Written as an informal conversation among colleagues, this book provides a guide to the academic career. It contains useful advice about finding a mentor, making it through the dissertation, getting a job, obtaining tenure, and other topics. The chapters of part 1, Becoming a Scholar, are: (1) Deciding on an Academic Career; (2) Entering Graduate School, with "The Inside Track: Financing Graduate Education" (Tom Thuerer); (3) The Mentor; (4) Writing a Dissertation; and (5) Landing an Academic Job, with "The Inside Track: Leaving Academic for the Corporate World" (Ami Kronfield). Part 2, The Academic Profession, contains: (6) The Life of the Assistant Professor; (7) Teaching and Research with "The Inside Track: Publishing the First Book" (Colin Day); (8) Tenure; (9) Competition in the University System and Outside Offers, with "The Inside Track: Consulting and Intellectual Property" (Pierre Laszlo); (10) Family, Gender, and the Personal Side of Academic Life; and (11) Conclusion. Appendixes discuss the administrative structure of a university and policies on parental leave and shared positions, and contain tables. (Contains 8 tables, 143 endnotes, and 97 references.) (SLD)