Your New Mantra

If you are thinking about quitting academe, are frustrated by the working conditions, low pay, and lack of opportunities, I recommend repeating the following words to yourself every morning when you wake up, before you teach your next class, grade your next assignment, and work on your next article or dissertation chapter:

This is work. 

I am a professional. 

Professionals get paid. 

End of story.

*     *     *     *     *

Those words are a quote by a postdoc. If you don't follow the world of science blogs, go here to read the full story. Although in context they don't relate to academic employment, I have no trouble imagining they easily could. 

In a nutshell, the postdoc is a scientist and respected blogger who also happens to be black and female. When invited to guest blog elsewhere, she inquired about compensation and was called a "whore" for daring to decline an unpaid gig. The post I've linked to is her response, and we might all take a lesson from it.

*     *     *     *     *

Really, the longer I work outside academe, the more mystified I become at how many smart people back on the inside are willing to sell themselves short. 

The bottom line is that academic work is WORK. If you don't feel you're being adequately compensated -- whether you define compensation in terms of money, respect, opportunities, or all of the above -- take a stand for the VALUE of the work you are doing.

Now, repeat with me and the rest of the post-ac community:

This is work. 

I am a professional. 

Professionals get paid. 

End of story.