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Are you in a toxic higher ed work environment?
Should you stay? Or, should you leave?
There’s no easy answer to these questions…especially if you have invested a lot of time and energy in landing a tenure track position in today’s higher ed job market.
Deciding whether to stay or leave entails a lot of reflection, some soul searching, the weighing of pros and cons, and if you do end up leaving–planning out your next moves. And unfortunately, this is often a decision that you can’t speak that openly about.
In my previous podcast episode, I discussed some questions that you can ask yourself if you want to stay at your current institution, with the hopes that your work climate will improve in the near future. Because some of you may be in situations where leaving is not really an option for you and maybe your family.
You can listen to that episode at RisewithClarity.com/21.
Now in today’s episode, which is Part II, I’m going to be continuing this discussion from the perspective of what questions you may want to ask yourself if you want to leave your toxic work environment. I’ll be introducing the concept of “Change Talk” as a way to engage more concretely in your thinking and any next steps that you may want to take.
When You are Thinking about Leaving Your Toxic Higher Ed Workplace
In Part 1, the first question that I offered to those of you considering staying at your institution was:
Do you have the knowledge, sense, or faith that things may change for the better in 2-3 years time?
As I mentioned, sometimes the departure or retirement of certain individuals in your department can substantially change the dynamic. Or, in a year or two, structural changes at your institution may help to make the climate better for you.
But there are times when the situation is beyond repair and you don’t foresee any changes or interventions in the future.
I just want to say, I’m really sorry if your answer to this question is a hard no.
I understand what it feels like to come to this sobering realization.
In my case, I knew that I had to consider the possibility of leaving a toxic work environment a couple years before I actually resigned and left academia last year. This wasn’t an overnight decision, but something that I really struggled with.
In fact, it was quite difficult for me to decide to give up a tenured faculty position after spending 2 decades in higher education.
I thought about all of the hard work, the time spent, and the dreams that were wrapped up with my career and my identity as a professor. I thought about the research that I’ve invested years, if not decades on. I thought about the various mentors who I’ve had, who have supported my professional journey.
And I also thought about my students that I wanted to continue mentoring.
These are all difficult things to walk away from, in addition to a stable salary with benefits.
But I kept coming back to the thought that if I continued to stay in that toxic work environment, I would never be able to thrive and grow. And that I might also come to be resentful or toxic myself.
I get it when academics come to me saying that they’re at an impasse and they don’t know how to move forward. Yet they somehow know that staying in their current work situation is not going to be sustainable for them.
So here’s where I’d like to introduce the concept of “Change Talk” which is connected to techniques used in motivational interviewing. Motivational interviewing is a person-centered counseling method for addressing the common problem of ambivalence about change. I’ll go ahead and put the resources related to this in the transcript.
I’ve used general aspects of “Change Talk” with many of my clients, and I’ve also benefited a lot from this line of thinking.
I think that this tool could be super helpful if you’re feeling really stuck about your situation and you don’t even know where to begin. Thinking through this with a coach could be very beneficial. But you can also do this on your own or with a trusted friend.
The idea is pretty simple, really. When you are beginning to desire some kind of change that you’d like to make in your life, engage in talking about it or thinking about it. In other words, engage in “Change Talk.”
This means having a sense of curiosity about what this change could entail in your life. At this stage, you’re not making any commitments to action. You’re not tendering your resignation notice any time soon. You’re merely exploring what it would be like and what it might feel like to make this change in your life.
And then you can ask yourself a series of questions along these lines:
Engage in “Change Talk” When Contemplating a Big Change in Your Life
-What information would you need to gather in order to feel comfortable to make this change, such as leaving your job?
-What are the advantages to leaving your position?
-What are the disadvantages to leaving your position?
-What are the different options you have when making this change?
-What would help you to feel ready to leave your position?
-How does this change align with your core values?
-On what terms would you consider making this change?
-What are you learning about yourself as you consider making this change?
So those are just a few sample questions that you could ask yourself in this thought process.
