what makes me sad is that many MANY industries are currently like this. The restaurant industry, the education system, the retail system etc. Even STEM based industries. It seems like people are unhappy everywhere and are working in a job that they don’t want to be in. It makes me upset to see the rampant depression in the US.
This all needed to be said so much. So few people are actually aware of the shadow side of academia. My students were always shocked when I told them I was an adjunct, what percentage of the system is adjuncts, and what adjuncts get paid compared to "real" professors. About five months ago, I had a student in the final academic class I wound up teaching, come and ask me to write a graduate rec letter for her and I had almost this exact conversation with her, at which point she changed her mind about wanting to go. The system is broken and I'm glad I've finally found the courage to walk away from it. Like you, I'm socially isolated, scared about how I'm going to make a living in the future and so on but It's the right thing to do. Your story is not unique. It is endemic and it needs to be told...as often as you can find the heart to tell it. It was clear this video wasn't easy to make. Thank you for making the effort in a good cause.
If you can’t think of a job to do post being a professor, this just highlights how inadequate and non capable a lot of professors are to prepare people they teach for the real world.
@@thedog5k People who studied things like sociology, anthropology, literature, gender studies etc. IDK, maybe it's different in your country, but in my country for people who graduated those things have only two options - staying on university or working as a cashier in supermarket.
I actually left academics when your ranch porch videos echoed my advisors concerns exactly. And I have to say I actually started enjoying the materials and languages much more when it wasn’t tied to such a Byzantine system. Thank you for steering me in the right direction.
For the record, I don't think you sound bitter at all. I think you sound like someone who went through the ringer, realized it could have been much worse, and worry about bright-eyed naive idealists who might walk into something like this and end up scarred. That's a strong sign of character and something you should be thanked for. Thank you.
I know exactly what you're talking about. I hold a PhD and worked as an adjunct assistant professor for Business German for years. The pay was so ridiculous that I made more money selling stuff on the flea market once a week. The students loved my class, but the faculty had so little respect for my "skills" class that they scheduled faculty meetings during my class so I couldn't attend and voice my opinion.
They want us to work for free with “skill” building and work meetings. I agree I decided to quit teaching even though I loved it and my students enjoyed me.
A lot of this is fair. I am a tenured professor in the UK (although we are just called lecturers). It surprises me that a lot of PhD students don't realise just how bad the job market is. It's really bad everywhere, and before I take on a PhD student I make sure that they are aware of that and they they have alternate plans. So much of it depends on luck. In 5 years time Old Norse could be the hot subject to study and suddenly departments are hiring, if you graduate around that time a person will get that tenured post. Anyway, I'm a medievalist with a passing knowledge of Old Norse and really enjoy your work. I look forward to seeing more videos.
I understand you, brother. I have a Ph.D. in an obscure subject--Literacy--cultural literacy. I'm a specialist in roots and early country music. I taught Freshman Composition for years. I had an old Tennessee farmer tell me one time that he had a Ph.D., too--his "post hole diggers." Digging fence post holes was more meaningful to him than academic pursuits. And he may have been right, for all I know. I'm a whole lot older than you. Things sometimes have a mysterious way of working out. I've been sober for 23 years. The field of all possibilities is much clearer when one is sober. Hang in there. Peace.
Grasped this soon enough and left academia (Indo-European studies) after 1 year of postgraduate studies. The department closed down after a while and, from what I've seen, people who continued down that path ended up beaten by the system. I saved tons of time and money but the real value was a lesson learned : don't turn your hobby into a job. Crawford's insight on this matter is very useful and it shows all the ways in which modern academia is broken.
Well what makes it sad is that this wasn’t a “hobby”, it was a passion. A passion like any other job, can only survive with proper support & infrastructure. But exploitation of workers & talent is better, lol-sad.
PhD in Linguistics here, 8 years out. I wish I heard your words 20 years ago. Thank you so much for this video. 🙏🏽 I've found joy and career stability in the educational non-profit world, surrounded by hundreds of other PhDs who work to better the lives of students, their families, and their communities. That could be a career pathway that other humanities and social sciences majors can explore. It's not without its own flaws and shortcomings, but it's another path worth exploring.
I am in that stage of my life where I need to really make decisions that might define the rest of my life, I do not want to sound too intruding but would it be possible if I could have a chat with you online? I am also planning to speak with advisors but I just really want to make sure I am making educated decisions as I enter grad school
As a retired academic, absolutely right in everything you say. Excellent video. But... you''re not a loser. Most American chairs are sponsored and sponsored chairs often carry a great deal of kudos. And they get more kudos from the quality of the person occupying it. You are the Patreon Professor for the Public Dissemination of Old Norse Language and Culture. That carries a lot of weight. There are three categories for assessing the quality of an incumbent tenured Professor: research, teaching and engagement. The title of the chair speaks most to the latter two. You've created the chair and the chair is funded as a result of what you do. You more than fill the Professorship you hold: You're brilliant at it. Period.
