Morning badasses! In this penultimate part of the series I explore how researchers can sometimes reach a point of ambivalence towards their academic employment situation.
Feelings of failure, shame and a lack of knowledge about how their skill set could be utilised in other employment sectors, leaves many researchers feeling they need to stick it out in academia at any cost.
Of course the caveat to all this is if you’re enjoying research and it’s working out for you – great, keep going and I hope it stays like this for you in the long-term.
If however you find yourself relating to any of the aforementioned scenarios, then it could be an indication that you’re beginning on a path towards transitioning from your current trajectory to something new.
Somewhere along the line you’ve probably engineered a mind-set where you feel the academic career path is something that you should continue on, despite having doubts of your longevity in the system. Many researchers reach this point because of the all-encompassing nature of scientific research.
Here I explore some of the main reasons that kept me in this mind-set. They’re pretty full-on feelings to deal with, so it’s no wonder they keep you safe inside your comfort zone, away from the torment of dealing with them.
However in order to transition from academic research (should you choose to), they will ultimately have to be dealt with. In the “Key Points” sections below I provide some pointers on how to deal with each of these feelings…
- Failure
Feelings of failure if you quit research are endemic amongst the academic populous. Key role models in biomedical research run successful laboratories within individual subject niches. Their world-leading research programmes demonstrate a passion and creativity for their work that is infectious amongst the community within each field. It’s hardly surprising that the students studying in these fields have a strong desire to emulate this success.
On the face of it at least, these thought leaders are creating exciting new knowledge, influencing societal progress and enjoying themselves along the way. Many an aspiring researcher dreams of reaching such heady heights and anything falling short of this feels like failure.
It is worth remembering though that most young biomedical researchers will never reach the inner circle comprising of these key people of influence in their fields unless: (i) they have a lot of luck, (ii) they are a genius, (iii) they have a backdoor pass through their contacts and (iv) ideally a mix of ≥2 of these.
The vast majority of researchers (even if they manage to obtain a permanent academic post) will spend most of their careers operating outside of this inner circle and for them it will be a struggle to obtain steady funding, and make an impact in the current climate of funding austerity.
KEY POINTS – There is no failure in waking up to this reality early on in your career and moving on to pastures new, should you wish to try your hand at something else.
People change careers all the time and at a greater frequency than ever before. Job-hopping is now the new norm in society and has been for several years (at least for generation Y [born between ~1978-1998]; Forbes 2012).
Biomedical researchers are not exempt from these societal changes and it’s likely to become a lot more common in the future for researchers to move between academia and industry more freely.
Feelings of failure by leaving academic research can also stem from the idea that you’ve spent years of wasted time, effort and resources trying to educate yourself and gain experience in a specific area, only for it to be rendered a useless skill set by other employers.
KEY POINTS – We’ll touch more on this point in a future post when I complete this series but suffice as to say – your education and experience is never wasted – all your experience as a researcher will go with you when you move on.
Ultimately as a researcher you are trained to learn anything, think outside the box, problem solve, have a logical approach and work with initiative. This skill set is what most employers are seeking. After all work is merely a series of problem solving exercises that need trouble-shooting and fixing in an orderly manner.
Overall, it’s important to remember there is no failure involved in building something else for your life (should you choose to do so). It’s certainly not quitting – it’s merely moving on to your next adventure!
- Embarrassment
By far the hardest thing about leaving academic research for me was telling trusted colleagues about the decision I’d reached. Feelings of shame and of disappointing others were enormous.
Furthermore, every time I had to talk to someone about my decision to leave, I felt as if I had to reinforce and justify my decision over and over again. I could see/hear the disappointment in people who trusted in me, and relied on me, to support their work.
Overall it was extremely difficult to extract myself from a life of scientific research and every time I had to tell someone what I was doing, I felt a pang of embarrassment that I hadn’t got – the guts, – the stamina, – the resilience to see it all through to the end…ouch!
KEY POINT – However, as hard as it may feel at the time to disappoint others and face the feelings of embarrassment that can be associated with admitting you want to move on in life; pleasing others (and indeed your own pride) is no reason to stay with the status quo. Remember the time old clique – you only live once. So be brave in your decision (whatever it is) – carpe diem!
- Bereavement
Lastly, one of the most enduring feelings that developed when I left research was a sense of loss at the joy of discovering new things. My research interested me – of course it did otherwise I wouldn’t have done it for so long. Nothing was ever going to change that. At the same time however, I also felt a yearning to move on with my life and try my hand at something new.
Obviously this was not an easy decision to come to – in reality it took me years not months to come to terms with and during this time the question of ‘OMG what should I do with my life now?’, kept cropping up. The word bereavement may sound a bit over the top, but for me leaving my research behind felt raw.
I suspect the feeling was akin to that when an aspiring entrepreneur loses a business venture. Although my situation lacked the financial burden associated with business liquidation, it was nonetheless painful. My career that had taken me most of my working life to achieve (not to mention all of those years of study) and I was about to can it all, in search of the unknown.
Whilst it would be a lie to say I no longer feel this loss to some extent – and sometimes I do wonder what might have been in my future should I have continued. Ultimately however, the career was not right for me and that’s just a reality I needed to face up to. It just took me a bit of time to reach this conclusion.
KEY POINT – Be brutally honest about your future prospects in academia.
In the final part of this series I’ll focus on the fear associated with transitioning into new sectors. Specifically, I’ll offer practical steps that you can take towards researching other career paths effectively. So look out for this post the near future.
‘Til then, stay focussed on your goals and keep learning how to be a badass in your biomed career.
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