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Leaving Academia

A Practical Guide
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( 236 ratings, 28 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Leaving Academia addresses the crisis in the academic job market, revealing that 93% of humanities and social sciences graduate students won't land tenure-track positions. Christopher L. Caterine, a former academic himself, shares practical advice to help graduate students, adjunct instructors, and tenure-trapped scholars transition into fulfilling careers outside higher education. Drawing on extensive interviews and his own experience moving into corporate consulting, the book offers guidance on overcoming psychological barriers, translating academic skills for new fields, and navigating the challenges of a first nonacademic job.

Concise and hopeful, this book provides concrete steps to manage career changes even when the path seems difficult, making it an invaluable resource for those seeking to chart new directions beyond academia.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is especially suited to graduate students, early-career academics, adjunct instructors, and scholars contemplating or facing a transition from academia to other professions. It will also benefit advisors and mentors supporting such career changes.

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An estimated ninety-three percent of graduate students in the humanities and social sciences won't get a tenure-track job, yet many still assume that a tenured professorship is the only successful outcome for a PhD. With the academic job market in such crisis, Leaving Academia

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

An estimated ninety-three percent of graduate students in the humanities and social sciences won't get a tenure-track job, yet many still assume that a tenured professorship is the only successful outcome for a PhD. With the academic job market in such crisis, Leaving Academia helps grad students and academics in any scholarly field find satisfying careers beyond higher education. Short and pragmatic, the book offers invaluable advice to visiting and adjunct instructors ready to seek new opportunities, to scholars caught in "tenure-trap" jobs, to grad students interested in nonacademic work, and to committed academics who want to support their students and contingent colleagues more effectively.

After earning a PhD in classics from the University of Virginia and teaching at Tulane, Christopher Caterine left academia for a job at a corporate consulting firm. During his career transition, he went on more than 150 informational interviews and later interviewed twelve other professionals who had left higher education for diverse fields. Drawing on everything he learned, Caterine helps readers chart their own course to a rewarding new career. He addresses dozens of key issues, including overcoming psychological difficulties, translating academic experience for nonacademics, and meeting the challenges of a first job in a new field.

Providing clear, concrete ways to move forward at each stage of your career change, even when the going gets tough, Leaving Academia is both realistic and filled with hope.

The prospect of leaving the ivory tower for new careers has never been made so accessible or so attractive. The reams of practical, actionable information packed into every chapter of this guide are underpinned by Caterine's compelling story of personal reinvention. Leaving Academia provides an escape plan for researchers and scholars frustrated with today's academic career maze. - Chris Humphrey, PhD, founder of Jobs on Toast

Written with energy and wit, Leaving Academia centers on Christopher Caterine's practical and emotional journey from academic to business employment. The book provides excellent discussions of resume writing, informational interviews, and other skillsβ€”but it's likewise valuable for the way Caterine describes how it feels to change careers. If you're thinking of making that change - or if your students are - then you should read this book. - Leonard Cassuto, PhD, author of The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It

Leaving Academia delivers! Graduate students and newly minted PhDs need this book now. A compelling account of paths to professional flourishing outside academia, it will be useful to graduate students and PhDs in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences. - John Paulas, PhD, president of PhD Matters Ltd.

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  • Leaving Academia
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Eryk Walczak of the LSE Review of Books calls it "an eye-opener for junior researchers and PhD students alike," recommending it early in graduate school to prepare readers for potential career changes. Praised for practical, actionable information and relatable storytelling, Leaving Academia offers both emotional insight and career advice ideal for scholars considering their options.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691200200

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 September 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Illustration: 2 b/w illus. 1 table.

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 168

About the Author

Christopher L. Caterine is a communications strategist, writer, and career coach. Since leaving academia, he has helped many graduate students and scholars find satisfying work in new arenas. Twitter @clcaterine

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