The Road Less Travelled: Sabbaticals as Pathways for Engagement and Impact

Abstract

As my postdoctoral fellowship drew to a close, I found myself standing at a crossroads reminiscent of Frost's imagery. One path, worn and familiar, led down the conventional track toward tenure. The other, a less conspicuous, meandering trail, hinted at the possibilities beyond academia. Despite investing six years to prepare for an academic career, I opted for the road less travelled – a choice that I have come to realize has made all the difference. In this essay, I reflect upon my temporary journey outside academia and draw parallels between this experience and the concept of an academic sabbatical to advocate for sabbatical opportunities beyond academic boundaries. These sabbaticals, which prioritize engagement with new communities, can enrich an academic career while positively impacting others.

Since the late nineteenth century, sabbaticals have become a staple of academic life. Loosely defined, sabbaticals are an ‘extended period of time intentionally spent on something that's not your routine job’ for the purpose of becoming ‘more useful to the college as a teacher, as an investigator, or as an administrator’ (Dartmouth Committee on Sabbatical Leave, 1922, p. 701; Schabram et al., 2023, p. 456). These departures from academic duties, whether paid or unpaid, aim to enhance academics’ professional development and contributions to their field. The early sabbatical model was designed to achieve this by enabling academics to engage with and absorb the latest advancements in knowledge that were prevalent in other institutions and professional circles. Today, nearly 80 percent of business academics who take sabbaticals do so with the aim of enhancing their research outputs (Spencer et al., 2012), and most of this time is spent catching up on papers, writing books, submitting grants, and giving presentations and invited lectures. Given the pervasive ‘publish or perish’ pressures that many in our field contend with (Bothello and Roulet, 2019), the predominant use of the sabbatical to advance one's research agenda is unsurprising. However, this well-trodden road represents a limited view of the potential utility of these periods of absence. What if sabbaticals were used as an opportunity for impactful exploration, to drive a more holistic sense of one's academic pursuits?

My journey off the traditional academic path has illustrated that deep immersion in new and unfamiliar contexts can enrich an academic career in profound ways while offering service to others. Exploring the sabbatical as a means of engagement with diverse communities beyond the bounds of familiarity, I use my personal experience to extend an invitation to all management academics – from PhD students and full professors to adjunct faculty and administrators – to consider embarking on their own form of a sabbatical outside of the business school in for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, cultural and educational institutions, community groups, and government agencies. I implore university committees that approve sabbatical requests to broaden their perspective of what is considered a ‘productive’ or ‘beneficial’ sabbatical for their institutions, and I urge the management community to provide better support for colleagues and co-authors who choose to pursue these experiences. By breaking the mould of traditional academic sabbaticals and engaging with new communities, we can gain invaluable perspectives and emerge as more effective and engaged scholars. But, undertaking such a journey typically starts with a tough decision.

In December 2021, I sat down with my new post-doctoral supervisor at Georgetown University, Gerry George, to chart out a research agenda for the next two years. Most of the project ideas we discussed, like a conceptual paper on grand challenges or a case study of the Boeing 737 MAX accidents, were met with the expected anticipation and excitement that a junior scholar would have in working with one of the field's most distinguished. But one idea, a book project on government-venture collaborations, left me feeling uneasy. I remembered the words of my doctoral professors, mentors, and advisors ringing in my head, warning me about the implied penalty of working on a book project so early in one's career: ‘books send a bad signal to tenure committees’, ‘focus on your papers’, ‘you can write all the books you want when you have tenure!’. However, intrigued by the idea, I agreed to join the book team alongside Gerry and Arun Gupta.

Arun, a former venture capitalist in the GovTech space, took us to meet with and interview over 60 of the world's most notable leaders at the intersection of government and entrepreneurship – an opportunity that was made possible by his decades-long career of cultivating trust across sectors. Captivated by the profound sense of mission among everyone that we interviewed, I quickly found myself impassioned by this world of which I had so little exposure in my academic journey. The problem sets I explored in my research felt so trivial and peripheral compared to the challenges that these people were dedicating their entire careers to solving. Suddenly, this book project that I was reluctant to join had me questioning my own academic purpose and the broader relevance of my scholarly activities.

