After a series of posts on here and elsewhere, I've finally decided to call it quits on my PhD. I don't have a job lined up now nor a backup plan, but I don't feel like I need one given that I'm working with vocational rehabilitation to find a job that uses my Bachelor's and my Master's already. This would remove my immediate source of stress and provide huge relief for me. A job that also doesn't use a PhD is something I don't mind either given that a technician role or a research analyst role would be a better fit for me than a PhD level job that involves leadership and all sorts of other things I'm not capable of at all.
Now, I have to broach this to my advisor and fellowship coordinator. To be clear, my fellowship coordinator is part of an initiative in my state (I'm in the US) to increase diverse faculty and staff. They included neurodiversity as part of diversity, equity, and inclusion now, so that's why I got it. I fulfilled my service requirements via a visiting position last academic year and was awarded $11k that I have saved right now and did not touch. The only other condition is that I must graduate with my PhD to keep the money. However, this is a meager amount in the long run and I don't mind returning it.
How do I bring this all up to them in a professional way? I'm also not sure if I should bring up my frustrations with the department (i.e., budget cut plans without telling the students, lack of funding, etc.), my advisor only telling me the next thing he wants without the end goal in mind (i.e., moving the goalpost all the time), and lack of accommodations when they could've provided them to me. I'd like to know what to do so the next neurodivergent individual ahead of me does not get screwed over as well.
Today, 3:34 pm