You’re so right, I completely relate. I went to grad school in Spanish language and literature at a very prestigious Ivy League university from 1987-1992. I loved (still love and keep up on) the subject, I was fluent, knowledgeable, committed. Loved teaching, got great evaluations, was offered a class every semester including summer. But it wasn’t about teaching, it was about, like you said, having a narrow obsessive topic you could flog for life and publish regularly. Mostly articles nobody outside of the field would read. Another grad student there could barely speak the language and hated teaching, but she had a topic that every paper or talk she did would be about. She got a tenure track job. I went to the MLA convention and there was one job in a place I had no desire to be paying $23k. I dropped out and became a paralegal earning way more and not having to dedicate all my time to it, and I was very happy and never regretted my decision for one nanosecond. Shortly afterwards I started seeing articles about adjuncts working three jobs at three different colleges and making less than I was. But to this day if I tell people this they look down on me as a lazy loser who couldn’t hack it and thew away a great opportunity. It bothers me, but not much. I enjoyed my career, had some economic security, and was able to retire end of last year. Universities are just corporations now, really.
I read an obituary a few years ago about a man who had been a professor of Etruscan studies at Harvard. In the forties or fifties, while still relatively young, he packed it in, moved to California and became an orange grower in the central valley. Can you imagine the flack he got from family, friends, and other academics? They must have thought he was crazy. But there are many people who leave prestigious jobs, professional careers, and even acting simply because they don't want to do it anymore. Personally, I have great respect for those individuals, and try to remember that just because you are good at something, it doesn't mean you have to do it as a career.
I agree with your sentiments, but he is not a professor. This is part of the point that he is trying to make. Just because you have PhD does not mean that you will be given the rank of professor at a university and like him you will most likely get "pigeonholed" as an instructor. I repeat in no way is he a "loser".
Becoming a run of the mill high school librarian (in a union state) has made me more intellectually fulfilled and financially secure than basically all of my non-teaching or non-professional friends… 🧐 Food for thought.
Do you mind me asking if you needed to do a degree program in library studies? I know some public library jobs require a degree but I'd never considered primary education
@@harashe1000 Yes. 4 year education degree requiring student teaching and teaching certificate in the US. Some states require you to be certified in another area of teaching first. Librarian positions generally require a master’s degree outside of K-12 education (I added a master’s myself a little later, plus some other teaching certificates).
I am a linguist and I’m at the point now where I need to think about whether and where to apply for PhDs in the winter. I am lucky in that I got a part time job doing some phonology+light coding stuff at a medical company which I both enjoy and I think contributes positively to society. So with that experience I hope I‘ll have a backup option if/when the academic path does not work out. Your point about personality being an important factor in whether you make it in academia really got me to think. I enjoy research but I feel closer in spirit to you than most successful academics I’ve met. Still I feel like I would regret not going for it a lot. But maybe that’s also a form of laziness, PhD paradoxically feels like the path of least resistance, even though it might lock you into a world of hurt in the future. And FOMO also plays a role, it feels like being handed a lottery ticket and just throwing it away before even knowing the numbers.
I am part of a group for supporting those learning Old English (we're mostly British, but there are members from elsewhere including the USA), some of whom are now considering venturing into Old Norse; at a recent Zoom meeting someone said they had heard that you were undergoing some sort of personal crisis, and there was general concern and sympathy. I thought that I should pass this on as an example of people around the world who care about you and wish you well.
I recently took (and failed out of) an online college course that was strangely dehumanizing. The instructor was a real person, but she was as helpful as an AI bot if you had a question. It was degrading, like paying good money for someone to teach you how to do something and they just tell you to read the instructions manual over and over again. It's as if the academics who survive are more cenobite than human.
Man just looked up cenobite. Honestly, some of those profs/academics look like those creatures. Pale and more dead than alive, which shows in their attitude
As a future young academic in English/Norse philology, thank you in advance! And also thank you for all the other videos you’ve made, you are a true internet hero
I am a former professor of ancient and medieval history at Missouri Western. I had earned tenure in 2018. However in 2020 the university declared financial exigency, and so were able to fire 62 faculty - sadly including myself. My last academic year was 2020-2021. The financial exigency excuse is only partially justifiable. We in our department (which lost half of its faculty and all of its programs) did the math and knew that we drew enough student credit hours to more than pay our way. What this ultimately was about was a new model of higher education: making people job ready. The new paradigm is about training people for jobs, not educating. Sadly, the biggest casualty in this new paradigm is the humanities. This is part of a larger trend - liberal arts curriculum giving way to more practical training, especially in STEM fields. While I definitely sympathize (and even at points was appalled) with your experience, I could say that I thought I had it all. I had the brass ring when I got a TT job. I got the gold ring when I earned tenure. But given the current devaluation of liberal arts education, none of us is safe.
