Thread by @SwipeWright

1/ OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I have left academia.

Many of you know that I have been pursuing a faculty job in academia for the last couple of years. Those efforts have been unsuccessful. I've had a few phone interviews, but unfortunately nothing beyond that.

2/ I had the opportunity to extend my contract at Penn State for another year, but after contemplating my chances of obtaining a faculty position in the next several years I decided that my energy would be best spent elsewhere. I don’t see how a few more papers a year would...

3/ ...greatly increase my odds.

My social media presence and popular essays also hinder my chances. I’ve spoken with department chairs who have intimated that they would consider hiring me, but that they were quite sure HR would block the attempt citing liability concerns.

4/ Close colleagues and collaborators of mine have also been questioned by other academics in my field about our association, and to avoid splash damage to their own careers have felt the need to publicly distance themselves from my views.

5/ This demonstrates the high degree of ideological policing going on within academia, and this doesn’t bode well for me. If they're worried about splash damage from me hurting their careers, how good are my prospects when I'm the one taking the fire-hose directly to the face?

6/ Add to this the fact that COVID-19 is going to dramatically decrease funding and hiring in academia for the foreseeable future, I think my chances of securing a faculty position before I’m 40 approaches zero.

Time to abandon ship.

7/ In short, I do not feel in control over my own future if I stay in academia. I have no confidence my hard work would actually translate into a job, given the politics involved in every step of the process of both hiring and tenure. My efforts will face diminishing returns.

8/ Because of this, I will be pursuing other career paths that align with my passions and where I will have more active control over my future success, instead of relinquishing control to the whims of hiring and tenure committees.

9/ For the moment I have moved back to California to be with family in lock-down. I will likely be with them for most of 2020 to ride out the pandemic and recession (depression?). I have several writing projects in the works, including a book I hope to finish this year.

10/ I also plan to launch a YouTube channel, which will be mainly to fulfill my own interests in picking the brains of intellectuals, but hope that others may find the conversations interesting as well. I make no promises about my interviewing skills, but I will try my best!

11/ Which brings me to the awkward bit. I have launched a Patreon page. I am not asking for anyone’s money, and will not have any content behind paywalls. And given the current state of the economy, there are certainly many other important things to spend your money on than me.

12/ But if you happen to find my content valuable, would like to see more of it, and are both able and willing to support my ability to continue producing it, I would greatly appreciate your support!

patreon.com/colinwright

13/ Or if you'd prefer a one-time donation, please see my GoFundMe. Again, only donate if you find my content valuable and are both able and willing.

gofundme.com/f/colin-wright…

14/ I will also be working on launching an online fitness & nutrition coaching business. Many of you might not know that fitness, nutrition, and especially bodybuilding are major passions of mine. Given that gyms are closed indefinitely, I plan to launch this in late 2020!

15/ Thank you to everyone who has been rooting for me during my academic job search. I'm sorry to announce that it did not work out, but I honestly believe it is for the best.

16/ My passions and interests have been shifting over the past few years, and so I think it's best that I follow those passions, since it's where I'll do my best work.

Thanks for all your support!