Academia and Industry: The good, the bad and the ugly

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Academia and Industry The good, the bad and the
ugly

• Dr Jenny Summerville

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A Brief History

• Left QUT in July to pursue private consultancy
  opportunities
• 2003 July 2008 worked for Centre for Social
  Change Research and School of Design
• 1998 - 2002 held a range of casual part-time
  academic research positions
• Enrolled in my Phd in 2000 finally got it in
  2007

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My journey from PhD to academia

• More of an iterative process than a smooth
  progression from one to the other
• Took lots of opportunities to get research and
  lecturing experience
• This is also the reason it took me six years to
  finish my PhD!

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Disclaimer

• My current role in industry would not be possible
  without ten years of experience in academia
• While there are some significant differences
  between academia and industry, the two domains
  cross over in a number of ways
• I am a private consultant and there are major
  differences between running your own business and
  working for an organisation (academic or
  industry-based)

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Academia and Industry Whats the difference?

• Some common assumptions
• Academia is more flexible
• Industry pays more
• Academia provides more room for intellectual
  autonomy
• Industry is more practical
• The only people in academia are those who cant
  make it in industry
• Industry-based professionals do not have the same
  level of insight into complex problems as
  academics

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Myth or Reality?

• Academia is more flexible
• On the whole, academia does provide more
  opportunities for flexible working hours and
  autonomy in deciding where and how you work
• Things to note
• Its great to choose how you work, however there
  is a fine line between flexibility that helps you
  achieve a better work/life balance and
  flexibility for work to creep into every aspect
  of your life

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Myth or Reality?

• Industry pays more
• Im not convinced this tends to depend on
• The employment market , skills shortages/surpluses
  , etc
• The knowledge market relative to your discipline
  and specialisation
• Salaried versus specialist contract/consultancy
  work
• How well you can sell yourself and your skills

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Myth or Reality?

• Academia provides more room for intellectual
  autonomy
• Intellectual autonomy is one of the key reasons
  why many choose to pursue academic careers. The
  tide may be changing, however, as universities
  become more geared to industry-driven research
  and commercialisation opportunities.

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Myth or Reality?

• Industry is more practical
• Industry is oriented to achieving practical
  outcomes in the short-term while academic work
  tends to have a long-term view

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Myth or Reality?

• The only people in academia are those who cant
  make it in industry
• and
• Industry-based professionals do not have the same
  level of insight into complex problems as
  academics
• Load of rubbish!

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So whats the main difference?

• CULTURE!

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Academia

• slower, casual flexible atmosphere
• intellectual autonomy
• greater freedom in determining your job role
  tasks
• disagreeing with the boss or the universitys
  corporate line is considered par for the course
• BUT

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• Can spread you too thin teaching, research,
  publishing, service
• Can experience frustration because impact is
  not immediate
• Ability to pursue research opportunities is
  frequently dependent on funding
• Flexibility can turn into the flexibility to work
  more

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So what can you do to prepare yourself?

• Whether you are headed for academia or industry,
  there are a range of opportunities you can take
  now (in academia) to prepare yourself
• Taking a strategic approach to what opportunities
  you take and when you take them is important

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What to do?

• Identify the kinds of generic capabilities that
  will help you secure your desired position
• Identify the key things you will need to say on
  your CV to demonstrate that you have these core
  skills
• Identify the people, networks and places that you
  need to be linked in with to get the
  opportunities you need

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What counts on your CV

• Qualifications
• This is why you shouldnt sacrifice your PhD for
  the sake of other opportunities
• Short courses useful additions
• Awards
• Scholarships, etc.
• Top-up scholarships from industry and institutes
• Many conferences have an award for the best
  post-grad paper

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Research and Consulting

• Any experience counts usually begins with
  casual or contract work as a research assistant
• RA Work is usually secured via word of mouth
• Identify some key researchers in your faculty and
  let them know you are looking then keep
  reminding (presence is everything)
• About a month before ARCs and NHMRCs are due is
  a good time to give reminders!
• Dont be too picky to begin use the opportunity
  to prove yourself and get in the loop
• Remember that an Early Career Researcher is not
  expected to have bucket-loads of experience

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Research cont

• If you are headed for academia, the long-term
  goal is to become a Chief Investigator, Post-doc
  or Research Associate (you can create your own
  job!)
• In terms of how your CV is read/evaluated by
  others, the things that typically count include
• topic investigated (obviously contextual)
• Size of the project (frequently judged by )
• Funding Body (Industry, ARC, NHMRC, etc)
• Who else is on the grant (track record,
  disciplines, expertise)

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Research and Generic capabilities

• You often dont highlight these kinds of generic
  capabilities on your CV, however they are
  important and can be learned through research
  experience
• How to design a project
• How to develop a budget
• How to manage a project
• How to secure/sell a project (get money!)
• How to sell yourself

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Teaching

• Tutoring Marking, lecturing and unit
  co-ordination
• Warning teaching is time consuming students
  often dont respect the fact that you have work
  other than them
• If you want to get lecturing experience ask to do
  a guest lecture
• TIP 1 Teaching in the same subject once is often
  as good as teaching it year after year
• TIP 2 Try to secure teaching work in the same
  area as your PhD (or partner up with an academic
  to develop a new unit)
• Teaching in academia sets you up well for private
  industry training opportunities

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Publications

• Refereed (peer reviewed) publications are the
  only ones that have considerable weight on an
  academic CV
• Can use your PhD as a basis for publications
  (either by thesis-by-publication or publish as
  you go)
• Can turn around research reports into
  publications (the CIs will love you)
• If hired to write a publication, make sure you
  are clear on whether you will be an author and
  order of authorship
• In the long-run the aim is to have your work
  published in high quality journals (if academia
  is your goal) or industry publications (if
  industry is your goal)

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Networks are the key

• Start with your supervisors
• Dont be afraid to contact other academics to
  discuss opportunities
• Ask around at the relevant research institutes
  (ISR, ICII, IHBI,ISI), cooperative research
  centres and research centres
• Be flexible (but not at the expense of your PhD)
• Be VISIBLE!!