I'm a recent Ancient History & Archaeology grad in the UK and it's such a similar situation over here - such a massive bummer as someone wanting to go into lecturing further down the line. Thankfully my professors are brilliant at strikes and protesting and all that cool stuff, so it's still inspiring
@@risbrynthe obsession with tying academia to profit and politicians pushing universities to produce students that make loads of money is destroying universities. All knowledge and learning is valuable to humanity, not just the stuff that makes money for other people.
Thanks for this, Jackson. I just defended my phd dissertation in Old Norse lit (primarily) in an English department last week. I had a good time in grad school, but you're definitely right concerning the kinds of people who really "succeed." I love the teaching side of academia, but excelling at teaching will never be rewarded in the same way that excelling at research is. It's a shame because those who produce excellent research aren't always the best teachers (though many are, of course). I wouldn't go back and change a thing about my own career path, but it would have been good to really understand the problems facing early career researchers. People really need to be aware of this reality *before* they even think of applying for graduate school -- thank you for speaking about these realities.
I get the feeling a very large number of people who would be really good at research are in fact kept out and driven off, and the “good researchers” we have now aren’t necessarily so but rather are the best at playing this system.
I have a masters in mathematics and getting ready to start a PhD on philosophy in several weeks. I'm very excited in many respects, although I have deep concerns about my future career and finances. I will likely be studying philosophy of science and the replication crisis, or something along those lines. I mention this because as fromthefire4176 has remarked, I don't even think people who are "good researchers" are necessarily all that great or clever, and I think the replication crisis is pretty solid evidence of that. There's a lot of outright fraud, and these people know exactly what they're doing, but a lot of it is probably due to complex social and psychological factors that researchers themselves are not even aware of. A lot of what makes someone a "good researcher" is not really quality of their research, but rather their ability to network, obtain grants, and make their work sound appealing or relevant to journal editors, the press, and the general public. The research-industrial complex has turned academic research itself into a commodity to be bought and sold - and most importantly mass produced - and in doing so we seem to have created a self-organizing social process that is eating away at the quality of academic research.
Jackson, maybe this is will sound nosey and rude, but I wish to say that we are all here for you. I understand the feeling of not wanting to share my struggles, but I want you to know that, should there be a need for it, we will be here to listen to you and your struggles. We love you and we are grateful for all of your work.
I'm 39, turning 40 soon and am a 5th year PhD (UK style where the average duration is about 3.5 years) with no job prospect and not sure if I can even finish the PhD. I doubt I will be able to get a tenure track job. Sounds like alcoholism and LDR was tough on you. I'm also apart from my wife, and my addiction of choice is video games. Keep spreading the good message!
I almost pursued academia in a field I loved (math, not languages, but not the kind of math where you could actually make money). I very randomly received similar advice from an adjunct professor who was genuinely brilliant, but still struggling nonetheless. I can't go into all his trials and tribulations, but it was genuinely shocking how poorly he was being treated by certain of his "colleagues." Even though universities are often viewed as a means to getting a good paying job (rather than a place to learn because learning improves you inherently or strengthens character or something like that), they are often really bad at even that...and I went to school *_before_* they became cripplingly expensive. So all of this, ramble or not, is potentially extremely valuable to people coming up.
I'm middle-aged. And happy I left the academia and study I loved in order to just get a job. I made more cutting people's lawns than I would have if I stuck with my field of study. I use my brain in other ways -- for hobbies, for volunteer work... Ultimately, I did find a job that used my skills that wasn't too soul-sucking, but I got that job because I grew up on a farm and had been a landscaper. "Do what you love and the money will follow" works for very few people. It's more realistic to get a job that pays the bills, and do what you love in your spare time. Thanks for this, Dr Jackson. It's an important topic.
I'm very grateful that you made this video. I'm a 32 year-old guy from the UK with a PhD in religious philosophy. I've faced very similar problems to you, having chosen a field which works against me and being someone who enjoys teaching as much as research. I've also applied for hundreds of jobs and have thoroughly been pidgeonholed as the 'adjunct type'. I've sacrified everything for that career, including an engagement. I've moved countries more times than I count. I could have been married and had kids by now (she married someone else recently). You mentioned the stress, which I can relate to. It almost did me in a couple of times. I was obssessed with the idea that I could also be one of the elite few (tenured professors), out of love for my field but also because of family expectations and a certain snobbishness on my part. Now I have a completely different job in industry. I'm having to start from the bottom and build up a completely new set of skills. Life's really tough, but I now have the stability and long-term vision that always escaped me as an 'academic' chasing semester or (at best) year-long contracts.
