49: What's Going to Give You the Bigger Life?

2025 has been a year of peak disruption for faculty in higher ed.

It’s not surprising, then, that this year has spurred some of you to begin to consider what a Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D could look like for you.

This episode is for those of you who are facing some pretty big decisions on the horizon—like whether to stay at your current institution, apply for jobs in different states, start a side hustle, or pivot out of higher ed completely.

In this 49th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I want to acknowledge this moment of frustration, uncertainty, and fear. But I’d like to suggest that this can also be a moment of possibility for you. And I want to share a few questions that may help you as you reflect on what your next steps may be.

You can find the full written transcript for this episode at RisewithClarity.com/49, along with additional resources connected to this particular episode as well as other resources for women of color faculty.

Dr. Katherine Lee is a Higher Ed Coach and Career Strategist and a former tenured professor at an R1 university. She helps women of color faculty to manage the tenure track, navigate politics, and take the next steps to advance their careers. To find more resources or to work with Katherine, check out her website at: Rise with Clarity.

Transcript

Hey Professors,

How are you holding up as this year draws to a close? In my conversations with my clients and other academics, I’ve learned that several of you are really struggling and are in survival mode. I’m really sorry to hear this and I do hope that the upcoming holiday break can be a time of recovery and self-preservation for you.

I’d have to say that this year has been intense for its disruptions on so many different fronts. 2025 has been like, peak disruption for faculty in higher ed.

It’s not surprising, then, that this year (perhaps more than any other year in the recent past) has spurred some of you to begin to consider—what a Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D could look like for you.

This can be pretty unsettling. Especially if you’ve never fathomed a life beyond being an academic. But you know that maintaining things at the status quo is creating more harm than good for you.

So this episode is for those of you who are facing some pretty big decisions on the horizon—like whether to stay at your current institution, apply for jobs in different states, start a side hustle, or pivot out of higher ed completely.

In this 49th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I want to acknowledge this moment of frustration, uncertainty, and fear. But I’d like to suggest that this can also be a moment of possibility for you. And I want to share a few questions that may help you as you reflect on what your next steps may be.

You can find the full written transcript for this episode at RisewithClarity.com/49, along with additional resources connected to this particular episode as well as other resources for women of color faculty.

2025's Obstacles for Faculty in Higher Education

From the start of 2025 to now (and I’m recording this in mid-December), there have been some serious obstacles that have come your way.

Could you have anticipated any of these obstacles when you first began your academic career? 

Let’s see, there’s the:

• Cancellation of federal funding sources that you relied on as researchers

• Sunsetting of DEI-related programs that you were involved in building or the elimination of positions that you once held.

• Attacks on faculty for their course content or research related to racism or issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Tacit or explicit silencing of faculty speech that does not align with new federal policies that are then upheld by your institution

• Precarity surrounding VISAs for international scholars based in the US

• Navigating the new realities of widespread AI-usage by students

• And coping with the austerity measures that have been put into place by many higher ed institutions this year. 

And this is all in addition to the usual challenges that minoritized women faculty face on the tenure track. 

If you’re already successfully gone through the tenure process, the promise of a more relaxed season of your life starts to seem less certain. Things are harder, more tedious, and busier, not easier. At least that is what I’m hearing pretty consistently from many academics right now.

But jumping off of the beaten tenure track into a sluggish job market seems scary at this point. 

It’s probably why the term “job hugging” has gained traction this year. A recent Forbes article stated:

“…job hugging, a common trend among the American workforce, is on the uptick because of fear of the unknown in an uncertain economy. Holding on and staying put out of security instead of engagement are not the best motivations for the future of business, but a new study shows that job huggers are staying put for two more years at least through 2027.”

Are you job hugging your faculty position right now? 

How does that sit with you?

What if job hugging meant holding onto your faculty position because of actual affection and love for your job and not how it is being referred to right now—in terms of caution, fear, and disaffection?

Well, as I said at the beginning of this podcast, I want to acknowledge this challenging moment for faculty and not provide you with any sort of toxic positivity. But I’d like to offer you some questions that may help you in your reflections and visioning for 2026 and beyond.

3 Questions to Guide You When Making Tough Decisions

So as you may be recovering from and processing 2025 while also embarking on planning for the new year, consider asking yourself one of the three following questions (or all three, if it makes sense for you) when thinking about any tough decisions that may be coming your way next year. 

