Gorska's Quitting Academia is both an analysis of the harms of the neoliberal academy in these times of economic and political assault, which increasingly drive tenure-line faculty to leave the profession, and also a compendium of voices and stories of those who left. This makes it an invaluable resource, because stories alone don't capture the structural violence of the academic career for so many, while analysis alone can't capture the personal arc - in particular the feelings of relief and liberation - experienced by those who leave. The book should be required reading for all faculty struggling with untenable career demands, and for any upper administrator who still cares about faculty welfare. -- Karen Kelsky, Academic Consultant, USA Quitting Academia is an insightful and timely window into todays higher education. Its a book that weaves in stories of resistance, self-care, injustice and work with sensitivity and skill. Its a book for those whove had enough of neoliberal academia themselves, and it is also a precious resource for those who inhabit positions of power and influence in this context. Its a book for those who still feel privileged and in love with their academic work, as well as for those who are considering the start of a career in higher education, at a time where an increasing number of people decides to leave this profession - or only stay part time - to explore other work, creative endeavours, and caring environments. Although this is explicitly a book about women, it will resonate with many other people in the field, across disciplines and geographic boundaries. -- Ilaria Boncori, University of Essex, UK Why are scholars voluntarily leaving academia? Anna Górska presents in a challenging way the voices of people quitting academia. She presents hopes and disillusions of women and men who have left academia. She concludes that quitting academia is not a sign of failure, but a sign of resistance to the present neo-liberal academia. Academia with its publish-or-perish system is increasingly finding itself in a state of deep crisis. The book is written in the context of academic labor, neo-liberal governance and feminist critical studies. She is analyzing the gender dynamics that influence the decision to leave. The book is written in a writing differently approach and Anna Górska is engaging with those who have left. She is standing in a tradition of reflective feminism. Anna Górska is presenting stories we easily can recognize and identify with, and she is challenging the present academic system. The book is very easy to follow and read. Anna, I am very happy that you have remained in academia to tell the stories of those quitting - and to contribute to resolving the crisis in neo-liberal academia. Thank you for your important contributions.' -- Morten Huse, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway The question what are universities for? keeps returning, even though it has been often declared in media and policy that the university has now been irrevocably transformed into a market-oriented, entrepreneurial organization. Only, it has not - it keeps standing out as something not quite fitting into the picture. It is hard to tell what it produces and they do not have a bottomline (measurable profits). Academics keep engaging in activities that are not adapted to the new model: writing books, exchanging ideas, reflecting, questioning things taken-for-granted - such as the new market-adapted university. The structures that are provided to them as their workplace, do not encourage, support or sometimes even tolerate the work that they do as an answer to a deeper need, or to the calling to be an academic. So many of them leave, including some of the best, most dedicated people. They disappear from the social stages. This book brings them up frontstage and offers them space to tell their stories, which is not only interesting and important from the point of view of the study of contemporary organizations and professions, but fundamental as a record if, at some point in history, the university is to be revived, regenerated and reconsidered as social institution with a mission and obligation towards the common good. Leaving academia is not a failure for the protagonists of this book - it is a failure of the institution, as is witnessed by the fact that the stories of academics leaving academia form a pattern. Patterns are especially important in sociology, organization studies and in management: strong, recurrent patterns become structures. But academia is not just an institution, not just a profession and a calling but also a way of life, with a motto: everything can be a lesson. This is an important one - as well as a page turner of a book. -- Monika Kostera, University of Warsaw, Poland Anna Górska takes us through how the prevailing neoliberal commodified and marketized university has shifted education from a pursuit of knowledge, learning, thought and critique, to an audit culture driven by metrics, student evaluations, and where being an academic is no longer a respected scholarly vocation - a way of life - but an institutionalized member of a cult. Drawing on personal narratives of academics who quit the profession, she recounts how their passion for intellectual work and education became disillusionment with a marginalizing and toxic culture. For the study participants, this was a very personal and emotionally stressful journey - but one that ultimately led to a sense of fulfilment in a post-academic career. The narratives resonate and give us both hope and despair. Hope because there is life outside academia. Despair because the book leaves us with a broader question: What has education, the university, and academic work become? We need to learn the lessons Anna presents. This book is well-written - concurrently provocative and depressing - one that all policy makers, university presidents, chancellors and deans should read because there are deep implications for the future of education, universities, and the academic profession. -- Ann L Cunliffe, FGV-EAESP, Brazil
