TRANSLATING SOCIAL SCIENCE SKILL SETS FOR CAREERS BEYOND ACADEMIA

Abstract

While the academic community has embraced the social sciences as a necessary and valuable discipline, translating skills developed in academia to the broader community continues to be a challenge. The challenge presents itself more as a lack of understanding as to what a social scientist does than a lack of applicable skills. In fact, by the discipline’s very goal of aligning complex problems with scientific methodology, the social scientist gains a wide range of skills that span market demand. These skills include those designed to persuade through effective communication, those designed to question status quo assumptions and lay the foundation for better understanding, and those designed to demonstrate leadership through mentoring, coaching, and teaching. I identify at least eighteen directly translatable skills along these three themes that benefit those who transition from academic to practical environments.