As my post-doctoral fellowship at Georgetown drew to a close, I found myself at an unexpected career crossroads. On the one hand, the six arduous years spent as a PhD student and postdoc had culminated in several enticing offers for tenure track positions at esteemed research universities. On the other hand, there was an invitation to join Arun at NobleReach Foundation, a startup non-profit he co-founded that was dedicated to translating the thesis of the book – mobilizing technology and talent ecosystems around the government's most pressing challenges – into tangible initiatives. While I had my heart set on an academic career, I couldn't help but think about the chance to continue to engage with a broader community of professionals and the benefits this may have on my longer-term academic pursuits. Uncertain of my ultimate destination but invigorated by the possibilities ahead, I made the decision to defer my academic dreams in favour of embarking on a personal sabbatical in public service. I define this decision as personal sabbatical because I was clear from the beginning about the temporary nature of this journey.

Something is to be said for how breaking the mould of conformity reveals new paths and unexpected opportunities. Serendipity and the unusual decision to join the book project paved my way to NobleReach. And while at the non-profit, I crossed paths with many academics from other fields that pursued experiences outside of their institutions and traversed across sectors throughout various stages of their careers. A common trait through all of these individuals is their approaching academic careers in an entrepreneurial fashion. That is, creatively carving career paths that blend their passions and expertise with exploration and a little bit of chance. While a complete inventory of opportunities for early-, mid-, and late-career management academics outside of the business school is too abundant to be captured in this essay, there are several pathways that appear to be most prevalent and promising to consider: volunteering, fellowships, consulting, and continuing education.

Volunteering in underserved or disadvantaged communities is one way in which management academics can forge a sabbatical with ‘on the ground’ experiences. Every semester, opportunities to volunteer with established cultural and educational institutions like Habitat for Humanity, Teach for All, and AmeriCorps are presented to our students. Yet few academics consider how they themselves can contribute. While at Georgetown, I learned that the National Park Service has a trove of publicly accessible historical documents that they need assistance in transcribing. As a fan of history and a qualitative researcher this was a great way to spend several hours a week. Not only was I able to gain access to untapped data on fascinating historical contexts – like the creation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal or the public discourse on Washington's Key Bridge – but I was able to give back in the process. Volunteering opportunities can also come about organically. One colleague spent several weeks in a remote part of Africa in an effort to provide sustainable electrification to villages to promote community development and entrepreneurship. This experience enabled the colleague to apply their expertise in business model development for the public good while engaging with local community groups to support these initiatives into the future. It also eventually led to several well-cited publications and helped shape policy discourse on the use of electrical mini grids as a means of uplifting rural communities.

Fellowships are another avenue for management academics to consider in creating a more engaging sabbatical. These are programmes typically administered by public agencies to provide academics with the ability to leverage their expertise for projects within government. For example, the UK Parliamentary Fellowship offers academics a platform to apply their knowledge and skills to undertake projects within the Parliament, contributing valuable insights to the legislative process. For those early in their academic journey, one of these fellowships enables PhD students to spend three months in the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, where they can support policy-shaping knowledge exchange between Parliament and their research communities. And these opportunities are not only for those along the tenure track path. One colleague serves on the US Council on Higher Education as a Strategic Asset and suggests that university administration should consider joining. This fascinating initiative brings together university presidents, deans, and chancellors with industry leaders and government officials to develop a strategy to leverage higher education institutions for democratic integrity and prosperity.

For those who seek to forge their own unique journey, consulting with for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations is an easy way to use scholarly expertise to help these organizations grow and achieve social impact goals. This may involve advising an enterprise on developing a sustainable business model, helping an organization improve its fundraising and grant writing capabilities, and providing leadership coaching to entrepreneurs. Some colleagues at NobleReach have combined these three pursuits into advising mission-focused ventures in the AI, cyber, and biotech spaces. Since publishing the book, Gerry, a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, went on a temporary leave to help grow International Medical University in Malaysia. His advice for fellow management academics? Look into social impact funds to identify, invest, and grow opportunities at intersection of education, tech, and social welfare. Another colleague with research expertise in technology and industrial competitiveness served as a senior policy advisor to the US Secretary of Commerce for the CHIPS and Science Act. Their technical knowledge was used to help boost supply chain resiliency as a part of this $280 billion statute.

