Let´s talk about diversity
“Where is the diversity of your colleagues higher: at university or in a typical industrial company?” I ask the group at a career workshop. I can tell by their faces that they all find the question too simple. After a pause, Xavier relents: “In my project, I work with Igor, Pranoti, and Ah Lam. My girlfriend works in the industry with Max, Klara, and Christian on the team. These are the raw data; where it’s more diverse, I don’t know either.” If we leave it at the geographical dimension, Xavier is right: Except for university start-ups and a few large corporations whose teams are actually as international as the marketing promises us, the university offers a more international environment. I ask: “But diversity is a broader concept. What about the other aspects?”
If you are generally looking for a diverse work environment with intellectual challenges, a treasure chest might be waiting for you in the industry.
There is interdisciplinarity, educational level, or age. If you describe your research project at university as interdisciplinary, then as a chemist, you work with a biologist or a physicist, for example. In industry, this suddenly becomes broader. Imagine the intellectual challenge of discussing your results with a boss with a law or business administration degree.
Regarding educational background, the university is probably the least diverse work environment. Most people you work with during your doctorate or postdoc have a doctorate or will have one in the foreseeable future. In the industry, you will have contact with people with different levels of education. This also challenges your ability to communicate.
Finally, age: apart from your supervisor, you will mainly deal with people in their thirties at university. Here, too, the industry represents a broader spectrum. The classic is the university graduate who has to manage employees with 30 years of professional experience.
Finally, I return to Xavier’s statement: “It sounded like you saw the international environment as an asset of the university.” If you want to move into the industry but don’t want to lose the international environment of university, you should look for a job in companies that work internationally. If you are generally looking for a diverse work environment with intellectual challenges, a treasure chest might be waiting for you in the industry.
The graphic overview was created together with David Giltner of TurningScience.
This article was first published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie (issue 09-2022). See here the German original.
If you´re interested in your career options as a scientist and to analyse which of these fit your needs, you might be interested in our workshop PhD! And, next?