Pathfinder Career Narratives is an ongoing series tracking the career choices and experiences of doctoral graduates. You can see all of the posts in the series here. You can find all the Pathfinder resources and opportunities here. Today’s blog is written by Dr Alice Gibson, Account Manager at Oxford University Press. You can find Dr Gibson on LinkedIn.
Name: Alice Gibson
Doctorate subject area and year of completion: Philosophy, 2020
Role and employer: Account Manager, Oxford University Press
Approximate salary bracket for this type of role: Undisclosed
Pursuing Research While Working
I started my post-university career in Brighton where I graduated from my first degree with the conviction that I wanted to pursue a doctorate in Philosophy. Having had no luck in applying to AHRC funding, the direction of my working life was, in the first instance, governed by my hopes to make use of an agreement I had learned of between the University of Sussex and Brighton University, through which staff could access fee waivers for courses at the respective institution. Having sought a role in Sussex’s Library on campus, I started my first role as a Library Shelver, which gave me access to a project preparing archival material for a move to a new archive centre, while pursuing my Masters in Cultural and Critical Theory. This marked the beginning of my experience working full time throughout my research journey. It also enabled me to gain a part time role in the new archive centre, which I was ultimately able to supplement with another role as a Library Assistant, following an internal promotion.
My dual experience of working in libraries and archives in Brighton ultimately served as a springboard from which I was able to establish a career in London, where I decided to move in order to pursue my PhD in a new city. Having the benefit of an archival background enabled me to gain a role at The National Archives, where I worked for a year, transferring files into the repository that can be consulted by the public at Kew. Having learned I was interested in the rapid digital developments happening in Libraries and Information Science more broadly, I then decided to try to realign my career in order to gain the benefit of access to institutional libraries. Throughout the majority of my doctoral research I specialised in open access publishing in a range of Higher Education institutions, making use of positions that were being created in advance of the REF exercise that was expected to occur in 2020. I worked in the libraries of UCL, KCL, LSHTM, and the RVC, where I variously managed the open access funds and repositories, submitting my thesis in Feb 2020, and passing my viva online in September.
The travel restrictions and reduced academic opportunities in Philosophy caused by the Covid-19 pandemic forced me to re-think my post-PhD plans and pause my ambition to pursue a traditional academic career. Drawing on the benefit of having a substantial amount of specialised knowledge in the area of open access publishing, I decided to take on a negotiating role at Jisc, in the field that I was well versed in. I simultaneously worked on turning my thesis into work that could be shared, extending my central case study, and publishing my first book with Bloomsbury Academic last year, which I recently discussed on a podcast about its subject, the Italian poet-philosopher Giacomo Leopardi.
I have relatively recently joined Oxford University Press, a role that has enabled me to continue working in the HE I have grown accustomed to, while utilising my research and publishing skills, and combining these with my prior experience managing contracts and licences. Alongside this, I have also returned to developing a research plan to share my findings, making use of the shift of recent years to the normalization of remote work, which has enabled me to utilise my spare time for such projects. Pushing back against the normalization of a publish or perish culture, and exercising patience for not producing work at the same speed as some of my peers, I try to keep the following poem, ‘Don’t Worry’, by Mary Oliver, in mind:
Things take the time they take. Don’t
worry.
How many roads did Saint Augustine follow
before he became Saint Augustine?
To retain my community in a research environment outside of my routine 9-5, I have benefited from seeking a community of others for moral support in my transition to being an independent researcher. For example, I made use of the Society for Women in Philosophy (SWIP)’s mentorship scheme and continue to participate in international events, such as those organised by the Society for Literature Science and the Arts (SLSA) and Derrida Today. I am also currently enjoying participating in The British Academy’s Early Career Researcher Network, which has an excellent online community platform, offering flexible support for early career researchers, including those without traditional institutional support.
The process of balancing researching and now writing for publication with a non-academic career has enabled me to learn through trial and error about the ways and places of working that work for me. In light of my experiences, for others seeking support in navigating their careers, the advice that I often recall from my early roles, is to take all the opportunities that you can when they arise. I also try to vocalize and be consistent in working towards my ambitions, both in and outside of paid work. Finally, I have experienced the benefits of building a strong and reciprocal support network around me of people who remind me of my strengths, particularly in challenging times. I am grateful to have made true friends from my career, and am always grateful to those people who think of and recognise my work, through whom I have also learned of and considered new opportunities.
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