Also consider how the sabbatical can be used for professional development through continuing education. The incentive structures in our profession promote deep expertise in particular subject areas. But embrace being T-shaped in your intellectual pursuits. That means having depth in a particular area of study and breadth of understanding to work with others outside of your domain. Many of us teach leaders in industry and government who pursue continuing education without ever considering enrolling ourselves. Time in the classroom learning new knowledge and skills can be an invaluable experience to advance as a well-rounded scholar. While at NobleReach, I enlisted in an ExecEd programme in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School. Much to my surprise, the course was teeming with academics from other fields and a diverse collection of university administrators. It provided for compelling discourse with disciplinary leaders from other domains as we grappled with ethical questions on emerging technologies.

When considering your own sabbatical outside of the business school, be entrepreneurial! This journey is not one-size-fits all. Breaking the mould of conformity to traditional academic paradigms may reveal new paths and unexpected opportunities. But make no mistake, charting your own course off the beaten path is not without its own set of challenges, which I explore next.

Given the stage of your career and life, leaving the bounds of academic familiarity can bring an intricate set of professional and personal challenges. For me, not having a formally approved plan of leave with an academic institution made this decision feel counterproductive to my goal of being a successful management academic. Much like Frost's poem, I acknowledged that ‘way leads on to way’ and that from my decision to join the non-profit I may never get a chance to return to that first road to tenure.

The most prevalent challenge that this experience brought was in its disruption to the academic career trajectory by diverting valuable time away from research and writing. Discussions with peers at annual conferences had been coloured by a preconceived notion that my choice to join NobleReach signalled a diminished interest in research and an academic career more broadly. The feedback from one search committee member said as much: ‘your position at the non-profit makes it difficult to assess likely future productivity when making the transition [back] to a faculty member’. Others saw the career decision through a more visionary lens – where my time at the non-profit is an investment in future research capabilities and institutional collaborations. While navigating perceptions of my time outside of academia was certainly an uphill battle, I managed to strike a professional balance by dedicating one day per work week to research, strategically reducing the number of projects in my pipeline, and communicating workload expectations with co-authors.

I also found myself with a sense of academic isolation. I cherished the privilege of collaborating with accomplished individuals that I would otherwise not have access to, but was desiring more of the scholarly interactions I had in an academic setting. I scratched that itch by implementing a strategy of regular communication with co-authors through bi-weekly calls. Even maintaining a current understanding of the most recent research and trends in management proved to be a formidable challenge. Attending annual conferences proved instrumental in remaining intellectually connected to the latest happenings of the field. Following a non-traditional path and operating in this space between professional spheres also evoked somewhat of an identity crisis. When I would meet new colleagues, they perceived me as an outsider. A simple morning routine of checking out the Academy's listservs helped to remain emotionally attached to the profession.

Undoubtedly, this type of a sabbatical entails various personal sacrifices as well. Whether you are a junior academic or a tenured professor, publications remain the primary measure of scholarly output. With the time shift to more non-scholarly work, this means sacrificing some leisure time to maintain productivity. To sustain my research projects, I often found myself immersed in late-night and weekend work sessions, a reality that constrained family life. Others may consider the financial constraints of the sabbatical. Volunteering means that there is no compensation, and many government fellowships and foundation grants also offer limited financial incentives. This results in a notable reduction in income for academics who embark on this journey without institutional financial support. And in the post-COVID-19 world, many NGOs, government agencies, and for-profit organizations have reverted back to a predominantly ‘in-person’ workplace. This journey may necessitate a relocation away from family and friends.

Ultimately, career and life stages make up a complex set of considerations in this decision. I still recall the knot in my stomach when one of my advisors found out I was planning to temporarily leave academia for the non-profit: ‘None of my former students who left academia ever returned!’. And many trusted colleagues and mentors echoed similar concerns about how this career choice would shape my ability to be a successful management scholar. These words should serve as a reminder of the formidable challenge of transitioning back into the academic fold after any excursion out of it.

