After the PhD:
Perceptions & Resources used by Postdocs
to Make Career Decisions
A dissertation by
John A. Vasquez, PhD
And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives. That we not hide behind the mockeries of separations that have been imposed upon us and which so often we accept as our own.
Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider
As a cisgender male Latino, I hold a lot of privilege in comparison to many women in academia, especially women of color. As someone who works with students and postdocs on career and professional development, I felt it was my responsibility to ensure the work I do takes into account the context, environments, and challenges people with less “power” than I have. Therefore my dissertation research focused on the experiences of four postdoctoral women in science and their journey through their doctoral and postdoctoral training.
As Audre Lorde did with her work, I hope to highlight the nuances involved in how these women experienced and understood their own identity, especially as they navigated their academic experiences.
