Two years ago I made the transition from academic science to data science. There are many aspects of industry that mesh better with my working style. However one very important industry practice that I feel is lacking in academia (at least for many of the people I have spoken to) are mechanisms for regular evaluation and feedback — especially for graduate students and postdocs.
Lately I've been facilitating workshops on the Impostor Syndrome and having many conversations with people about my process of dealing with and overcoming my own impostor feelings. For me a huge problem with my experience in graduate school was a constant nagging fear that I wasn't performing at an adequate level. There are so few metrics by which to measure success; if I didn't published N papers, make any major discoveries, or win any prizes or grants — how was I to know if I was ‘cutting it?’ And even if I did accomplish some of these milestones, there were always stories of other people who did it more, better, and faster. This was the perfect breeding ground for my impostor thoughts.
Today I am sharing a guest post from Dr. Sarah Ballard. Dr. Ballard completed her PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics at Harvard University in 2012 and is now a NASA Sagan fellow at the University of Washington.
It was only several years into graduate school that I learned
that language already existed to describe my academic experience in science.
I’m an unusual astronomer in some ways, having arrived in the field only after
devoting my early undergraduate studies to Peace and Conflict Studies and
Gender Studies. I was inculcated in the early years of college with language
that describes the human experience. I was literally tested on phrases such as
“intersectionality of oppression” and “safe space.” Value is assigned in these
disciplines, in the form of grades, to a student’s ability to articulate ideas
of bias and privilege. I wrote essays in exam rooms, after poring over assigned
articles, on how wrongs get righted within human group dynamics. I thought and
wrote about the activities people undertake to restore feelings of dignity and
agency to underserved groups: this was once my major.
Let me describe to you here why this is relevant to you, an
astrophysicist. Let me describe a way that you can leverage the knowledge other
fields accrue about imperfect human functioning under high pressure. Let me
make the argument to you that reflection on self-worth can alleviate distress
and underperformance in yourself, your colleagues, your mentees.
