SIS1 - Why does it have to feel this way? Helping researchers manage their career change emotions

Session outline:

Do you find there’s an elephant in the room when trying to help researchers move out of academia? We do. It’s a big emotional elephant. It can often be dejected, scared, and guilty – this elephant – and it stomps into our one-to-one sessions and workshops, standing in the way of the progress we’re trying to achieve. So instead of ignoring it, we designed a workshop to specifically address it: “Managing your career change emotions”. We were a little concerned about how our research students and staff would react to the workshop theme, and to the touchy-feely activities we included, and perhaps with good reason. But after a pilot session in 2018, we have integrated attendee feedback and added the course to our recurring menu of workshops. We’re keen to share insights about the workshop and the response it has gained, and to hear from those doing something similar at their institutions.

Themes covered:

• Innovative and practical approaches to the professional and career development of researchers across all career stages and institutional contexts