Choose Your Own Adventure: Developing A Values-Oriented Framework for Your Career

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a values-oriented approach to academic careers, encouraging researchers to align their work with personal goals and develop broader metrics beyond traditional publication counts.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for integrating personal values into career development and offers practical advice for aligning academic activities with individual goals.

Findings

Provides a practical framework for values-based career planning

Suggests alternative metrics beyond h-index

Shares personal examples for guidance

Abstract

We've all heard how academia evaluates our work: papers, papers, and... more papers. While academic publishing is an essential part of disseminating research results, it is only one activity amongst many that make up a career (or for that matter, a life). The following essay is based on an invited talk for the NSF AAPF Symposium, given at the 2018 Winter AAS Meeting. Here, as in the original talk, I offer some practical advice for thinking about one's work within the larger frame of your personal values and goals. While I will draw examples from my own career, I hope to offer readers guidance in articulating what is important to them, aligning their career choices with those values, and establishing metrics that go beyond the h-index.