#140 - Should You Leave Academia? Advice for Researchers with Joe Stubenrauch

Awkward Silences

The decision to leave academia can be difficult. Often, it involves giving up a stable career path and a lifetime commitment to a particular field of study.

But as Joe Stubenrauch explains, the move also offers researchers the opportunity to pursue new career paths, improve work-life balance and geographic flexibility, and reinvent their lives.

And he should know: Formerly a professor of history, he walked away from tenure to join a big tech company as a UX Researcher at AWS. In this episode, Joe discusses his decision to walk transition to the private sector and shares thoughtful advice for others considering a similar move.

Highlights from the episode

• [04:06] Joe reflects on feeling burnt out, bored, and doubtful in academia
• [11:23] What makes you happy? Joe weighs the pros and cons of things like mental health, geographic mobility, and proximity to family and friends.
• [19:41] Breaking into a new field, experimenting, and talking to people.
• [34:47] The importance of having a portfolio that includes compelling stories
• [41:35] Tactical advice for job seekers (resumes, LinkedIn profiles, job interview strategies, etc)
• [44:23] Working in a team environment as a former academic

About our guest

Joe Stubenrauch is a former professor of British history at Baylor University, and the author of a prize-winning book published by Oxford University Press. During the height of the pandemic, he walked away from tenure and joined a big tech company in order to redesign his life. Now as a UX Researcher at AWS, Joe has found unexpected similarities between his work as Victorianist and his work in the cloud. He also writes regularly about the transition from academia to industry and is obsessed with how people can reinvent their lives and careers.

You can follow Joe on LinkedIn.