The commercial environment can feel jarringly different to the university space, not least because it is usually driven by factors other than the pure pursuit of knowledge. Researchers have a great deal to offer the world beyond academia, but, as Dr John Miles, CEO of Inkpath, writes, knowing where and when to deploy these skills is crucial…
Being an outsider
In the business world, academics have a great deal to offer, and are often seen blazing trails in everything from small start-ups to established companies with their enthusiasm and well-honed skills. But taking the first step beyond academia into a non-academic role can be daunting for researchers, whether or not they are doing so straight after their PhD. For some, being an outsider is all too real, while for others it is easy to convince themselves that they do not and will not ‘fit in’.
The commercial environment can feel jarringly different to the university space, not least because it is usually driven by factors other than the pure pursuit of knowledge. And it is full of people who were busy building their extensive experience while their researcher counterparts had their heads buried in their PhDs. For researchers, this feeling of displacement is often compounded by the niggling sense that stepping along a non-academic path is somehow akin to admitting failure, as if the PhD were only really about preparing them for an academic career.
So it is understandable that, post-PhD, researchers might feel like they are starting from scratch in a non-academic role.
The predilection for counting oneself out
Many researchers will make the transition to the non-academic space smoothly and successfully, confident in the applicability of their experience and the range of skills they have developed during their time in academia. But others may find it difficult to get past the – usually misplaced – presumption that they fall short of what they need to succeed in a non-academic context. The phenomenon of ‘impostor syndrome’ has been written about extensively across many different fields, and for these researchers it can manifest itself as a lack of confidence, an unwillingness to speak up, and a predilection for counting oneself out.
Deploying skills at the right time
There is, in my experience at least, often a perception among employers that researchers (especially those fresh from a PhD or postdoctoral position) lack the experience to understand when best to deploy their considerable skills. For those employers, researchers can seem to be too focused on specific details and too ready to pick things apart and question their existence. Years of being trained to deconstruct ideas, concepts and principles can work against researchers in the business context, where enormous financial and time pressures are at work every day.
Reducing the effects of impostor syndrome
It is important to remember that researchers starting non-academic roles are not expected to be experts from day one, and that they will need to learn from others and build their knowledge and experience over time. They need to have patience, listen to the people around them, and be secure enough in themselves to recognise and understand the gaps in their knowledge – which they will bridge over time. And they should draw confidence from the fact that, if their colleagues are professional about it, they will understand this, too, and support them.
Encouraging skills development
Researchers and employers have a role to play in reducing the effects of impostor syndrome. Universities are playing their role, too, of course, and can continue to improve their researchers’ confidence through skills development courses and other opportunities and provision, engaging employers in their programmes, and measuring and evaluating progress regularly. When working with PhD students and postdoctoral researchers during previous university roles, I have always been impressed by their capacity to adapt and understand their skillset, although usually this would take some gentle encouragement.
I work with a range of institutions and Doctoral Training Partnerships running researcher development programmes, all of whom are working to integrate the concepts of skills and competencies deeply into their provision. By turning these abstract principles into concrete things, they are helping to reinforce their researchers’ understanding of and ability to articulate their wide-ranging capabilities.
For researchers, this combined effort will help them pursue fulfilling careers beyond academia where they can put the skills they have learned into practice and continue to improve them. For employers, broader access to researchers with the right kind of confidence can only be advantageous, particularly given current skills shortages in the labour market. And especially if those researchers come with extraordinary skillsets, can get up to speed quickly, and have a clear sense of what they can contribute, and where and when best to do it.
Image by Andrew Tan from Pixabay
