So you want to leave the academy. We all know that the academic life is a hard one, full of sacrifice, setbacks, and often extreme debt. Unfortunately, it is extremely hard to get back in once you leave. So, if you are going to leave, you should seriously if you are absolutely sure you want to leave. While I was making the decision to leave, we made and answered the following checklist of questions. (Our answers to all of these questions will be posted in our blogs soon.) Below are some questions we thought were extremely important for us to answer in order to make my decision.


-Why do I want to leave?
-Is my desire to leave the result of a specific event or the build up of a lot of events and reasons?
-How long do I remember feeling this way?
-Do I have an exit plan? Is it actually a viable plan?
-Are the reasons I want to leave space specific or tied to the academy as a whole?
-Would I be happier at another academic job?
-Would I be happier if I left the tenure track but not the academy?

This first big step for us was answering these questions honestly. Although Dr. Boson can pinpoint a few events that were the proverbial straws, her desire to leave the academy has been building for years. When both of us made the decision to leave, these are questions we struggled with. Think carefully about these questions while you make the decision. We hope this blog is helpful.

-Dr. Boson
-Dr. Lease