Taking the leap of faith outside academia
If you are a PhD holder, you have a lot more than a degree or certificate – you have critical-thinking, management, and communication skills. But you likely also experience imposter syndrome and insecurities every once in a while. After all, the process of getting a doctoral degree is, in itself, grueling. And at the end of it, you’re faced with another challenge – what to do next?
Postdoctoral research – a road travelled too often?
In recent years, research scholars across the world have become increasingly aware of the pressures of a hypercompetitive academic job market. Considering the low pay during and the lack of faculty positions at the end 1 of post-doc journeys make the upfront competition even less palatable2. This situation prevails across geographies. Even in a developed country like the USA, postdoctoral positions could be financially unviable based on which city you work in 3. The discourse about a dissatisfying postdoc journey is neither new 4,5 nor restricted to any specific geography 6,7. It is not just the financial aspect that is a problem in academia, though. Many early career researchers (ECRs) commonly experience anxiety and depression, fighting mental health challenges with strapped resources. 8 While this is surely not the case for every individual, the struggle seems to be an integral part of most post-doc researchers’ stories.
Taking the road less traveled can be scary
Stemming from the Ivory Tower idea that ‘academic training is meant for and is best utilized within academia’ is the misconception that PhD or post-docs would not fit any other employment scenario ever. ECRs also tend to think “Would joining the industry mean I’m less competent or passionate about my field?” They may also feel that their academic training was in vain if they did not stay in academia. Shifting gears to embark upon any other career like industrial research, teaching, or scientific management and policy making, seems daunting as is. To top it all off, some ECRs depend on others for making such decisions, balancing parenting or caretaking responsibilities with newfound ambitions 9. Though on the one hand such pragmatic considerations might prompt you to look for better paying careers in the first place, they can be critical factors in the transition process.
Career transitions may be difficult. However, a PhD holder can leverage the training to do anything. The hardest part is believing that. Making such sweeping changes in your life can be scary, but rather than any tangible changes, it needs a simple change in mindset.
You’re not alone on the road to academic exit
There exist umpteen ways to overcome the mental blocks to taking up alternate science careers after having been in academia for a long time. Firstly, remember that you are neither the first nor the last person on earth to make this decision. Someone else ought to have done it before you (no, your novelty is not taken away – only you can do things the way you do them) and such people can be your guiding lights in the beginning 10. Searching for such people can be done via your personal network or virtually, through social media (think LinkedIn, Twitter), professional talks and cover articles 11. Speaking to those who have done it before is a great source of first-hand information on the how-to of this transition.
Then, it would pay off greatly to educate yourself about the many areas where your subject matter expertise and/or your transferable skills could come to use 12. This process should go hand-in-hand with a journey within, i.e., developing self-awareness to a point where your personal values and life priorities are clear enough to guide your career choices, leaving no regrets, and imbuing your life with zest rather than stress.
Through both the processes above, you can get help from your peers and mentors, who have seen you or worked with you closely and know you well to understand your position and act as a soundboard for your ideas on how to make the transition happen. You must remind yourself that you are not alone on this path and trust that help will be presented when you need it.
You are enough. Go for it.
All the guidance and support in the world can fail us when we fail to believe in ourselves. Various resources, including Editage Insights will be there to guide you. Yet, the importance of faith in oneself can never be overemphasized or substituted.
Believe that one who trains through a PhD or beyond has most likely already surpassed the most difficult of trainings and trials. Your skills are of use in any field that you may choose to contribute to, and even if it means you may need to re-invent yourself, you very well know how to do that too. If you can do a PhD, you can do anything.
References:
1. Wosen, J. Academia’s postdoc system is teetering, imperiling efforts to diversify life sciences. STAT https://www.statnews.com/2023/06/06/postdoc-system-teetering-imperiling-life-sciences-diversity/ (2023).
2. Udesky, L. Postdoc survey confirms widespread dissatisfaction among US researchers. Nature (2023) doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00332-6.
3. Langin, K. Cities offer great postdoc opportunities—but make sure you factor in the cost of living. Science (2018) doi:10.1126/science.caredit.aav2684.
4. Powell, K. The Postdoc Experience: High Expectations, Grounded in Reality. Science 3 (2012).
5. Grinstein, A. & Treister, R. The unhappy postdoc: a survey based study. F1000Research 6, 1642 (2017).
6. Christian, K., Johnstone, C., Larkins, J., Wright, W. & Doran, M. R. A survey of early-career researchers in Australia. eLife 10, e60613 (2021).
7. Ahmed, M. Z., Plotkin, D., Qiu, B.-L. & Kawahara, A. Y. Postdocs in Science: A Comparison between China and the United States. BioScience 65, 1088–1095 (2015).
8. Powell, D. The price of doing a postdoc. Science (2017) doi:10.1126/science.caredit.a1700003.
9. Careers outside academia: How Jeong-In Yun turned challenges into opportunities and co-founded an R&D start-up. Editage Insights https://www.editage.com/insights/careers-outside-academia-how-jeong-in-yun-turned-challenges-into-opportunities-and-co-founded-an-rd-start-up (2022).
10. Industry Transition. PhD Career Stories https://phdcareerstories.com/industry-transition.
11. Gould, J. Beyond academia: Planning the perfect exit strategy for a scientific career move. Nature (2022) doi:10.1038/d41586-022-00198-0.
12. Careers outside academia. Editage Insights https://www.editage.com/insights/series/careers-outside-academia.
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