Fowler on academic rotation
Martin Fowler has just posted an excellent article on Academic Rotation, where he sets out the dichotomy that has arisen between how success is measured in academic circles versus commercial circles.
When describing the reaction he received to his advice to a post-doc to spend some time in industry to understand what software development problems require research he says:
His answer to this thought was very troubling. He said he’d be up to do that, but if he spent time in industry that would ruin his chances of getting a job in academia. Competition for academic jobs is high, and what they look it is your publication history. A year or two in industry would create a gap in your publication history that would be lethal to your job prospects.
Clearly,this is a real problem for academia in general, and in particular for a small country like Ireland that is striving to create an innovation culture through scientific and engineering research.
Fowler’s suggestion of rotation is an excellent one, but we probably need more. We need to ensure that industrial experience is seen as at least as a strength, indeed maybe even a pre-requisite, when considering academic appointments.