Postdocs, academic gypsies, hobos, vagabonds?

What is a postdoc really all about?  A wise postdoc here at my current university compared it to being an 'academic gypsy'.  The description fit and stuck in my head and has since turned into a web of thoughts.  What makes the lifestyle of a postdoc so different from a graduate students (beyond the obvious qualifications)? 

To start off let's clarify- in case you don't know: a postdoc is a position you may take upon completing your PhD.  Assuming you plan to continue in academia for example to become a professor (at least in the sciences) it is almost a pre-requisite.  A postdoctoral position is intended to provide you with skills you didn't acquire during your PhD or that you would like to refine.  You conduct research and are paid by a principle investigator, the school or some external funding source.  You work hard, try to publish lots and hopefully enjoy the heck out of it!  That said it can be (is generally) hard work.  You may even be called upon to be the work horse of the lab, a 'lab coordintaor' who is in charge of other students or other activities in the lab.  Most postdocs last about 2 years (if you are lucky) some 1 (if you are unlucky) and others longer (if you are REALLY lucky).  Because you likely need several years to get sufficient experience and publications from your postdoc most people have 2 or more post docs before applying for a long-term academic position and this number increases all the time as more and more qualified folks are on the job market.  Thus, you can imagine that the second you arrive you are advised to start applying for another postdoc and that all of this can lead to a transient lifestyle.

Overqualified?

So what fits best: academic gypsy?  hobo?  vagabond?  let me even suggest a few additional options: trustafarian or  beatnik?  It probably depends to some degree on what kind of postdoc you do (or don't) secure for yourself.

1.  The 'gypsy' in the post-doc
Now obviously gypsy refers to in many cases a group of people better referred to as Romani (or other ethnic groups).  However, it is also presents the connotation of a way of life, and this is the way I am using the word here - i.e. 'a nomadic way of life'.  Romantic notion although it may have been/usually was not out of choice: traveling the world, nothing but the road in front of you and nothing holding you down.  Certainly sounds great.  In fact the term Bohemianism is related to this very life style and things like 'the bohemian index' are used to denote the general intellectual creativity of a place!  I think this term perhaps best fits the postdoctoral lifestyle.  Part choice part necessity.  You must move to pursue your endeavors...  Generally it is a dynamic time in your career in terms of ideas.  Voluntary poverty in some cases.


A beautiful gypsy woman at Ellis Island (1902).  This woman's expression reminded me of that of other immigrants such as those below.

 

Volga River Germans in a refuge camp in Germany after kicked out of Russia.  My 'German' relatives came from this group who moved from Germany to the Steppes and Volga River area of Russia and as ethnic Germans were later asked to leave. 
Not 'gypsy' but a gypsy life-style illustrating that this type of 'moving from place to place can be for many different reason.



2.  the 'hobo'

 You may or may not already be aware of my idealization of Woodie Guthrie but in case you are not- here it comes again.  A working class soul transversing the land to take it all in, to experience it and fight against the fascist machine.  This is sounding about right.  Full of ideas and noble notions, not yet burned down by the rigmarole - but there is a catch: are you living out in the streets?  do you have a car?  a house?  Has poverty and desolation driven you from your home to seek better options?  Hard to say.


Woodie Guthrie spreading his word.  A lonesome traveler, traveling from town to town.



Beautiful image from dippidty.com.  Another view of the hobo- here an optimistic view of what can be.

3.  the 'trustafarian'
There are indeed some postdocs that are so very prestigious that I think receiving one might be compared to being a trust fund baby.  The trustafarian all comes in based on how you use it.  A trustafarian is generally (in my mind) a young person who comes from money but chooses to talk about politics, ideas etc. without ever having to really WORK for a living so these notions come without a lot of personal experience of how the working man lives (sort of the opposite of our hobo postdoc)! 

4.  the 'beatnik'

Yes, you can picture it.  Intellectual.  But- I never got what this generation did for work.  That said- a hero of mind: Keroauc seemed to have gotten it right.  My favourite book of his: the Dharma Bums describes his time in the Sierras serving as a fire watch.  Maybe just soaking it all up and sharing these experiences through papers submitted to theoretical journals or writing tomes reminiscent of John Muir and Edward Abbey are what this group is all about.

In summary- I think it is what a person makes of the experience (of course as well as circumstance).  Lucky is the soul who can be a gypsy, hobo or vagabond as many others are tied to the place they find themselves for one reason or another.  I think by allowing people at this stage the opportunity to travel somewhere new they are able to grow and develop new ideas- perhaps while moving to work with an expert in the field who was previously far away.  I would love to hear what other people's thoughts and or experiences in the matter of 'what is a postdoc really like' are!