Review: The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job

The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job by Karen Kelsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kelsky's methodical and meticulous exploration of transitioning from a doctoral student into a professional in academia is a must-read for anyone (even in undergrad) thinking of pursuing a doctorate degree for the purpose of a university position. Her argument for the book is sound: competition for tenure-track is fierce and getting fiercer, nontenure-track positions are increasingly more exploitative, and without a serious means to economically exploit a doctoral degree will leave recent graduates with lots of debt and few opportunities. Her approach is a critical and non-sugarcoated romp through the nuts and bolts of making one marketable by being the utmost academic profession one can be by leveraging every single opportunity to network, earn CV-valuable credits, articulate value and experience, and leverage past opportunities into new ones. She's thoroughly explored all parts of the process and has a clear means of conveying how students can move forward.

Beyond that, the book is just a fascinating look at the inside world of academia and how toxic it the experience can be. Often, Kelsky's advice helps readers navigate problematic conversations and situations they will have to navigate that have so much less to do with the actual work and scholarship and more to do with the egos and questionable practices of scholars. In that vein, she's willing to turn over all the rocks of academia to help prepare readers to face some real ugly truths about the environment. Such keen advice is largely absent for students entering into doctoral programs or only comes along, well after students are stuck in the sunk costs fallacy. People contemplating going into a doctoral program (or their loved ones) show make sure this book ends up their hands.

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