Way back in the mists of time (er, that would be 2006), when I was thinking about leaving academia, I came across an article by Kenneth Mostern, Ph.D., called “On Being Postacademic.” This piece totally rocked my world. Both scholarly and inspiring, both critique and criticism, Mostern totally nailed so many of my feelings about scholarship and my flagging relationship to it. Little nuggets just leapt out at me, like this:
…The scariest thing a young faculty member experiences is not, as is conventionally supposed, the “need to produce” and therefore her/his experience is not aided by the “mentorship” of an experienced scholar. Rather, the young scholar’s fear stems from the fact that no one in the department is talking to each other about scholarship. Faculty are socializing, going out, schmoozing all the time, and the ideas that supposedly drive the work they do are not being discussed…The one conversation everyone is having incessantly is the one about the micropolitical maneuvers within the department…
Since then, Mostern has taken the site down where that article was hosted, but by generous permission, I’m able to provide it for Leaving Academia readers here. It’s a lengthy piece, but when you’ve got the time, give yourself a chance to sit down and chew on it. It’s well worth reading, both for those who choose to leave and those who stay.
A final note: after I’d first read Dr. Mostern’s piece, I sent him an email to let him know how much I appreciated it. This is what he wrote back:
Thanks for checking in. The happiest people I know — and I’m not talking about one or two, more than one or two dozen — are people who did their Ph.D.s and then went off and did something besides academia with their lives. Enjoy yourself.
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