And keep in mind that the way that you answer these questions are very specific to you, your values, and your situation in the current moment.

So here are the questions:

1. What’s going to give you the most peace?
2. What’s going to give you the most inspiration?
3. What’s going to give you the bigger life?

I love this last question. And this is a question that I have personally reflected on a lot in the past 3-4 years. It’s a question that Gretchen Rubin has talked a lot about in her work and her podcast and blog. She first mentioned it in relation to the question of whether or not her family should get a dog. She weighed the pros and cons, which seemed pretty balanced--when taking into consideration the joys that a pet can bring, alongside the obligations, the commitment, the inconveniences, and the downsides. 

Upon further deliberation, she let herself be guided by one prompt: Choose the bigger life, which then led to the family decision of getting a dog.

I’ll link to the blog post where Rubin talks about this question, and she also introduces her own set of 4 prompts for decision-making. So please do check that out in the written transcript for this episode.

Now this “bigger life” question is one of those powerful questions that coaches like to ask. Each person is going to answer this question differently, in accordance with their own values. And the answer to this question for an individual can also change over time.

For example, one person’s way of defining the bigger life may mean staying at their job for financial stability for their family but taking on a leadership role in their local community that is incredibly meaningful for them. 

And another person may decide that the bigger life means finally walking away from a job that wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, taking on a part-time job, and writing and finishing a novel.

And to share my own experiences, when I first encountered this question (which was a really tough question to answer), choosing the bigger life meant insisting on a work environment in which I felt gratification and acknowledgment, where I could support other people, and where I could grow and thrive in my role. 

It meant streamlining my life considerably to have more space and not just go from one deadline to the next or one event to the next, without any breathing room, constantly feeling behind and burned out.

And the “bigger life” meant a life where busy-ness, prestige, and status couldn’t be the driving forces for my life anymore.

This then led to the decision of leaving my tenured faculty position and starting my own coaching and consulting business for women of color faculty. 

Now in retrospect, I can reflect on how that “bigger life” has manifested for me. Since my departure from higher ed coincided with my journey of becoming a primary caregiver for my father, I realize now that the bigger life meant also spending quality time with my family, providing undivided and critical support for my father, and also gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to care and provide support for other people.

In a recent Your Words Unleashed podcast episode with the ever-inspiring Dr. Leslie Wang, I was invited as a guest and I was asked to reflect on what I’ve learned as a caregiver since 2023. I know that I have definitely grown and evolved on this journey, and it very much connects to that “bigger life” question. I encourage you to listen to that conversation that we had. I’m going to go ahead and put the link to that episode in my transcript. 

Alright, let's go back to those tough decisions that you may be facing in the near future. 

In this time when there’s so much talk about constraint, retrenchment, reduction, scarcity, repression, and austerity in higher ed, I’d like to invite you to take a moment to do the opposite and reflect more expansively and capaciously in regards to your life.

What would it mean for you to think about choosing the bigger life in 2026?

And what is the next first practical step towards moving in that direction?

So I hope that these are some good, powerful questions to ponder over the next few weeks.

Before I sign off for the year, I just wanted to let you know that I am happy to serve as your thinking partner or sounding board if you are considering a challenging decision next year. You don’t have to go about this alone. I have helped faculty make career pivots both within and beyond higher education.

I offer 90-minute strategy sessions as well as a 6-month signature 1-1 coaching program for faculty. You can find all of that information on my website at www.risewithclarity.com.

And also, with Dr. Jodie Mader, I have co-facilitated a free peer-support group called the Compassionate Cohort. This is for faculty who are navigating the logistics and the emotional landscape of leaving academia. It’s a supportive and nonjudgmental online gathering space for current and former academics, with the intention of building community and sharing resources, stories, and wisdom. We currently have over 90 individuals who have come to one or more meetings, and we are continuing to grow.

In January 2026, we’ll be marking our 50th meeting and the completion of 2 years since the start of our community. and our next meeting dates will be on Friday, January 16 and Thursday, January 29 at 1pm ET. You can find more information about our group at our simple landing page which is compassionatecohort.my.canva.site or you can reach out to me directly through my website.

Take good care everyone. And I'm wishing you a relaxing, reflective, and restorative holiday break.

Stay strong and stay well.