Me too, am very grateful for his eloquence and honesty. I found both his, and your integrity painful; 1) because i am genuinely sad for the painful journey you have both made and 2) because it shines an unflattering light on my own lack of personal integrity and a life filled with idiocy and petty denials. Anyway, it is beyond my abilities to say anything that won't just sound trite. But I can vividly feel the pain of what it must have been like to see the woman you loved marry someone else and the whole jigsaw puzzle that you bought into, never quite resembling the picture on the box. Take care and greetings from Norwich.
for you to be able to both process the abuse you suffered, and also become sober within a not so distant time frame.. is completly remarkable. I am lost in my own foraging for a life that I want to live and your advice has come at a perfect time for me. Thank you sir
Young academic here. Currently working on my ENG dissertation about alchemy in medieval literature! Doing plenty of research and teaching now in videogame studies. Always love your videos and advice. I'm not sure I'm cut out for youtube, but I enjoy the great educators on here. Edit: I'll add that my grad school cohorts have been fantastic communities without competitiveness. Most of us are here for the teaching, but Jackson is right that there are way too many cutthroats who focus only on their own research, regardless of the good it might do for humanity or even the profession.
Dear Dr Crawford, being a PhD in Biology myself I can relate to many things you mentioned by my own first hand experience. I wish you to find an occupation that makes you happy and adds also some financial security to your planning. All the best from Germany from your subscriber Stefan.
This is excellent advice. I’m also 37 and debating going back to get my masters. I have degrees in Anthropology and History, and similarly I’ve dealt with a lot of “what is anthropology and what do you do with a degree like that?” I was a TA at U of M too while there and got to learn and work closely with the professors. Both adjuncts and tenured. Right now I have 9 years experience as a social worker making 35k/year. So I always figure if my masters degree doesn’t get me anywhere, I can fall back on that experience. But yeah, I was never under the impression that my degrees would make me rich. My professors made sure I knew the reality of that before I got in too deep, haha. I also figured it was worth doing if you’re passionate about it and it brings you joy. Life is short. Find your happiness.
I also have degrees in Anthropology and History and dropped out of an MA program 30 years ago to go into the IT field. I ended up doing really well financially, eventually making 6 figures and even publishing many technical (software related) books that had nothing to do with my academic studies. Now I am 59 and over the IT thing, wanting to go back to grad school and get my MA in History/Native America Studies. I have no illusions that it will make me any money but I am financially stable enough that I can pursue my passion and wanting to do something more personally rewarding!
I might just be a stranger on the internet, but I really do want to thank you. This I think has helped me think about a realistic and smart way to achieve my goals, and vision for my life. Random side note, National Order of the Arrow Conference, for anyone who knows what that is, is being held at the University of Colorado Boulder, and this is the one time I can't make it, which kills me but oh well.
I'm 34, moving towards 35 and at the age of 32 I decided to finish my bachelors. I am currently pursuing a multi disciplinary in Philosophy, Anthropology, and Religion. I have been told by so many people that I should be a teacher and what you have said has been ever present on my mind for years, as others hold a faith in me that feels like a fulfillment of their own wishes rather than the reality I stare down and am unsure if I can tackle. I am not the 19 year old young dreamer... I am an old dreamer who is trying to live up to those dreams, still, but owe how the energy feel sloggish. This will be my last year before I graduate with the a bachelors, that and the deep uncertainty of what lays next. I suppose I say all this because I don't think you were rambling, it resonates with me. The small details are the poetries of our humanity. I appreciate your recognition of we who have a "gentle curiosity", a spirit that wants to learn. I wanted to send this because your caution shows me that you care, and it is meaningful to hear people trying to be caring and realistic in the world, but certainly on the internet. It feels to me that you are trying to live wisely, and so though the systems do not reward it yet, hopefully you can feel that you are living the path and garner respect and appreciation.
I have had several, wildly different jobs that hasn't been within my passions. Ironically, when I did work with my passion I was mostly miserable and poor. When I worked/ work with what I'm good at I feel fulfilled, am more successful and make more money. Choose a career that you can do well and where workers are needed. You will find that all jobs can be interesting as long as you are good at it.
Wow!!! Dr. Crawford- this is one of the most important videos I have ever seen on YT!!! It's very raw, very honest and very candid- no need to apologize for being honest. I'm 51 in a couple weeks and pretty much everything you described was what drove me out of service after 11 years in the army. My eldest son (a decade younger than you ha ha) wants to be in academics someday and I passed this video along to him. I think you are doing great- as the saying that is credited to Sun Tzu goes- The man who live with depression struggles with his past, the man who lives with anxiety struggles with the future. The man who is serene lives in the present. It's the little things in life that make it worth living and where you will find your greatest treasures. My life's enjoyment is watching my dogs in my backyard and the toads that reside there. Simple yet very calming and enjoyable.
i met MANY grad students at U of Manitoba who only had to pay $500 in continuation fees, and were in the MA program for YEARS. its supposed to be 2 years. the wanted to change the funding model, but the professional grad students revolted lol
Greetings from a swede happy to hear a man from USA interested in language and Swedish. I studied horticulture for five years 40 years ago and being retired and 66 I can look back of a time with a lot of friendship and a lot of knowledge at the university. Most of the time in my life I have worked freelance for a hiking company leading groups in southern Europe. Life is a struggle as you know and the road is the goal. Now I am preparing a new life and leaving it to enfold itself. Have a basic income and have learned that I am survivor. I can see that you are just a lovely person and what you are telling more important than you think!!
