You May Also Enjoy
Academia’s Survivorship Bias
5 minute read
Published:
I’m just on my way back from a conference where I met with two former mentees who left academia to launch successful careers outside academia. Hanging out with them (and their adorable daughter), seeing how happy and successful they are, and reflecting on my own role as their former mentor made me realize something that I think is worth a blog post. As a mentor I have the wonderful privilege to guide students and postdocs through experiments, grant applications, job talks, and career decisions. Yet there is one aspect of mentoring where I feel that many of us—myself included—have been getting it wrong. The problem is reflected in the way we talk about careers. We speak about people who “survive in academia.” We discuss who “makes it” and who “drops out.” We celebrate former trainees who become professors and often don’t mention those who move into industry, even if they are very successful. The implicit message is clear: academia is the destination, and everything else is a deviation from the intended path.
How to get through to interview
8 minute read
Published: