The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School Through Tenure

Earlier this year, I was having trouble deciding whether what I could get in academia was what I wanted out of life (I have been out of college and working for 2 years). This book was a very big help in making that decision. The multiple perspectives from all 3 authors helps place the emphasis on the fact that you need to weigh all the factors to make these decisions about your academic career. After seeing some of the positives and negatives of academic life in this book, I am convinced that the positives of what I can do in my career will far outweigh the negatives. And in the future, I will be able to refer back to this book when I need to be reminded of things about the dissertation, the job search, etc.

I personally love this book and find it to be much more interesting, and in some ways informative, than a similar book I have which is a bit more clinical in its approach. It's full of personal anecdotes and lots of advice that I enjoyed. And why should anyone get mad just because the two white, male professors said they have not noticed any discrimination against women in their fields? They don't say there isn't any, and indeed, give some statistics and information to say there probably *is* discrimination, but of a more covert manner than in the past. This book has a chapter that my other book doesn't on counteroffers and moving around in academia, how to negotiate family and the 'two-body' problem, and other more intimate advice than some other books give. The authors seem to recognize that academics is not all about publishing, teaching, and service. It involves many other aspects of your life, and they touch on them. That said, a 3-hour chat with 3 of your own professors may be just as informative as this book, but the problem is getting your professors to sit down and have that chat with you! Here you get those 3 hours for a low price and can consult them later. I like the fact that these 3 don't hold themselves up as ultimate authorities, but simply as 3 different viewpoints of an academic life.