In their opinion article “The need for self-knowledge in a changing world of work,” (June 21, 2021, Inside Higher Ed), Dr. Sonali Majumdar argues that knowledge about one’s values, skills, and non-negotiables is important for PhD career success. I agree that self-knowledge is valuable for finding and engaging in fulfilling employment. But self-knowledge only in relation to the PhD skills or only in service to the world of work seems limiting to me. When advanced academic training is largely a cognitive experience (“a life of the mind”) that occurs within a very small social-professional circle, graduate students and postdocs could wrap their entire identity and sense of purpose around their PhD and disciplinary identity. A disappointment in an area of their training can feel devastating to their sense of self. Knowing that graduate students and postdocs in their 20s and 30s are in a developmentally important phase, self-knowledge contributes to secure, functional, and healthy adult foundations for friendships, partnerships, employment, and community engagement.
I want PhDs to be able to communicate about their skills, interests, values, preferences, and strengths: who they are, what they need, and what fulfills them. Self-knowledge helps PhDs make conscious choices in all aspects of their lives that are aligned; they will know why they are doing something and whether they are acting in alignment with their values and commitments. When graduate students and postdocs are consciously engaged in the curation of all aspects of their lives, their academic work can be in balance and harmony with rest, play, movement, creativity, friendships, family, and community. I want PhDs’ self-knowledge to be part of their compass, the wind in their sails, the spark for their flame, their North Star. (I know, that’s all really sappy, but I do mean it. )
This post is a compendium of self-knowledge resources I often suggest to graduate students, postdocs, and professional development colleagues. I have a bunch of caveats to mention. Popular “typing” assessments aren’t absolute. Some have a bit of woo to them. There are likely problems of empirical validation and social bias. These assessments don’t take into account additional forms of knowledge including embodied (intuition, emotions, sensations), ancestral, intergenerational, family, and community. They also don’t take into account social contexts that are systemic and oppressive. I don’t share these resources as advertisements or as validation of the tools themselves. I do not mean for any results to be prescriptive, categorical, or deterministic about who you are and how you want to grow. I recognize that by sharing these tools, I am inviting clicks and I am being complicit in sharing things that could invite or perpetuate harm. Corrections, suggestions, recommendations, and calls for accountability are welcome. Let’s collectively improve the possibilities for self-exploration.
Should you choose to do any of these self-assessments, don’t give too much weight to any result. I find it more helpful to make meaning of them as part of a whole and to pay attention to words that feel particularly resonant and deeply true. Look for recurring descriptions, tendencies, and preferences that can illuminate and clarify what matters most to you. I hope that by facilitating your self-discovery, I am serving our collective inner-world liberation from perceived and real social norms (especially academic norms) that confine our self-narratives. I want to serve you as you build a strong, secure foundation of self- and community-wisdom to draw from as you make choices about where you put your energies, creativity, and labor.
Selected tools for self-discovery, self-knowledge, and self-reflection
- Values, Interests, Personality, Style (VIPS) inventory: https://www.imaginephd.com/
- Values: https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/
- Enneagram (personality, temperament, adaptations): https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions
- VIA Character Strengths Profile: https://www.viacharacter.org/
- Creative types: https://mycreativetype.com/
- Social justice ecosystem: https://buildingmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Ecosystem-Guide-April-2022.pdf
- StrengthsFinder (not free): https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx
- Preferences:
- Creativity: artist dates, inspiration, exploration, creativity, observation, presence, solitude
- Rest – quiet, stillness, mindfulness, recharge, renewal, imagination
- Play – bonding, reward, problem-solving, leisure, community
- Movement – exploration, expression, awareness, embodiment
- Making life/work accommodations that work for you: https://askjan.org/soar.cfm
- Prioritizing tasks (“Eisenhower matrix”): https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/eisenhower-matrix
- Maslach burnout inventory: https://www.mindgarden.com/117-maslach-burnout-inventory-mbi
- Mental health self-assessments: https://healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling/self-assessment.html
My own self-knowledge summary
I summarized in this table some of my results from various self-knowledge assessments. I find it affirming to see several traits, like empathy and collaboration, show up across multiple self-assessments. And I’ve found it helpful to have additional language to describe my character traits and how those show up in my paid labor, volunteer work, hobbies, relationships, leisure activities, and communities. When I feel overwhelmed, uncertain, ungrounded, and lost in my sense of purpose, reviewing these summaries helps me find direction again. These summaries give me some discernment for choosing activities that will feel particularly meaningful to me. They also make me aware that I need to be sure to replenish my empathy and collaboration buckets.
| Helping others Working with underserved communities and populations Understanding individual and societal behavior Understanding group dynamics Connecting ideas from different fields Top 5 Interests, from ImaginePhD | Work effectively as part of a team Work effectively with limited supervision Contributing to an institution Contributing to a discipline Cultural competence Top 5 Skills, from ImaginePhD | Balance Collaboration Diversity Recognition Intellectually challenging Top 5 Work values, from Imagine PhD |
| Belonging, connection, collaboration, nature Justice, diversity, equality, inclusion, humility, integrity Hope, optimism, vulnerability, possibility From Brene Brown, Dare to Lead | Inner harmony (peace with oneself) Affection (love, caring) Integrity (sincerity, standing up for beliefs) Cooperation (teamwork) Pleasure (play, laughter) From Leadership Development Institute | Healer – tend to trauma Weaver – see through lines of connectivity Guide – teach, counsel, advise From Social Change Ecosystem |
| Helper – thoughtful, affectionate, empathetic, sincere, warm-hearted, generous Peacemaker – easygoing, accepting, receptive, reassuring, agreeable Enthusiast – extroverted, optimistic, versatile, spontaneous, playful, high-spirited From Enneagram | Appreciation of beauty and excellence (transcendence) Leadership (justice) Love of learning(wisdom) Curiosity Social intelligence Teamwork From VIA Character Strengths Profile | The visionary, imagining the impossible Full of big ideas See potential and possibility everywhere Emotional, impassioned, expressive Introspective Intuitive Charismatic From Adobe Creative Types |
| Empathy Individualization Positivity Woo Adaptability From CliftonStrengths |
Katie Kearns 