'm giving my own labor to that same UT system. I'm glad you've found the right answer for you and hope to find my own with as much honesty and sensitivity as you've shown in that essay.
Hi Jenn and firstly thank you for your kindness, generosity and the inspiration you’ve provided to a random bunch of academic strangers across the globe via this list. I’ve found solidarity and the kind of values here that I cherish and that sadly, are all too often missing from our institutional academic spaces. As someone currently facing a ‘transformation’( ie redundancy) process, I can completely appreciate the kind of life changing decisions at stake here and why you made the choice to leave. It’s heartwarming and also heartbreaking to hear - so many brilliant people have now left my institution which is increasingly feeling like a shadow of its former self. It’s also terrible to see the extent to which reactionary politics are undermining and threatening progressive values. It’s happening less quickly in the UK than in the US but it’s there and it’s appalling to witness. My students are my hope for the future- they just don’t buy into autocratic politics and eventually they will overcome them. Meanwhile I wish you joy and salute your incredible courage and honesty. Thanks for being here - you’ve made a difference to a lot of people. ☘️
Wow! I’m also currently (next week!) leaving my “dream” tenure-track job, and academia altogether, to move back to Seattle because I cannot feel at home as a queer woman in Texas. It really is a frightening and dislocating feeling to leave something you worked so hard to achieve, but I love the idea of working to think of yourself as a scholar rather than an academic. Best of luck to you!
Thank you for sharing, Jenn! Having the freedom to decide where to live is so important for personal well-being and happiness. I'm glad you are choosing that for you and your partner. I wish you the very best with your new endeavors and that you will enjoy your new found freedom from the academy!
Wow. I can imagine how soul destroying living in a fundamentalist state must be. I wish you well!
Thinking of you, Jenn! This is such a big, brave move, and such a good reminder that there's more to life (so much more!) than the prestige of the institution that employs us! Wishing you and your partner the best as you figure out your next steps!
Jenn, thank you for sharing your journey in deciding to leave academia. I feel incredibly grateful that our paths crossed and that I got to learn so much from you. In my teaching, I use many strategies/lessons that I learned while TAing/AIing for you. Just yesterday I went back to some of the ideology slides from 307. And I think I already told you, but your PNP posts helped me navigate the writing process when I was in a huge time crunch to finish writing the dissertation and writing from another country and had no opportunity to have casual conversations with advisors or other grad students. In other words, I admire you. I look up to you. I am grateful I know you. And I am glad you are doing what is best for you and your family. Teaching in Texas has become a stressful nightmare –as if being on the TT wasn't already– and at least once a week, I walk out of the classroom thinking today is the day I will get reported to the DEI police. You trained a lot of good scholars who will fight the good fight on your behalf. (Abrazos desde West Texas <3).
I am inspired by your courage, your honesty with yourself about how you're feeling and with us about your process for finding your own best path. This was not your dream job, you've revealed there are many other important aspects to a fulfilling career than just the job description or your immediate collaborators. It's brave to be so honest and to take action. Get after YOUR dream job, you can make it happen! And so refreshing (and needed) to hear that your dream job includes taking care of yourself and those you love. XOXO
Thank you for sharing what this process has looked like for you, Jenn. Incredibly helpful, and inspiring, to read (as are all your posts). Also, Stuart Hall 👍👍👍
I'm thrilled that you will be able to keep charting your own path, geographically now as well, and can't wait to follow your work as you do.
I had a different yet similar experience in shaking up who I thought myself to be. It was rocky and scary and definitely worth it. Brava for you and Kate and a new expansive beginning!
I am inspired by your bravery, but also a bit struck and disoriented by your decision. I’ve always seen myself as following in your footsteps thinking had I not met Kate, you, and all of the amazing people at UW Bothell and Seattle I might have never begun my own PhD journey. And now, here I am at the very end (defense is in June) and I’ve already relocated to a new state for the TT position! To see someone I look up to step off the path gives me a mixed feeling of awe and grief. I commend and resonate with your intellectualism untethered from the institution but I also feel an even stronger sense of duty to join the ranks of those who remain steadfast in the turmoil of academia, especially as others turn away. Your teaching through action leaves me a bit frustrated at the responsibility we all share to make this world a better place. Resistance remains necessary by any means. There is no simple resolve.
Jenn—Several thoughts from my 33 years in higher education in some form. One is an important lesson I learned when transitioning from a corporate job years ago. As a part of the transition, I hired a firm to help with targeting geographies and companies. A key lesson from working with that consultant was that I value lifestyle over career advancement. Based on that we decided to return to Colorado, which matched our lifestyle preferences. After having seen many executives exhausted and unhappy over the latest corporate move, I have felt validated.
The second thought is that there is ample life outside of tenured academia. How I am phrasing this is around the creation of “learningscapes.” Traditional higher ed academia overall is in a phase of accelerating demographic and preference decline. The games that institutions have played with tuition discounting, using low paid faculty as adjuncts, and trying to survive by milking the Boomer wealth transfer are coming to an end. But, there is still a growing demand for learning and some alternative ways are needed. In part this need is what we hope to address through our founding EduPartners.coop. That said, it’s not easy but a whole lot of fun.
Last point is that many tenured academics may not be all that happy anyway, I have seen this in my many years of interacting with senior faculty at our flagship institution in Colorado. They stick around because of the pension system but are miserable and too often never grow the skills to do anything other than collect their pensions. A wonderful piece on this from a German academic, Sabine Hossenfelder, says it better than I could ever image. https://youtu.be/LKiBlGDfRU8?si=Qivcg_MTGUSVLYKW.
Good luck and keep going!
Happy to read about your breakthrough, albeit hard. You have so much to offer humanity. Leap and the net will appear. See you on the other side friend. Love, Heather