Description

Career Discernment for Academics: Aligning Career with Commitments

Are you feeling out of sorts with your current career path or wanting to re-align with the purpose, priorities, or motivations that brought you to this work?
Are you considering a change within academia or a move out of higher education?
Are you feeling burned out or, more likely, burned up with a near-endless list of what’s not getting done?
Do you want to learn more about a range of options (alt-ac, non-ac, post-ac, and more)?

Career discernment involves these and other questions—questions that are key to making meaningful, mindful, commitment-driven career choices. At any age and across life stages (around graduation, mid-career, and in retirement), career discernment supports reflection—both in the moment and for long-term planning.

This course engages you in career discernment—in the reflective processes of asking what, where, when, with whom, and why you’re called to the work that only you can do. It’s broken into small parts with easy-to-digest audio files and easy-to-do practices.

If you’re looking for support with decision-making or wanting a structure for exploring what’s next, this course is designed for you. It’s self-paced, so you can choose how quickly or slowly to work through materials, selecting the activities that resonate with you.

It’s also completely private: you’ll work through the course on your own, so feel free to explore questions you’re drawn to without facing the risks of publicly questioning the next stage or chapter of your career.

What does this course include?

3 confidential 1-hour coaching sessions with Beth Godbee, Ph.D., along with suggested “homework” and recordings of the sessions to review on your own.
Introductory video providing an overview and pathways for navigating the course.
Essays in audio and print formats—originally written for Inside Higher Ed and now curated and recorded for listening—that address the following topics:
- Making decisions intuitively to follow your “strong yes”
- Saying no in order to say yes to what aligns with your commitments
- Identifying narratives and influences that have shaped your work journey
- Discerning what’s next for your career—both in the near and the far future
- Planning when and how to announce career changes
- Sifting through others’ responses to your career decisions
- Transitioning from faculty positions to alt-ac, non-ac, and post-ac careers
- Recognizing and allowing for professional identify shifts over time
- Honoring ourselves and each other through burnout.
10 discernment practices (instructions and handouts) and guided meditation to try on your own throughout this course.
Guided freewriting suggestions and questions to consider.
A resource guide with links to podcasts, readings, organizations, and more.

What is the cost?

$675: for individuals whose careers are financially sustaining
(the cost of 3 coaching sessions using personal funds)

$900: for individuals with institutional funding
(the cost of 3 coaching sessions using professional development funds)

A few notes about pricing:

Yes, you can use a mix of personal and professional development funds. And, yes, we can meet for more than 3 coaching sessions. Reach out to discuss options.
Payment plans are no problem. Let me know what works for your budget.
This course is priced for people whose current careers are financially sustaining. If the cost is prohibitive for any reason—from being a graduate student to adjuncting to finding yourself between work situations—please reach out, and let’s talk about a sliding-scale price for you.
Group discounts are also available. If you’d like to do the course as a group with small-group coaching, reach out to discuss options.

Why work with Beth?

Beth is an academic (previously tenured professor and self-employed writer and educator) who believes in ongoing career discernment, has deep commitments to social and racial justice, and brings the following experiences to this work:

conducting and mentoring others through local, national, and international job searches
navigating annual reviews and the tenure process
earning tenure and still choosing to leave higher education
navigating various research, teaching, and service responsibilities
serving as a writing program administrator
collaborating with career professionals in and out of academia
growing a small business, freelancing, speaking, and consulting
mentoring writers, researchers, and educators widely across disciplines—through years of working in writing centers and writing across the curriculum
researching and centering issues of injustice, inequity, power, agency, and rights in all conversations
knowing first-hand why career discernment needs to be confidential when there’s so much at stake.

What do others say?

“Beth offers a refreshing approach to understanding the challenges of academic careers and identifies both problems and solutions with impressive accuracy. She is transparent, trustworthy, intuitive, generous, and focused when working through tough questions that can often feel daunting to navigate.” —Briana Mohan, Career Advisor in the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Tulane University and Chair of the 2019 Graduate Career Consortium Conference

“I’ve found Beth’s perspective, as one belonging to someone deeply familiar with academia and yet who has purposefully chosen a path outside of it, to be both thoughtful and luminous, in the sense of throwing light on the paths that others, including myself, might take. Beth not only listens deeply but also reflects back the questions you didn’t even realize that you were asking, offering them out for future discernment.” —Jen from Madison, Wisconsin

“Beth’s coaching helped me stay true to my commitments. Thanks to Beth, I survived my academic job search and, most importantly, maintained integrity and a sense of self through the stress of it all. I learned how to be transparent about my investment in racial justice—and how to do this while also speaking the language of the academy and advocating for myself in my application materials, interviews, campus visits, and salary negotiations. I made it through the hiring process (and got my dream job).” —Anonymous

“This course was truly life-changing for me!” —Jenny in Austin, Texas

“I met Dr. Beth Godbee during a time of profound career uncertainty. I was beyond burnt out and struggling to find clarity and direction for my career. In what felt like a never-ending fog, Beth has truly been a godsend. Her beautifully inquisitive questions have opened up new ideas and possibilities for me and my career that I couldn’t have imagined on my own. She has an incredible gift for asking just the right questions, at the right moments.

Beth listens deeply—beyond words—tuning into what’s happening in my mind, body, and being. Her reflections and the way she mirrors back are transformative and really help me make sense of the tangled thoughts and feelings that have been weighing me down about my career. Through her guidance, I’ve gained insights and discernment that have brought me professionally back to life, and with renewed energy and purpose.

Beth is, without a doubt, the best coach I have ever worked with. Her support has been nothing short of life-changing, and I can’t recommend her highly enough. Working with Beth has been a profound experience, one that I will always be grateful for, especially during one of the most challenging seasons of my professional life.” —Dr. Terrance L. Green

How do I “gift” this course to someone else?

If you’re inviting a companion to join the course with you, be sure they’re interested. If so, feel free to complete registration, and provide their email address when checking out. Thanks for inviting friends and colleagues.

How do I bring this course to my campus?

Beth has experience with tailoring content for particular audiences and is invested in mentoring graduate students, addressing trauma from graduate education, and facilitating interactive workshops. Feel free to reach out with inquiries.

What accessibility considerations are addressed?

Articles are provided in both text and audio formats.
Written scripts and transcripts accompany the videos.
One-with-one coaching sessions can be recorded using Zoom for slowing down and playing back each conversation.
If you have other suggestions or particular accessibility considerations, please also reach out. Thanks!