I enjoy your musings on life and your storytelling just as much if not more than your old Norse content. I would love some sort of weekly podcast where you just ramble about things.
Dr. Crawford you have a good heart & a damn good soul. I have a feeling in a few years time you're gonna be exactly where you wanna be. You've inspired me to control that crutch that alcohol takes it's hold of & to be the best person I can be for myself and others. You're going to inspire a lot more people than you already have to just live a good life and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've went through a hell of a lot but you've changed a lot of people's lives for the better. Never stop believing in yourself your legacy will live on for a long time.
I mean this from the bottom of my heart. The insights and personal life experiences you shared hear are indeed encouraging. For the fact you're sharing your challenges both personally and professionally and also reminding us to stay true to our values and who and what we love. You have so many people that love you and your work Jackson and you deserve to have all your dreams realized! Thank you for your authenticity and kind nature!
I am juggling with this question currently, I am planning on applying to graduate programs in Classics this fall after having spent the last year honing my Greek, Latin and Egyptian in a post-bacc program. I love ancient languages to death but worry about the job prospects especially since I have a rough time finding a job recently. Thanks for this video, your videos always give me much to reflect on.
so what you love and dont get trapped being a perpetual grad student! if you ever wanna chat high level about research methods and research paper structure pleeeease dont hesitate to ask
Your story matches what happened to me so closely. I went into academics wanting to share my love of the natural world with others. I also did research, but not for the prestige: I did it because I loved it, and I enjoyed writing and publishing. But I was given classes of hundreds of students with no support in teaching. I loved the students, but it took time. And I was passed over for promotion again and again. My administrators abused me constantly. The tenured faculty snubbed me in the most petty ways possible. One of them created a huge departmental fight because I put up onto the research board wall the poster my student had presented at the American Chemical Society, the premier society in this country for chemists. And finally, I was put into an impossible situation, then fired. My wife left me. I was driven not to drink but nearly to suicide. But now I work outside the academic field doing what I love, and find that it is the most honest environment I have ever been in. OUTSIDE the academic world, they seem to care about truth, want you to find out what the truth is, and are nice to you when you do it for them. Oh, and they pay vastly better than academics. I am an old man now, but regret only that I didn't learn earlier that life outside the academic world is happier, that you teach more there, and that they treat you more fairly there.
The academia work sounds more about running classes for large amounts of students, running a faculty, getting promoted, and being recognised by your colleagues more than it is about learning and knowledge. Quite sad.
Your first video for grads was something I needed to hear at the time. I was just starting my MA in history. I love history. But, I have humble rough beginings that made interacting in academia difficult- despite my high GPA. I was the less fortunate student taken advantage of, but trying. I am a US History teacher now, but I am putting real thought into restaurant management. 3rd day of school and I have a 300 lbs girl student put a 100 lbs girl in a headlock and beat to a pulp in my class. I was assaulted too trying to stop it. No Child Left Behind allows students so violent they throw whole desks at teachers to stay in the class and not taken out of the student body. This is why teachers are leaving the profession.
I suspect this problem extends not only to 'industrially remote' fields like Old Norse and linguistics, but even to fields *directly* related to the worlds most profitable industries. In software a certain author and PhD has sold well over 100,000 copies of his book - a huge comprehensive and up to date tome that people applying for big tech companies study from to pass interviews. He's extremely prolific, puts out paper after paper, and after about 10 years of this he's finally been made an... associate professor. Good on you for getting out of academia, and if these increasingly sclerotic institutions don't respect you - screw 'em. It's 2023 and we no longer need these institutions to get knowledge from the best and brightest on planet earth.
I can confirm and sympathize with a lot of this. My wife and I work at a large university (I'm teaching science-related topics, non-tenured, and she's in administration), but thankfully we have received about the same abuse divided by two somehow (her a bit more than me). She previously worked at UCLA and had some of the worst experiences of her life. I have also sometimes wondered about how some people managed to get tenured, and this hyper-focus you mention is both awe-inspiring and a bit weird. I have wide-ranging interests myself and I simply could not keep publishing at that rate. So far, my university has been willing to keep renewing my contract without any problems, so I'm happy with that. I think you're doing a great job with this channel by the way, I'm looking into which of your books to start with.
