Seasons change, and so do our passions. My climate anxiety? Yeah, it’s on the rise, like the global average temperature. So, Mae asks:
My research field feels stagnant (or even dying), with limited opportunities, and I have developed new interests. How hard is it to change fields/direction after your PhD?
Dear Mae,
I mean this is kind of perfect for the wasteful spooky season. What could be scarier than this? Anyway. Sounds like you’re feeling a deep sense of disconnect with your current field. Almost as if it no longer exists and you’re an expert in a dying/dead field. Unless you’re a palaeontologist, it must feel like much of your research is tied to something that feels lifeless, right? To begin, we need to address a few questions. As The Beths – Expert in A Dying Field says
“…
How does it feel
To be an expert in a dying field
How do you know
It’s over when you can’t let go
…”
Well, if the answer is still the same after hours/days/weeks/years (yes, not including months) of questioning, then you REAAALLY want to change fields. Understandable. Funnily enough, I’m not an expert in this, so I dived into academic stack exchange to see what’s out there. Boy, that was a big mistake! Immediate overwhelm. Hope you didn’t do that to yourself or maybe you are a masochist and you did it anyway. I mean, to be fair after reading stack exchange, I started to think maybe you are. Just kidding!
Before googling this, I was thinking “How hard could it be? It should be feasible, right?” but then it hit me. First I guess you have to consider a couple of things like how closely related these fields are. I would say go and talk to the people in your field who are doing more interdisciplinary stuff. Warning: it might be like “oh, you first need to dip your foot in this and then this and then that… So it is possible in 10 years” kind of discouraging, I know. While they might show a strategy, it all depends on how things progress. If you want my advice, then here’s my two cents: Write down similarities and ties between those fields to find out what you can bring to the table. Also, consider the people you engage with during this process.
All good but let’s be real for a moment: you’ll need to put yourself out there in ways that may be slightly uncomfortable. Find a balance between being practical (identify skills you can transfer) and being bold (actually start experimenting with something new). Pivoting won’t be a straight path, and it’s likely you’ll hit obstacles—whether from the slow-moving nature of academia -geologically speaking this might be even considered fast-, the broader job market or your own doubt creeping in like a treecreeper (if you don’t know, go learn a couple of things about birds). But if you’ve got this gut feeling, listen to it. Who knows maybe in a few years time, you’ll be writing a how-to guide for this very topic.
Yours truly,
The Sassy Scientist
P.S. Don’t worry—changing fields doesn’t mean you’ll lose your “core expertise”. It’s more like a tectonic shift: slow, and a bit unpredictable, but eventually, you’ll end up somewhere new and hopefully less seismically active.
P.P.S. Maybe get into contact with The Beths when you make it, to write a new song or remix called Expert in a Thriving Field. I know I’m hilarious. But it could be your debut in the music industry, who knows?
P.P.P.S. Yes, Halloween is very wasteful. Here is a fun fact: ~83% of the Halloween costumes are derived from plastic, 80% of the pumpkins purchased during Halloween are thrown away, 2000 tons of Halloween stuff ends up in landfills, not even talking about packaging etc. SPOOKY, innit?
