I'm in academia -- a tenured professor in math, and in the United States. My situation is different, but here are my thoughts: "You're expected to..." "the ima

I'm in academia -- a tenured professor in math, and in the United States. My situation is different, but here are my thoughts: "You're expected to..." "the image of a successful professor..." "they'll start looking at you funny..." "climbing any career ladder" "power in academia" If you have tenure, you have an incredible career luxury, namely that you can ignore all of the above. Personally, I have made the decision that I care about my reputation among (1) my collaborators and people in my research field, (2) several close colleagues whom I enormously respect, and (3) my students. My colleagues at large? I get along with them fine, I am polite and friendly and so are they, but I don't care much what they think, and I certainly would not adapt my work to their vision of success. Nor would they, to mine. This rat race of trying to gain influence over people... some people enjoy it. In my department one such person might become department chair next year. If he tries to get me to go along with his bullshit games, then I will smile, thank him for his advice, and ignore everything he said. I don't know your situation exactly, but you might try simply tuning out the bullshit before jumping ship, and seeing what happens.