This video adds a whole different dimension to who you are! In many of your videos, it is clear that you are very knowledgable and very interested in your area of expertise, but in this video, you show the ability to be self-reflective and I feel that that is the ingredient that greatly contributes to your ability to be a good teacher......so wherever life leads, I hope you will honor your 'whole person' and continue to look deep......as Socrates or some sage said: "The unexamined life isn't worth living".
Well said, I appreciate your honesty and candor. As a multi-decorated post-graduate retiree, I can say about careers that one can never go back. When I left a 30-year nonacademic career, I looked for something completely different and after several months found a niche. For example, consider a life's work that brings a pension/401K and health benefits. Like the public-school systems here in Texas are crying for people and PhDs command a premium price even from the beginning. Some of the bigger ISDs are paying sign on bonuses. (If one teaches a foreign language more money is in the offing.)
Got a Ph.d. In South Asian history, 4 years of (painful) language training. Taught at top university. Loved every minute of it, alright, maybe not orals. Advice: start a business. If you are compulsive enough to study arcane topics for years and to write a dissertation, you have every skill needed. I wish somebody would create a fund to help young Ph.d.s launch businesses. The discipline to complete graduate work translates well into small business.
I'm a twenty year-old undergraduate student and I'm immensely thankful for this advice. I've heard it in various short forms from people whom I respect, but none of them have shared in such compelling detail or made this impact on me. Very thankful to have seen this ahead of my graduation, with time to think more about the path I'm headed down. Thank you, Dr. Crawford!
I think a ranch with a few bunkhouses would make a great university. Work on the land, grow food, build a library. Read books in the evening, discuss by the fire. Teachers are paid well, students don’t go into impossible debt and also learn many other skills.
Thank you a lot for this video! As an idealistic teenager who's starting to study linguistics in university, your video really made me think and I hope that I'll look back on it when I'll have to make a decision regarding my career in the future.
I wasn't sure about clicking on this video, but I'm very glad I did. I really appreciate your vulnerability and openness, and refusal to equivocate or sugarcoat your experiences. In case anyone might benefit from hearing my story: I chose not to go into academia over 10 years ago, and this is my tenth year working as a high school teacher. Public education has its own problems, of course, but I am fortunate to work in a state with strong unions and relatively high teacher salaries. My wife and I then had the financial stability so that I could go on sabbatical last year to further pursue the research and writing that I'd put off in the 10 years since undergrad. It's certainly not ideal that I put my research dreams on hold for so long, but I do think I made the right decision. I love teaching teenagers, and now I've proven I can still follow academic pursuits as well, even if it has to be at a slower pace.
I just entered my Master’s degree in Linguistics (and beginning to teach German) this year, so this advice and your stories are sobering, and I can relate to them a lot. I admittedly feel nervous with teaching and grad school, but I hope that I can at least do good at my work, no matter what that may be. Thank you, Dr. Crawford. You were an inspiration for me to further my love into Indo-European (spec. Germanic) linguistics, so this means a lot to me. Thank you again.
needed to be reminded of this right now, so thank you for saying it, and thank you for sharing some difficult experiences. i think what you said at 10:48 is one of the things that confused me about academia for so long, i could never quite get over it. there is a bizarre cognitive dissonance in academia about this, and a lack of acknowledgement that the university system isn't just "broken", it's ruthless and exploitative towards so many (often less fortunate) people. all the best from michigan.
Brutally honest and heart felt sentiments here. I and probably many of you went down the same rabbit hole. The lucky ones were those who read the tea leaves and saw the TRUTH and the game implicit in the pursuit early on and were able to take the appropriate corrective steps to limit the damage (personal, financial, social, professional) before it became irreparable. For this I am grateful. Now, I never look back ! This message needs to reach the eardrums and radar screens of every young person with any academic pretentions. For some, it may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the malaise will soon pass....
Philology and theology over here, not in academia, yet I can relate to your story. I will light a candle for you (and thank you for your wonderful contributions).
I've been following this channel for quite a few years now and I've always appreciated your insight on academia. I'm a veterinary librarian and run a library (fell into the role, honestly). I've worked in academics about 7 years and I agree with much of this. The politics and manipulations you deal with are hard and wear on you. It's never one thing but a series of things that build, things you can't really prepare for. I'm looking to leave, and possibly libraries, but that's a whole nother topic.
Dr. Crawford, i follow you and a bunch of other religion youtubers (esoterica, religion for breakfast, all that crew) and i really appreciate your voice specifically for how candid and undressed it can be. I am not in academia and its not a prospect, but you offer a greater wisdom here, and it's making me reflect on my own path such as it is. Nobody needs those details, but this video has fostered an introspective turn that i value, thank you.
