A Guide to Academia: Getting into and Surviving Grad School, Postdocs, and a Research Job

by Prosanta Chakrabarty

A Guide to Academia is a handbook for all those individuals thinking seriously about going to graduate school. Written by an author with extensive experience navigating the academic world, the book explains all the steps and potential bumps in the road that a student might encounter as they take the plunge into academia. Each chapter begins with a section called the "hard truth," which will help students determine if they are on the right path. Starting with an undergraduate student looking for a graduate school, the reader is taken on a journey up the academic ladder through graduate studies, a postdoctoral fellowship and an assistant professorship. Each chapter gives advice on not only how to survive the current stage but how to get to the next stage quickly. Enhanced with material from the author's own job applications and interview presentations, A Guide to Academia provides concrete examples of the tools needed for a successful career in academia.

Genres: Self Help, Academia, Nonfiction, Education, Grad School

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2011

Reviews

[Sarah DeLone]

Good overview of the academic career. A little outdated at times eg having a website for your CV which has now become LinkedIn. Not sure I’m really a fan of what he had to say about being a woman in academia. But all in all I feel like it gave me a clear understanding of the expectations for a career in academia

[Venkateswaran M]

Useful guide. I have a feeling I'll come back to this book over and over again at the beginning of each stage of my career.

[Lola]

If you are thinking about getting into academia but, more importantly, if you are already in it, you should read this book. There is a lot of good advice on the different career stages.
As the title says, it is a guide. So don't expect careful narration, it is written “straight to the point”. Finally, the appendices are also quite useful.
I wish lI wish you I wish I had read it earlier :)

[Jaime L.]

Practical advice to students considering post-graduate education. A very broad overview of the application process, master's, and ph.d programs. Great statement of purpose and CV examples in the appendix.

[Suliman]

في أجزاء تخطيتها لأنها لا تهمني حالياً. يظل كتاب ظريف ويعطي نصائح حلوة ولو أنه متشائم قليلا

[Selena]

At this point, this book is focused more on science than liberal arts, which isn't a huge help.

[Darshan Shetty]

This book is showcases a detailed roadmap starting from Undergrad to Full Time Professorship and all the hurdles you will have to go through in between. You know how towards the end of college term you always wish you knew better, well this book is an opportunity to do just that. The book has a niche audience, that is only the people from academia (Title makes it clear as well). Anyone from outside this circle will be bored. Appendix section includes example CVs, thesis proposal and letters which is helpful.

[Viktoria]

Appendixes are the most useful part of this book. Despite focusing on the tenure track, this still had useful advice in the grad school and post-doc section. The chapter on minority's and women was clearly written by a man but otherwise for a library book I didn't buy the usefulness of the sample CVs and grad school advice outweigh the uselessness of the section on getting a job and assistant professorship.