It was a slow decision, building up over weeks, months, years. Most of the big decisions in my adult life have been like that: dwelled on, agonized over, circled back around to. That’s how I decided to transfer out of Reed College and switch majors, and, years later, to quit grad school. These decisions were not disruptive; they arose out of changing interests and trajectories. Deciding to learn software development was another decision like this, leading me to a career that combines the skills and values I’ve already cultivated.
In grad school, I was studying for a master’s degree in philosophy and working part time in the production department of my university’s book publishing arm. I loved it. I got to spend all day, every day with ideas: reading them, thinking about them, analyzing them, writing them, talking them over with others, and using technology to help share them.
But then, reality began to set in. I was three years in to my MA program and only halfway to the degree, facing down another three years of taking on yet more student loan debt. Further down the road, assuming I went on to a PhD program with funding, the possibility of having a very expensive education and a precarious employment situation as an adjunct professor was very real and very discouraging. Weighing against all that, however, was the duty that I felt to stay.
See, academic philosophy is a field full of men. Mostly white men. And at the time that I left academia, the conversation about diversity in the field was just beginning, centered on how unwelcoming it is for women. The scope of the problem was still unclear, so there weren’t a lot of solutions proposed at the time. I didn’t think, though, that becoming one of the many women who left the field was going to help solve it. Being one of the ones who stayed and could work to make the situation better for those who came after seemed more effective.
In the end, my evolving interests and practical considerations won out over that compelling reason to stay in academia, and I left. I was at loose ends for some time after that, looking for a different field where I could use the skills I honed in grad school such as logic, analytical and critical thinking, problem solving and a willingness to be a pioneer in diversifying the workforce. Along the way, I spent a few months volunteering at the Mind Research Network working with the Neuroinformatics department learning to use SQL to query the research database. From there, I sought out resources to learn more about programming and web development. And now I’m hooked. Here is where I can use all the skills I’m good at, get paid for it, and, ideally, contribute something useful to the world.
[Cross posted from http://dawncatanach.com/]