Despite its challenges, my time away from the business school has had a transformative effect on my professional outlook. Taking the road less travelled has unveiled deeper significance in my academic endeavours, reaffirming my initial motivations. Being immersed in a new context and engaging with a different community of professionals has reignited my enthusiasm and strengthened my optimism about the positive impact that I can have as an academic.

This experience has helped to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical application, as many of my current projects address real-world challenges I observed firsthand at NobleReach. For example, from working with and observing the US government's challenges in coordinating and developing innovation ecosystems, a co-author and I have begun looking into market creation around public-purpose technologies. In another project, my co-author and I are exploring how careers evolve across public and private sectors – a critical question as governments around the world grapple with historic distrust and an aging workforce. Building a research agenda around these application-informed inquiries means I no longer question the broader relevance and practical importance of my research.

The experience has also served as a remarkable platform to bridge the gap between my extant scholarship and real-world application. The Venture Meets Mission book plays a pivotal role in shaping the technology and talent development efforts at NobleReach. The lessons drawn from the book, including the pitfalls and strategic approaches of mission-driven innovation, have proven valuable to guiding researchers, entrepreneurs, and students through the technology commercialization and mission innovation process. My time outside of the business school has also expanded my network in ways that will lead to more robust research projects. A project on NASA that has been in my desk drawer for over two years now has new life as a colleague at the non-profit has connected me to multiple NASA astronauts within his network.

Within the realm of teaching, the sabbatical can play a pivotal role in developing lessons grounded in experience. Engaging with diverse communities allows educators to immerse themselves in the dynamic landscapes of society and provides them with firsthand knowledge of the complexities that underpin different facets of the organizations that their students will eventually enter. As I recraft curriculum for my Strategy and Entrepreneurship classes, I recount the vignettes, stories, and cases of businesses which have successfully blended purpose and profit to solve societal problems. Incorporating from my experience the nuanced functioning of public institutions brings a tangible benefit to students looking to use their organizational skills in public service.

We must also consider how sabbaticals can be important in inspiring and illuminating new professional horizons for students. Leading by example, the sabbatical can show students about the value of non-linear careers, which is critical as we consider the shifting tides in the workforce. As younger generations increasingly look for diverse experiences in their careers, management academics should consider how their own career choices can help their students navigate these different opportunities. Amidst calls to create more impactful business curricula, it is imperative that we acknowledge how our own professional journeys can help encourage the next generation of intersectional business leaders.

Institutionally, the sabbatical has the potential to have wide-ranging positive effects. These sabbaticals mean institutions benefit from their ability to leverage invaluable connections outside the business school, build more applied curriculum, and creatively chart new strategic directions. Consider how new external connections can help forge partnerships that bring resources to the university and help students find jobs. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the sabbatical can result in the eventual support of research, centres, or events. Sponsored by strategic industry partners formed by administrators, the MBA programme at Howard University – a historically black research university – recently hosted a case challenge which brought together 12 minority student teams from across the USA to tackle the issue of aligning innovations around the government's mini moonshots. With the highest-ranking black woman in the US intelligence community as the keynote speaker of the event, students were in awe of their career opportunities and ability to shape change as minority business students. And Purdue University recently partnered with NobleReach to create an ‘Innovation for Public Service’ degree certificate to be offered to over 10,000 engineering students. This programme is key to facilitating the delivery of a more applied and service-minded curriculum to their students, charting a new strategic direction for the University.

By prioritizing sabbaticals that pursue broader engagement, our research, students, and academic institutions benefit by accessing diverse information and opportunities, leading to a more impactful and relevant approach to both research and teaching. These are important considerations as management academics make the case for this type of a sabbatical to their university committees.

Frost's poem never reveals where the two paths lead – or if they are so divergent that never the twain shall meet. As I return to academia this fall and find myself back on the road to tenure, I look back on my journey and see that what seemed to be a career crossroads was but a valuable detour that led me to reconnect with my purpose as an academic and the impact I aspire to make as an educator and researcher. So, the next time you find yourself staring down an unknown and unexpected road, embrace it with curiosity. For it may lead you to serendipitous treasures and insights that enrich your academic journey.