Is Your Career Happening to You?

5 min read
You’ll recognize: Most academic careers are shaped by default decisions, not intention — and why career planning is how you change that.

The Road Got Foggy

Think about how you got here. Did you map out a deliberate course from graduate student to faculty member, plotting each move with intention? Or did you follow a path that opened in front of you — a mentor’s encouragement, an opportunity at the right moment, a position that felt like the logical next step?

If you’re honest, it’s probably the second one. And that’s not a failure of planning. That’s just how most academic careers begin.

But here’s the thing: what works at the start of a career — following open doors, saying yes, proving yourself — doesn’t always serve you in the middle of it. At the mid-career stage, the path gets less clear. The structure that guided you through graduate school and the tenure track starts to disappear. And if you’re still operating on default — reacting, obliging, accumulating responsibilities without intention — you can arrive at a genuinely uncomfortable place.

What the Data Tells Us

Faculty at this stage aren’t alone in feeling uncertain. Research on mid-career faculty reveals a striking pattern:

19% of mid-career faculty report making decisions based on clear career goals
28% have annual milestones in place to track their own professional advancement

That means the majority of faculty are navigating one of the most complex and identity-shaping stages of an academic career — without a plan, without milestones, and often without asking for what they need.

“For many, what this often translates into is an uncomfortable moment — of not being sure about what’s next.”

Sound Familiar?

If your career has been mostly happening to you rather than being shaped by you, you might recognize yourself in some of these questions:

  • How do I rekindle joy in my work?
  • How do I pivot my research without losing momentum?
  • How can I work more sustainably without abandoning my commitments?
  • Should I move into a leadership role — and if so, when?
  • Is this still the career I want?

These aren’t signs of failure. They’re signs of a career that has reached a natural inflection point — a moment that calls for something different than what got you here.

The Difference Between Default and Intention

Before you read on — which feels more true right now?

That’s where most mid-career faculty are. The sections below are written for exactly that starting point.
Good. The question then is whether your intentionality has kept pace with the complexity of this stage — the sections below will help you check.
A Default Career Decisions accumulate rather than compound. You say yes because it’s expected. You take on roles because someone asked. You delay your own priorities because they don’t have external deadlines. The result is a career that belongs, in part, to everyone else.
An Intentional Career You know your direction well enough to make decisions that actually move you forward — even when, especially when, the demands on your time are high.

The shift from default to intention is what career planning makes possible.

What Career Planning Actually Does

Career planning is not about writing a perfect five-year plan and rigidly following it. It’s a process — a structured way of getting clear about what you want, naming what’s standing in your way, and identifying the concrete actions that will move you forward.

Done well, it gives you:

  • ✓ A professional vision to anchor your decisions
  • ✓ Goals that connect your day-to-day choices to your long-term direction
  • ✓ Clarity about the skills, relationships, and resources you actually need
  • ✓ A mechanism for accountability that doesn’t rely on external pressure
  • ✓ A stronger sense of agency — the feeling that you are shaping your career, not just surviving it

That last one matters more than it might sound. Agency isn’t just a nice feeling. It’s protective. Faculty who experience themselves as active shapers of their career are more likely to navigate mid-career successfully, sustain their scholarly momentum, and find meaning in their work.

Reflect with Sophia

Think about a significant career decision you made in the last two years. Was it driven by your own goals and vision — or did you say yes because it was expected, convenient, or hard to decline? Sophia can help you think it through.

Discuss with Sophia