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When you do not pursue a career in academia after your Ph.D and do a job unrelated to your field of study

It is absolutely OK. 

Many people do not pursue a career in academia after their Ph.D and even do a job unrelated to their field of study.

I am amongst those people

I completed my doctorate in the field of Design for Sustainable Behaviour and I looked at the factors influencing people to repair small electrical items. I took the opportunity during my doctorate to organise repair events, and a festival to engage people with this concept of repair. Then, in my discussion, there were some elements about the impacts of poor design decisions on women's wellbeing and sense of worth. I thought that if I had to focused on violence towards women, I would like to focus on the worst.

When I submitted my thesis, I looked for a position in gender-based violence field. I wanted it to be part-time so I could pursue my other passions such as writing, arts, travelling, gardening, appreciating the idle time while looking after my family. I also wanted to work closed from home. Quetzal, a charity based in Leicester opened its arms to me, and I have been there for the last 5 years,. I am very happy. It is a great organisation, trauma-informed, that offers me all the flexibility that I need to have a fulfilled life. I can also say for sure that my skills as a researcher are fully utilised.

When I started at Quetzal, I was first feeling as if I was missing something out in academia. Then I started to receive praise from some of my fellow academics: 
- ''It is so great that you are working directly with communities and people''
- ''It is amazing that you've been brave enough to completely leave your field of study to venture into something new, you should be proud, I often get bored with doing the same old and feel slightly stuck''
- ''I am asking myself everyday whether what I do has meaning and has an impact on the world, with your job, you do not have to ask yourself this question, what you do has meaning beyond anything else, you are helping women in their recovery journey''
''What an amazing work you are doing using arts, design various tools to collaborate with victims of childhood sexual abuse in shaping their own narrative''

Could I return to academia? 

Yes, if I truly want to, I will find a way

Two of my fellow academics press me to return to academia, write, and teach. They often send me jobs to apply for or strive to discuss projects to do with my old field of study. 
I am grateful to them and when the time comes I will consider returning to academia. I am inspired to inspire others to bring great value to civic society. Academia has great value in forming researchers. Those individuals bring great value to civic society in ensuring that best practices about how knowledge is created, documented, and shared trickle through those who need to be the most heard.
For now, I feel fulfilled as a teacher as I am always in touch with students through my job and able to share knowledge and insights on the application of research methods in the real world. There is potentially more than could be done documenting the impacts of our work at Quetzal in academic journals. Though I must say my writing interest lay elsewhere, less academic and more creative.




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