I don't know about you, Poppy, but I got my PhD for flexibility, and went into academia for that reason (although to support my role as a mother). I knew I could get a job teaching someplace - whether it was an R1 or a community college - and be doing what I loved.
I'm sure that you went in with some purpose of your own and that doesn't have to be to get a stellar job somewhere, but the job that's right for you. A grad student career doesn't have to end with a job in a far-away place, or an academic job at all, and that's okay.
In my grad program we had a number of adjuncts who stayed at the school for personal reasons (usually centered around family) and while they didn't get paid as well and had little job security, I don't think that any of them would have chosen a different path given the chance, or that anyone looked down on them for making a decision like that.
You know, my partner turned down some big-time jobs to land at the same school as me and email after email from the schools he turned down applauded him for his commitment to his family and those that he loved.
Academics might seem cold and heartless, and they do want their students to grow up to be just like them, but they've all made decisions and (the vast majority at least) have people who they care about and are close to.
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Posted by fraud, in denim to academicsecret at 11/14/2006 11:49:30 PM
