RSSThe Future Dr. Kao
July 12th, 2006 | View Comments
I think I fit into several categories in Jane’s graduate career poll. Although there are many aspects of my current work that I enjoy, I’m increasingly feeling the pull to tackle more engineering-type problems, to take all my esoteric knowledge and use it to address field-based needs, rather than answer lab-based questions. This means I could take a postdoc and see what happens, leave research completely, or flounder around trying to find something else to do.
I, too, have been given advice about putting myself out there, and it’s probably the scariest advice ever.
But as I read more about careers and business, it becomes increasingly clear to me that the people who “make it” aren’t necessarily the smartest people or the people with the most letters after their names. They are the people who are most tenacious about rooting out good opportunities and getting to them first. That requires putting yourself out there, and a high tolerance for potential failure.
That sort of mindset is idealized, but often poorly realized in academic circles. In academia, studies with null results usually never see the light of day. Students who take risks in class by pushing the boundaries of their assigned work are often reprimanded or penalized for not following directions. The easiest way to get yourself into a verbal brawl is to take a strong position on something at the beginning of a presentation.
You often hear the criticism that the current education system is geared towards cranking out good employees rather than innovative employers, and I think this criticism is valid. I’m immediately seized by fear if I even try to derive some life equation beyond work + positive evaluations from teacher/advisor/boss = money + success.
But I’m slowly training myself to put the fear aside and see possibility instead of insecurity. I do have a strong dislike of working for other people and being bound by their sometimes-arbitrary rules and requirements that could probably be translated into genuine entrepreneurship. I certainly see enough holes in the market and have enough ideas about how to fill them to get me started.
For me, the bottom line may come down to this: Will academia miss me if I leave it? Will the rest of the world miss me if I never enter it?
The answers might very well be no, and yes.
Yvonne posted this on July 12th, 2006 @ 8:19pm in Careers, Graduate School, Life | Permalink to "The Future Dr. Kao"
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2. PHD CAREER CLINIC » Blog Archive » Academia Cultivates Good Employees over Innovative Thinkers » July 13th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
[…] Based on what the Future Dr. Kao wrote, my headline to this article alone should elicit a verbal brawl. I want to quote one of Yvonne’s paragraphs as pertinent to my position: … In academia, studies with null results usually never see the light of day. Students who take risks in class by pushing the boundaries of their assigned work are often reprimanded or penalized for not following directions. The easiest way to get yourself into a verbal brawl is to take a strong position on something at the beginning of a presentation. […]
3. Yvonne » July 14th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Second question first.
I define “making it” as generating enough passive income to cover my basic living expenses. I want to be able to do the kind of work I want to do, when I want to do it, without having to choose between making rent or buying food.
As for your first question, well, there’s lots of things I want to seriously attempt.
On the I need to finish my PhD and then some side:
Make some sort of meaningful impact on education. I’m specifically interested in curriculum development and school administration.
Teach. The thought of being teaching faculty at a university is actually way more appealing to me than the thought of being research faculty. I love teaching and I love working with undergrads.
On the lifestyle/personal side:
Philanthropy and community service
Knitwear design
Ballroom dancing
World travel and language learning
Being able to spend time with my future kids because I don’t have to work 90 hours a week just to make ends meet
Building up my 1001 blogs and web sites, some of which already exist, some of which have been partially executed, and some of which exist only in my head
The things on the list all kind of tie together in a loose network. I need to figure out which node to tackle first.
1. Jane Chin » July 13th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
How about this question:
“What will YOU miss not attempting/trying at the end of your life when you get there?”
… and this question:
“How do you define ‘making it’?”