Jessica Costello, US PR Team
“To build a successful academic career, you need to play by the rules. But what are the rules?”
A recent article from social science space features the perspective of Daniel Nehring, a Research Fellow at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad (CIECS), on what it’s really like out there for recent PhD graduates. After reaching his five-year mark since receiving his doctorate, Nehring takes a moment to reflect on some of the challenges he faced throughout his journey:
“An obvious reason for the struggles faced by many recent PhD graduates is, of course, that universities produce far more graduates than they could possibly ever employ… In order to make it, you also need to understand many of the more subtle aspects of academic life – how to build a reputation in your field of research, how to make sure that your work is read, recognized, and cited, how to belong to the right networks, etc.”
“eBook updates and must reads from ALAMW Conference”
This recent article from No Shelf Required provides a list of all the eBooks companies that attended this year’s ALA Midwinter to share their new features and updated programs.
With the eBook trend on the fast track, frequent reports have been written to discuss the various effects, and are considered “must-reads” in this article.
“First, the ALA Digital Content & Libraries Working Group publication, Ebook Business Models: A Scorecard for Public Libraries. Second, The Pew Internet Library Services in the Digital Age report. Finally, the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report (4th Edition). The latter reports provide excellent data to help understand user needs in our digital age.”
“Academia is a very well kept secret”
The Guardian features a story written by, Jeannie C. Holstein, an ESRC Doctoral Researcher at Nottingham University Business School. From marketing consultant and director of sales, to a doctoral researcher, Holstein explains the difference between academia versus her previous career:
“My future colleagues probably won’t thank me for saying it but academia is a very well kept secret… it just allows you to use your mind differently and for a different purpose. You still have to produce; you still have targets, even if they are the project steps and the self-inflicted deadlines of a PhD.”
Holstein said she tried to continue her work as a consultant while pursuing higher education, but the satisfaction didn’t quite compare to teaching and sharing her passion…or ”obsession,” as she puts it.
“I sometimes wish I’d made the switch to an academic career path earlier, but I think it is best to repackage regrets as insights.”
