Thread by @HeidiBaya

Do unconventional academic careers exist?

Do I need to publish classical papers in order to get a permanent position in academia?

#AcademicChatter

Over the past months I have been getting a lot of advice on how to build my career in academia. I rejected a lot of the advice I got. Partly because I did not want to hear it and partly because I did not believe in it.

By chance I stumbled upon this great talk my @mbeisen from @open_con 2015 (start at 1:03:00), which gives me hope:

@mbeisen @open_con @mbeisen had similar problems:

"People said: If you don't publish in high impact journals, you will not get tenure. [...] People underestimate the power you have to reshape the narrative [...] about the way you are evaluated"

@mbeisen @open_con I wonder: why do people give advice that

- is conservative
- sometimes they don't even stick to
- stops people from moving research forward

And I am not saying that people don't mean well. In my case I know they do.

Shouldn't scientists experiment and take risks?

@mbeisen @open_con I know so many people working in academia who took a relatively unconventional path in their career. Is maybe unconventional the real normal?

Does anyone know of studies on this?

@mbeisen @open_con I am choosing a bit of an unconventional path. I do what I believe helps the research community most. Which is not necessarily writing a lot of papers (but which we all believe is THE way to make it in academia).

In a few years, I will let you know how it went 🤓🙈

@mbeisen @open_con I will do with my life what I think is right.

If that means I can't get a permanent position in academia so be it.

I hope, though, that one day I will be able to say that I made a good career because (not despite) of the unconventional decisions I made. Just like @mbeisen.

@mbeisen @open_con What about: "You can do whatever you want when you have a permanent position as a professor."

Well, that is not good enough. I am enthusiastic now. I want to improve the world now. Not in 10 years.

And who knows if I can make it to full professor, even if I play by the "rules"