The alt-ac life is glorious. I’m also super happy I got a PhD. I don’t want to downplay how rough the market is or how damaging it can be—I decided early on in my degree that I didn’t want to pursue teaching, so it wasn’t a grieving process for me as it legitimately is for many—

but just wanted to throw that out there. There are many reasons not to pursue a PhD and definitely many more not to hang your hat on the possibility of a tenure-track job in academia. But it’s not always fraught and it can still serve you in many ways.

This is solely my individual experience. I’ve seen firsthand how academia can harm people. But there are ways (and sometimes that’s not in your control so I’m not presenting it purely as a “choice”) to carve out something enjoyable and manageable and fruitful out of it.