If you are doing the “Change Talk” exercise with a friend, sometimes they may want to offer you friendly advice along the way. But this may or may not be so helpful to you in making a big decision.
I remember when I was discussing my situation with friends, family, and also mentors. I kept hearing the same thing from people: “Just go back on the academic job market.” And this would be followed by reassurances that I would most likely find another position.
Although I knew that this was very well-intentioned advice from people who were looking out for me, it did not resonate with me at a certain point.
After a lot of thought and reflection, I’d come to my own conclusion that I didn’t want to be competing for the same jobs as some of my former students while also contributing to an unfair playing field in higher education.
Nor did I really want to go through the tenure process at another institution all over again!
I could at least eliminate going back on the academic job market as one possible exit strategy for me.
I share this bit with you because I think it’s important to keep in mind that when engaging in “Change Talk,” you are in the driver’s seat of this thought process.
You may receive advice (some of it well-intentioned, some of it unsolicited, and also judgment) but YOU are the one who will ultimately know what’s best for you, and that you have the agency to take future action steps and what those may be.
Nowadays, there are lots of great online resources and podcasts that will discuss what you need to do or think about when leaving a toxic work environment and also if you happen to be a woman of color.
I’ve mentioned this several times before on the podcast: I’m a huge fan of the Brown Table Talk Podcast with Dee C. Marshall and Mita Mallick. They’ve done a few episodes on toxic work environments that I enjoyed listening to.
And I recently started tuning in to panel discussions run by Dr. Kimani Norrington-Sands—who has a consulting business that helps Black women exit toxic jobs for an abundant and fulfilling life.
These resources are speaking more to the corporate work environment, but there are valuable takeaways for women of color and Black women faculty in higher education as well.
I think that “Change Talk” can be a really good preliminary stage between the acknowledgment that you’re in a toxic work environment and feeling stuck and then ultimately making some sort of decision whether or not to stay or leave.
Change Talk may even unlock something unexpected or you may learn some surprising things about yourself in the process. I know that that’s what happened for me.
If you’ve tried this strategy and found it useful for you, I’d be very curious to hear more about this from you. And in general, if you ever find yourself needing a thinking partner or a sounding board when contemplating a big decision such as leaving your toxic work environment, feel free to reach out to me anytime. You can check out my website or write to me at Katherine at RisewithClarity.com.
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Additional Resources
Audiovisual:
Stay or Leave a Toxic Job?: Panel Discussion hosted by Dr. Kimani Norrington-Sands and featuring Dr. Monica Cox, DeShaunda Gooden Warner, Stephanie Mitchell Hughes, and Sonia Williams-Lewis
How to Survive a Toxic Job if You Choose to Stay hosted by Dr. Kimani Norrington-Sands and featuring Dr. Monica Cox.
Podcast:
Toxic Workplaces and Bullying (Self-Compassionate Professor Podcast) hosted by Danielle De La Mare and featuring Michelle D. Wilson.
Brown Table Talk Podcast (hosted by Dee C. Marshall and Mita Mallick)
Would You Ever Go Back to a Toxic Workplace?
Rise with Clarity Podcast (hosted by Dr. Katherine Lee)
Are You In a Toxic Higher Ed Work Environment?
6 Questions to Ask if You’re in a Toxic Higher Ed Workplace [Pt. 1]
Articles:
A 10-Point Plan to End Toxic Workplaces in Higher Ed in Inside Higher Ed by Richard Orbé-Austin.
Toxic Workplaces Leave Employees Sick, Scared, and Looking for an Exit by Scott Sleek. (Featured on the American Psychological Association website.
10 Symptoms of a Toxic Work Environment + How to Fix It by Caileen Kehayas Holden. (Featured on Career Contessa website)
Ten Rules of Succeeding in Academia through Upward Toxicity in Times Higher Education by Irina Dumitrescu
Books:
Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change and Grow (Fourth Edition) by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollick (Guilford Press: 2023)
