Leaving Academia: why I walked away from a secure professorship and what’s coming next..
After nearly two decades at the University of Essex, most recently as a full Professor of Education and Environment, I did something many find a bit crazy - I left my secure academic post. I had reached the highest possible academic rank and on paper, it was the dream job, respected, rewarding, and permanent, but I had, for a while, been feeling a growing pull to move beyond the boundaries of academia.
Leaving wasn’t easy, this wasn’t a casual career change; it was a leap of faith, thankfully fully supported by my family. Maybe it was even an act of integrity, to myself, to my students, and to my values. Somehow, I knew it was the right thing to do, and I trusted myself.
A First-Generation Story
I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and remain the first and only person in my immediate family to have gone to university. My dad, who grew up in the Gorbals in the 1940s, taught me the value of education (something he didn’t have) and the importance of opportunity (scarce then too). My mum taught me the value of hard work (often juggling two or three jobs at once, always without complaint) and the importance of not taking myself too seriously. My sister caught me when I fell and gently (mostly), guided to me back on track when needed.
I am so grateful for these important people in my life. This strong foundation shaped how I view education; as essential, transformative, personal, but all too often hard-won. Becoming a professor was never really the goal for me; I wasn’t driven by titles or status. I simply followed what I enjoyed doing and I worked hard at it. It wasn’t a linear path, but it was also about rewriting the story of what’s possible, not just for me, but for other young people from similar backgrounds.
That’s why my students have always meant so much to me. It’s one of the reasons I stayed at Essex for so long, nearly half of our students are first-generation. I have loved working with them, cheering them on, and watching them grow into changemakers and leaders. One of the lessons I repeated often was - your path doesn’t have to be linear. Careers today are fluid; the world is shifting. You can take risks, make pivots, and follow your values.
Jumping Off the Cliff
For mid-career academics like me, I turn 50 next year (!), leaving a professorship is unusual. The expectation is stability; you move from one institution to another, or you stay put, gradually layering responsibility on top of responsibility. When I tell people I’ve left, the first questions are usually: Will you go to another university? or What job do you have lined up?
The truth is, no! I haven’t swapped one university for another, and I don’t have another job lined up. The simple answer is that I would like a period of complete creative freedom to follow my curiosity and see where it will lead. We are facing difficult decisions in the coming years to prevent climate breakdown – huge social and economic shifts are needed. Changing how we work and the impact we can have is a necessary part of this.
Academia gave me opportunities I’m grateful for, but it also came with constraints: ever increasing competition for funding, the academic year creeping across 12 months, bureaucracy, and the politics of institutions. I knew that if I wanted to fully explore my ideas, I needed the freedom to shape them without compromise.
It felt like the right time to pursue bold projects, build collaborations that don’t fit neatly into departmental boxes, and to create learning that moves beyond those able to access higher education. Most of all, I want to work in a way that translates knowledge into meaningful action, for people, communities, business and for our planet.
The changing culture of higher education
Another reason for leaving was the changing culture of higher education. Over the past decade, I’ve witnessed the increasing subordination of university values to external political agendas and market forces. The fast pace of change, the erosion of institutional autonomy and democracy, and the culture of accepting ethical compromises was a growing concern for me. I began to question whether the system was serving either students or staff as well as it could, and whether my energy might be better spent creating change outside its constraints.
Pandemic Mindshifts
Like many of us, the pandemic reshaped my perspective. At the time, I was balancing a demanding senior leadership role with the realities of home-schooling. I’d always had a yoga practice, but during that period I found myself turning increasingly to my mat. What began as a coping tool grew as I began to understand more deeply, that yoga was not, in fact, really anything to do with what I did on my mat.
I trained as a yoga teacher, purely to deepen my understanding, not really to teach, but through this process and as I did begin to teach, I gradually realised that my two great loves; science and the ocean, and yoga and wellbeing didn’t have to be separate. Afterall, both ecology and yoga, at their very foundation, teach that everything is interconnected.
This realisation planted the seeds of the two new ventures I am now developing:
Blue Alchemy Academy: training yoga teachers and wellness practitioners to bring ocean literacy and nature positive actions into their teachings.
The Ocean Literacy Project: scaling education and action that connect people with the ocean.
Continuity, Not Reinvention
This is not a complete reinvention; I am not walking away from everything I’ve learned over the past twenty years; I am taking all those skills and experiences and using them in a different way. It was, partly, my yoga practice that gave me the confidence to trust myself that I could do this outside university boundaries.
Education as a foundation for change will always be my mantra. It is the through-line of my career and the lens through which I approach every project. Knowledge is powerful, but it only matters if it changes something: a mindset, a behaviour, a policy, a community. Translating knowledge into meaningful action will always be core for me.
In many ways, not much has changed at all; I’m still an educator and a researcher. The difference is that I’m now doing it on my own terms, through these new ventures, with new partners, and in new spaces.
During my 20 years in academia, I wore many hats: lecturer, supervisor, personal tutor, course director, outreach officer, grant leader, principal and co- investigator, budget manager, event organiser, speaker, mentor, committee member, and more. I am proud to have supervised many PhD students to completion. As challenging as this work often was, I leave with a rich set of skills and experiences that will shape everything I do next.
A Blue Future
Academia and science have shaped me for sure but so has my yoga practice. The teachings and values are the same for me. Collaboration over competition, we must feel something to act, and everything is interconnected.
So, onwards, I am completely unattached to the outcome but entirely committed to the path. I bring the depth of a professor, the creative philosophy of a yogi, and the vision of a changemaker - with a wee bit of Glasgow grit and resilience thrown in. My mission is to bridge science and wellbeing through ocean literacy and nature positive action.
I am writing this blog on the balcony of a stunning eco lodge, nestled in the rainforest with views of the ocean at Castara Retreats, Tobago. I am here running a yoga retreat and exploring collaborations for regenerative tourism projects.
The future is blue and I am so excited to see where this all leads…..more to follow soon…