What’s been the impact of your participation in Code-Switch on your current role as a postdoc/as an academic researcher?

I think the main impact that Code-Switch had is on the way I see my career in the future; for instance it opened my eyes to other career possibilities, and developing real world solutions gave me the confidence to engage with non-academic actors. It’s a sense of confidence that comes with having put into action the skills and knowledge that I had acquired in my PhD, and the tools Code-Switch gave me the tools to engage with the private sector. I’m not afraid now to put my skills out there, in fact, I’d be confident to go to a company and say, this is what I do, this is my know-how and this is how and why I’m valuable to you. The programme also opened my eyes to the way we, as researchers, frame problems and the methodologies that we use. I mostly work on evaluation of policy impactor measuring the impact of programmes on the beneficiaries and, most of the time, we seek to measure via quantitative studies. In the Code-Switch project, measuring impact was just one part of the activity but the other side was to see the people behind the numbers and, doing this changed the way I now look at my research activities.

Now, I’m always interrogating the findings more, saying this is important but questioning if we are missing any important elements and perspectives.I find myself challenging the scope of our research studies, not only as to whether we are being too narrow in the way we hy seem to understand problems, but also about the usefulness of our research. I do attribute this to my experience with Code-Switch.

Well, we always think we are really good at working in teams, especially in research groups working with similar people we share common interests. In the Code-Switch project, however,we didn’t have anything in common except the project, of which we knew nothing about –this was quite thrilling because it implied learning about something new but also using what I already knew. Code-Switch, in this sense, I think created the perfect conditions where different research profiles and interests meet to produce creative solutions. So, I learned something about me – about managing myself with people with different profiles and, methodological expertise. I remember that we discussed and negotiated as to the arrangements under which we will pursuit one common goal. This meant that we’ll all learned about the selected methodological venues we were not familiar with. Also, I learned about managing a project – defining and delivering the project in such a way that everyone could bring their best skills and contribute to achieving a positive outcome. It was very interesting how over time the three of us naturally assumed roles that helped us manage the project. One of us was very good at time management, another was very good at recording and communicating discussions, actions and decisions and another was very good at pushing us –in the good sense – to meet deadlines. It felt very organic, and I’m confident I can work in diverse groups and contexts.

That was one of the things that I enjoyed the most at Code-Switch. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure. I was quite hesitant about whether I had the skills deliver that project. But once we started working on it, all of us became very involved and I was so happy to see that the things I learned during my PhD were valuable and added great value to the project. In my research, I mostly do qualitative research but in our project we used mixed methods. Not only did this enrich the final report that we produced for the client, but I remember that the other team members, who were quantitative researchers, became really interested in the qualitative methods. For example, we conducted interviews and there were a lot of learning moments when we framed the interview protocol together. My teammates were like “Oh, I didn’t know you could do that”, “I didn’t know how interview methods work”. Reflecting on that experience now, I can tell you that there are some things that I learned in my PhD that I was not even aware of, and which only became visible and tangible during the Code-Switch project.

Code-Switch was completely not what I was expecting based on my previous experience of training workshops. My previous experience was of shorter courses providing theoretical basis, and perhaps some cases studies that you’d read on the spot and try to apply the theory to practice using such cases. What made Code-Switch really valuable to me was that we had the time and environment to learn, to realise that we, as PhDs, know how to solve problems. It was about analysing a problem, engaging with a client and realising how your own skills, attributes and ideas can deliver great value to a client solving a real world problem. So that’s what I makes Code-Switch unique, the first-hand learning and that ability to say “I did that, I solved a problem, a real one!” Plus, the guidance that we received from the Code-Switch team was essential, because there were instances when we didn’t know how to approach a client’s request.

This just reminded me of a friend who also joined Code-Switch but she was not sure if she would be able to do it because we all doubt ourselves, right? We doubt we’re going to be able to pull it off because of time constraints and lack of confidence in our skills. But, as I told this friend, joining Code-Switch is to do justice to yourself and to your field of expertise. To yourself, because it gives you a new grounding in terms of realising your potential, because sometimes we’re so focused on the PhD demands that we don’t see the other things we can do. The programme also enables you to do justice to your field of research because sometimes we think that only scientists like physicists and engineers can provide solutions to industry. But, when you see that someone from law or someone from higher education studies or someone from policy evaluation can analyse a problem in a very different way and provide a useful solution to the client, then you are serving your field because you’re showing your community and telling society that what we do is valuable, it really is! So I would say to those considering joining Code-Switch: “Go for it! You’ll be ok! Go for it!”

In terms of the time demands of the PhD programme, I was doing my thesis corrections at the time as well as teaching. So, in reality, I was working full-time. All the team members were busy with research and other things, so we sometimes worked on the Code-Switch project in the evenings and weekends. I can confidently say that, if I had the opportunity I would do it all again and time would not even be a factor in my decision making because, it is manageable. Of course, there are some training sessions, coaching and client meetings to attend to, but the main core activity was working together as a team and this can be organised within the team at times that suit you. That’s my point, it a is flexible programme and it is manageable.

Nowadays in the academic labour market, it’s important to be able to demonstrate engagement with industry, experience beyond academia, and ‘outreach’ when you’re applying for academic roles.. So, Code-Switch helps us as PhDs to gain that experience and enables us to meetthe employers’ requirements.

Code-Switch also provides really good insights on impact and pathways to impact which all UK universities are after due to the REF. I recently prepared an impact case for REF and what I can tell you is that the review panels understand and assess impact by how your research outputs translates into measurable solutions to a users outside academia. I’m not saying that we can use the Code-Switch projects as REF cases but, when I was documenting the impact case, I remember thinking, that the Code-Switch experience provided really good training to me in terms of what I can do to make my research ‘REF-able’, what I need  to do to translate my research into solutions for users in society and to demonstrate impact. So, Code-Switch is obviously great for those who are looking for industry experience, or to transition to industry but I’m truly convinced that it is hugely valuable for all academics, and I don’t see participating in Code-Switch as a choice now, I see it as something that every PhD should do. It should be part of our PhD training programme, you know, to be involved in real problems with companies, ONGs; any research user.