Thank you for the video, not in academia, but still relatable in many ways. Feel like I'm at a crossroads career wise, and your remark about having high ambition but low self-esteem definitely hit close to home!
dude, i got a government job and came in playing politics, then all my allies and benefactors left, and i got HR'd, would up a Union issue, signed a NDA. i would redo it without the undiagnosed mental health and autism issues lol i was too much an activist who wanted to be the change i wanted to see
Money and people come, money and people go. (Be it in or out of your hands). Life has taught me that the only thing you can do is be true to yourself, find the things in your life that make you feel whole/happy/good/useful etc, find people who tell you the truth, and support you to be the best you want to be, and enjoy the nature around you. You're appreciated, whatever path you choose.
"Old Norse isn't going to rest its head on your chest as it drifts off to sleep..." I'll say it again: Sir, you represent the very best of our emerging mountain west culture :) I missed your talk here in SLC, sadly, but hope we get a chance to meet one day. Also, still waiting on that "Do you know now, or what?" coffee mug... Peace! Kenny
If there was ever someone more deserving of getting support on Patreon, it’s Dr. Crawford. He is our professor and I hope he can remain so and continue to focus on Norse studies. Most of all, though, I wish for his happiness and fulfillment in life.
This couldn’t have come at a better time! I‘ve been considering going for my Master‘s in Religious Studies, but this confirms my biggest fears about grad school and academia. Guess it‘s solo research, then!
Really eye opening, and I'm glad you shared your experiences. I'm so sorry you had to deal with those things. I really wish you the best going forward.
Thank you for your honesty. I have been in academia for nearly thirty years. I have both seen and experienced many of the things you mentioned here. Thank you for your excellent instruction on RU-vid. I wish you all the best from sunny Montgomery Alabama.
Thank you for this advice. I'm starting a Philosophy MA part-time for my own interest while continuing my corporate job part-time that pays ok. Will see what's what after. Your experience and thoughts are noted and truly appreciated.
Just wanted to chime in and let you know that you are quite literally my Hero. Your story is inspiring, and your advice is well received and understood. I'm going down the path for Scandinavian studies as well, and hopefully I can learn from your experience and make the most of it for myself. Again, Thank you so much for all your work, time, and videos. You are the best!
Dr.Crawford, I hope you see this. You are very inspirational, I hope I speak for all of your subscribers when I say we appreciate all of the good work you've put in over the years. As someone who owns all of your translations, I look forward to reading them for years to come. And I look forward to seeing the next translations you add to the list. What is next in the Grapevine? The Prose Edda? Or will you be translating more sagas? Either way, that money is going to be happily spent. And with that, I wish you all the best.
I’m really glad you made this video. I’m British so the system might be quite different, but this lines up with plenty of things I’ve heard from Brits and Americans. It’s brutal what you’ve had to go through but despite everything, you’ve got a positive attitude to life and you’re aiming upwards. This video was a perfect balance of telling your personal experience, making valuable points about the reality of the academic path and still encouraging people who have intellectual interests and I thank you for that. You’re a great man.
Thank you for speaking out. I am not a career academic, but I worked at a university for graduate tuition remission, and the way I was treated was appalling, to the extent that I abandoned the field altogether. Now I am back in industry, and while I like my job and do use my brain, I have to get my intellectual kicks elsewhere. There's some freedom in that, but there's also a sense of a higher purpose lost that can be painful at times. Haven't found an answer to that one yet. Anyway, I also would recommend career centers, as well as the book "Designing Your Life" to anyone who might read this comment. And thanks Dr Crawford, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and openness in this video and all your videos in general.
I earned my PhD in geology way back in the 20th Century. I briefly considered a career in academics/research; but I chose to pursue options in mining and energy and later in consulting. I have never regretted that decision.
For the record, I do think you're a fantastic teacher. Not just in old norse but also in life lessons . I regularly listen to you just for insight and retrospect . Keep it up and know you have the support of many , many , people .
I finished my PhD in 2017 from a top program in philosophy and have since published articles outnumbering the many tenure-tracked colleagues of mine who make 5x as much as I do per month. After enduring the most inane and stupid treatment for the last three years, in addition to being passed over for multiple full-time positions I was assured that I would secure, I had to resign. I ended up taking on more debt to continue working for a program that I shouldn't have endured to begin with. Friends outside of academia respond with puzzled reactions regarding the poor treatment most of us have to live through, often replying with encouraging words, such as, "you have a great PhD! You'll find a better job making more money than us." The question always remains: what then are we to do next? I wouldn't tell anyone that they shouldn't pursue a PhD in the field that they love. I would, however, tell people that, as much as they love their field of study, sacrificing a decent living while also straining relationships and health (both physical and mental) doesn't have to be the only way to be a philosopher, historian, etc.
Thanks for sharing. Not in academia, but I really feel you. I'm in my 40s and struggling to understand why I can't get ahead either. Lots of people in creative fields also experience similar troubles with career and social displacement. Intelligence, hard work, and talent so often don't pay off. The unconventional path often becomes the only path. BTW, my father basically fell into a tenured position at a community college because he was the rare automotive mechanic with a bachelor's degree. He's enjoying a sweet pensioned retirement now. The only good news for me is I'll have an inheritance eventually and might actually own a home when I'm 80. Anyway, best wishes. Love your channel.
