PhD/PsyD Any advice on non-traditional research careers?

[icomeheresometimes]

Hi all,

Post-covid changes in thinking about careers/job trajectory seems to be a common occurrence across the board right now, and it's currently hitting me as well. I'm seeking advice on thoughts about staying in the research field, but perhaps in a less than traditional way.

For background on where I'm at, I attended a PhD program in clinical that was more or less clinical scientist oriented. I genuinely enjoy research, but I was definitely not a superstar researcher in graduate school. My CV and publication record is "fine," but not really standout. I finished an internship that was fully clinical (no research expectation and no protected research time) in a big city with the idea that I would seek out a more research oriented postdoc afterwards. I took on a two year postdoc position in the same AMC affiliated with my internship. However, it's not really very "researchy" compared to my graduate school, and I don't feel like it's contributed much to my CV from a research perspective so far. I have mostly been serving as a clinician on an RCT and have started getting into more writing just this year.

I was able to get licensed as a psychologist in my state after the first year and am now finishing up the second year of the postdoc, which is set to end summer 2022.

I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. I'm not interested in tenure-track academia and I frankly know that I don't have the CV for it right now. I also don't think I would enjoy the life of constantly applying for grants/being paid from soft money. However, I really do enjoy research, and am angsting about the idea of leaving it behind. It seems that it's hard to get back in once you're out, and I'm not sure how I realistically see myself keeping a foot in the door here. I have considered things like smaller liberal arts college teaching with some research (I currently teach one undergrad class on postdoc and enjoy it as well).

That said, another consideration on my mind is that of freedom on the job. I haven't been super happy over the past year, and the idea of continuing to work for other people and the types of applications you have to continue to submit in the academic world is wearing on me. This is perhaps an entitled viewpoint, but jobs that continue to ask for me to provide "3 letters of reference" when I'm in my 30s and just want to be able to have my application stand on its own merits as an adult is a huge turnoff at this point. Leave time and sick day policies for even clinical practice jobs in the US can be incredibly unappealing.

Additionally, my husband was kind enough to move with me to a big city during my internship year. He was able to keep his job as he works in a big company, but he's wanting to move to somewhere else so we could look into buying a home. Academic and research positions of course continue to be limited as to where and when they open up, and the lack of control I have over that is wearing on him too.

There just seems to be an opportunity cost to everything that isn't hanging up my proverbial shingle for private practice and working for myself. However, I know that path seems to close a lot of doors once you take it.

This turning out to be a bit of a long emotional dumping post, so I apologize for that. The tl;dr of what I'm seeking thoughts and advice about is whether or not there are ways to stay in research without the downsides of the academic job market/application process/world? I'm interested in staying in research as a way of continuing to contribute to the body of literature in a positive and meaningful way, not for an academic path or career involving being a PI on grants, etc. Has anyone pursued research in industry jobs? Are there more ways of accessing data to analyze and perhaps working with floating IRBs? Was curious to see if anyone might have any experiences with these types of jobs paths.

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[ClinicalABA]

I technically work in a group private practice, associated with a larger agency. My employer is very supportive of research, as reflected in billable requirements, conference presentation expectations and financial support, and financial bonuses for publications. We have a VP of research and academic programs, as well as access to an IRB. I've worked at other agencies with similar support for research activities. This may be realtively unique to the primary field (ABA and autism). We also have relationships with MA and Doctoral programs, and have opportunities to teach. Currently, I have a full assessment center caseload, teach an MA and a Doctoral course, chair a dissertation committee, and am a member on two others. There are opportunities out there, if you are flexible and have the right mix of experience, motivation, and luck.

 

[R. Matey]

Five thoughts off the top of my head:

1. I don't know how you feel about stats, but data science is always an option. You need to learn coding in R and Python, but it's certainly a possibility for people with Ph.Ds.

2. What about the government? I've known people to take analyst positions.

3. What about teaching focused liberal arts colleges? You can keep your foot in the research world, but it's not a necessary component to your job.

4. I've read papers from people in private consulting firms (mostly in I/O) so I know those positions have to exist, but I haven't the foggiest clue on how to get one. Sorry I can't be more helpful there.

