Faculty of Art
A professional association for people with PhDs in History, the American Historical Association (AHA) lists “intellectual self-confidence” among its Career Diversity Five Skills, or the five skills necessary to career success, whether inside or outside academia. The AHA defines intellectual self-confidence as the ability to “think flexibly and creatively about how one’s existing skills and knowledge can be applied to a problem at hand, to switch between projects as needed, and to learn about new topics and methods as needed.” Basically, it is the capacity to adapt efficiently and effectively to challenges as they arise.
Why confidence can feel elusive for grad students
Intellectual self-confidence is one of those “soft skills” that many graduate students hone almost without realizing it. In fact, this skill can be so intuitive that many grad students don’t even recognize it as a skill. Add to that the fact that graduate study demands intense focus on narrowly defined subject matter in order to develop specialized expertise and many graduate students can end up feeling exactly the opposite of intellectually confident. Instead, seeing their knowledge as too niche to have any meaningful off-campus application—what job could possibly value your encyclopedic knowledge of 17th century astronomical charts? How could you possibly find personal fulfillment in a job that didn’t value the knowledge that you have so painstakingly cultivated?
But, perhaps this is the wrong way to look at it.
Recognizing your capacity for career confidence
Graduate study teaches you to recognize what you don’t know and to fill those knowledge gaps through research and learning. It teaches you to be flexible and adaptable in your thinking. You can use these same skills to build a footing and find confidence in any workplace. In any new job, whether as an assistant professor or a communications manager, you will encounter new concepts, relationships, structures, and skillsets. Being able to think creatively about how to use what you know to respond to these challenges is key to career success. You’ll draw on your intellectual self-confidence wherever you work.
Practicing intellectual self-confidence
Intellectual self-confidence is not a skill you master. It’s a skill best practiced regularly and often, and the best way to do this is to try new things—give yourself the chance to work in different ways, on different topics, or with different people. Use your years as a graduate student to take on challenges: look for opportunities that take you outside the narrow focus of your scholarly expertise, work with new communities and people; ask questions and see what you can offer.
And, if you feel like you need direction in figuring out your path to intellectual self-confidence, make an appointment with Arts Amplifier staff to talk about what kinds of opportunities might be right for you.