Hello, there, I'm a Swedish retired teacher, English, Swedish, both history and literature. I really enjoy your channel. I gave up the idea of a PhD, since the academic world turned out to be a swamp, and not in an interesting way.
Dang, doc! Did you end the video with a rocket launch? We love you because you are a real person and you honestly communicate. I wish I could make me a job like yours; I studied history and that field is saturated well beyond limits everywhere. Your narrower specialization gives you quite an edge in this format. I wish you luck. BTW, bought most of your books. Got one left on the TBR pile. Good stuff.
PhD in English Lit here, 2021 grad. I got a tenure-line spot at a uni not far from you in Montana, but ended up resigning because academia treats teachers and students so poorly in rural areas. I was one of those very niche folks who could play the game--Irish Studies, strong socializer, ran and attended conferences, published. But even then academia was not really sustainable, and was destroying my creative drive--for folk music and writing. I switched to academic administration in NYC and am much happier as the work-life balance is there, I still get to teach but it is on my own terms, in my own program. Still considering other paths though since academia sometimes feels just broken in the US. Dr. Crawford, we need more voices like yours--I doubt we will dismantle the system over-producing PhD's and exploiting adjuncts, but we need to let folks know that it is not a sustainable life path. Folks can do it if they love it, or feel it as a calling. But it is a bad bet to think you'll be one of the lucky ones and somehow manage what other top tier scholars have trouble getting. Love ya, and I always travel with your Hávamál.
Thank you for this video. I found zero bitterness in your attitude and understand that you're really just explaining your own experiences. Personally, I am that gentle curious type you mentioned and I have a wide range if interests that I haven't been able to narrow down to a particular degree as of yet. I spend most of my free time thinking about philosophy, political theory, history and related subjects. While I absolutely love these topics, and am currently deciding whether to get a degree double majoring in Philosophy and Political science, I've become more and more apprehensive lately. And this is because I've come across many, many academics in these fields on places like Twitter and here discouraging such a pursuit. And this video has also got me thinking more. I'm not sure what the future holds and it's sad that what I like to do and think about might lead me down a path of financial ruin. Thank you for this video Sir, truly.
I'm feeling in a similar place in my career, except I never finished school and I'm in electronics production. As you may guess, I love learning and meeting new people who do as well. I just wanted to thank you for sharing so much of your knowledge and experience on here, and I hope people like us find a better way to connect and share like this using social media in the future.
Linguistics grad here and can confirm: most of us don't get jobs in academia. Linguistics departments (in my experience) tend to be overrun with sociologists, and no one with a functional knowledge of linguistics is ever steering the ship. Very little by way of research funding towards understanding the nuts and bolts of language, a lot (by humanities standards) of funding towards "sociolinguistics"-based studies. My own career trajectory sent me, as Jackson said, into ESL. Now I'm on a completely different path altogether. Would probably do things differently if I had my time again... but I am not filled with rage or regret, just mild disappointment lol.
I'm a couple months out from 39 myself. Not an academic (in the traditional sense) but a classically trained artist, that kinda whiffed in the timing of my art career. My style of art not particularly marketable in the currentclimate. I chug away at my art regardless. I did want you to know, while i was working on a large painting, I was listening to your audible special Great Coarse on Norse Mythology. A term that you brought to me was 'Thranger' (forgive the butchered spelling) and I use it in my daily life. Granted, it is one thing to say and another to be. All this is to let you know, that I have found value in your passion and appreciate the understanding you've brought this closeted archeologist. Thank you.
You've lived with intent; you can thank yourself for that precious reality. You've lived by the code you've embraced. Deeds pay little in wealth, though much in wisdom. Though I failed to pursue academic endeavors in the past, I've certainly sacrificed heavily for my interests and passions. There is a strength gained from this kind devotion. I hold that such fortitude repays in kind. All easy to say, but when you struggle to support your life ambitions, you'll look a twice at your cards and fate might then know your hand. If intelligence is a tool, you've kept it sharp. If ridicule and abuse shape fortitude, yours is steel hard. You're well placed to take your shots. Thank you for all the years of careful instruction and naked advice. All the best!
I am 35 - I often think back to my final year of undergraduate study and the advice I received from a favorite instructor who was stuck in the adjunct nether-class. He told me that my passion for Native American languages was extremely admirable and would be an intellectually rewarding pursuit in a vacuum... but that a career in academia should be avoided at all costs. He steered me away from the type of situation you are talking about. Instead, I redirected my energies toward living abroad and mastering a major modern language. I now have a rewarding career in a field that is directly related my travel and language ability. I think of this time abroad as my "alternative post-graduate experience". And oh by the way - I got a borrowing card for the local research university library that lets me pursue my intellectual interests in my free time ;)