5. What about staff scientist positions or associate scientist positions? I've seen them advertised at my local AMC or perhaps hospital systems will employ scientists to help out with RCTs and whatnot.

 

[Ollie123]

I know psychologists involved in research in varying ways at the following roles/places.
NIH
FDA
CDC
RTI
Rand
Pfizer
Facebook/Twitter/misc other big tech
Staff science writers for various entities
Assorted standalone research institutes
Any of 85 bajillion mhealth startups
Various small "stats consulting" companies

The nature of the job varies across all of these....some are more like traditional PI roles, some you are doing company-assigned research, others you are in more of a support role. I guess the question is just what your skillset/interests might be and how you might fit in. Some of these places actively recruit successful academics for high-level positions. Others you may be starting lower on the totem pole (but still better than some alternatives - think ~70k + benefits - i.e. you won't go hungry). Just depends what you want to do - if you like stats but hate writing (for example) I don't know that applying for a gig as a staff writer is a great plan.

 

[cotn_psych]

I was in your shoes about a year ago although I had not gotten licensed. I ended up leaving academia and clinical psychology completely for a business analyst role. There are definitely differences how you research and apply the skills you've learned as an academic to the business world. It tends to be much more solution focused, there is less concern about the statistical significance and more about generating data insights continuously. For example, a big part of the role is building dashboards and things to continuously present data as it is being generated instead of a static poster with preliminary results. Clinical interviewing has helped with generating requirements for a project and understanding business needs and how research can add value to the company. Setting up experiments, running subjects, managing undergrads, and producing papers helped with project management I think the thing to get over is that you will no longer be researching like you are used to in academia but you will be using those skills in different and sometimes more challenging ways. I feel very challenged in my current role to show how my analysis is not only interesting but will generate a valuable solution quickly. This requires a change in how I was trained as an academic researcher. As others have said there are lots of other possibilities across industries. Consulting firms can also be a good way of getting your foot in the door of industry, and can sometimes pay a lot although you definitely work for it. Overall, I am happier since leaving academia, I feel constantly challenged at work, and have a better work/life balance with opportunities to grow professionally and invest time and resources into my family. I am not sure I could say the same if I had stayed in my postdoc.

 

[icomeheresometimes]

Thanks very much to all for your helpful thoughts around this. I've definitely thought about the data science route - more career change-y - and the liberal arts college route - a bit more traditional but in a good way. RTI and mhealth start ups are other things that I'm familiar with as I've seen a few graduate school folks go those routes, though I was less familiar with the fact that there were research analyst positions in other big places I could look as well.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm definitely very happy that I completed such a flexible doctoral degree and that I have so many options at all, even though at this juncture I'm definitely facing some choice paralysis.

I was in your shoes about a year ago although I had not gotten licensed. I ended up leaving academia and clinical psychology completely for a business analyst role. There are definitely differences how you research and apply the skills you've learned as an academic to the business world. It tends to be much more solution focused, there is less concern about the statistical significance and more about generating data insights continuously. For example, a big part of the role is building dashboards and things to continuously present data as it is being generated instead of a static poster with preliminary results. Clinical interviewing has helped with generating requirements for a project and understanding business needs and how research can add value to the company. Setting up experiments, running subjects, managing undergrads, and producing papers helped with project management I think the thing to get over is that you will no longer be researching like you are used to in academia but you will be using those skills in different and sometimes more challenging ways. I feel very challenged in my current role to show how my analysis is not only interesting but will generate a valuable solution quickly. This requires a change in how I was trained as an academic researcher. As others have said there are lots of other possibilities across industries. Consulting firms can also be a good way of getting your foot in the door of industry, and can sometimes pay a lot although you definitely work for it. Overall, I am happier since leaving academia, I feel constantly challenged at work, and have a better work/life balance with opportunities to grow professionally and invest time and resources into my family. I am not sure I could say the same if I had stayed in my postdoc.

Your post definitely gave me a lot to think about - thanks for sharing your thoughts on ultimately pulling the trigger on that decision! It's helpful to consider that idea of feeling challenged, which I have to admit I haven't felt much outside of clinical work in some time. That feeling of being pushed and intellectually challenged is something that does give me a lot of fulfillment, so hopefully I will find a position among some of these options that will get me back there.