Hey science why don't you prove you appreciate my "good hands" and give me a title worthy of your respect.
These are my hands from the PBS documentary Clearing The Smoke: The Science of Cannabis. It was filmed while I was in grad school. In the piece my PI spoke about my research without ever mentioning my name. I was the one doing the work but I didn't get any recognition, I was just a set of hands in the lab.
Science as a field is literally built on the work of trainees, junior faculty, and research assistants. These hardworking individuals almost never receive the recognition they deserve, and why would people think they deserve any with job titles like that?
My first ever job in science was simply called temporary help. I was working in a quality control (QC) lab, at a biofuel plant on my college campus, running major analytical instruments and making decisions that effected the entire plant. Still my job description was the same as the elves in Santa's Village. Even after defending my thesis and being granted a Ph.D. I found myself again labeled temporary help. That's right, my PI in an attempt to "help me out" didn't want me take the title of postdoc. Instead they paid me as temporary help while I searched for my next position and submitted two additional manuscripts.
Even with my final degree in hand I still wasn't considered ready for a "real job". They labeled me a trainee AGAIN this time adding the word fellow to class it up, but Postdoctoral Fellow wasn't enough to impress anyone in the hiring world. It wasn't until I made it to industry that anyone bothered to call me a scientist.
I had worked as; an analytical chemist, a translational science researcher, a cancer immunologist, and taught at the university level, but no one had ever called me a scientist.
My most recent job title of Senior Scientist didn't come with a job description just an ever growing list of expectations.
I was responsible for advancing the human primary cell editing program.
I was responsible for supporting internal product development.
I was responsible for maintaining external collaborations.
I was expected at business meeting.
I was in charge of lab maintenance and safety.
I was expected to write grants and secured funding opportunities for the company.
I was expected to help keep the team's moral high with birthday calendars, company swag, and snacks at lab meetings.
I was responsible for conference poster presentations and social media campaigns.
Being called Senior Scientist tells the world I have "good hands" and that I am a member of the lab. However, it does not call attention to the fact that I manage projects, direct the allocation of goods, and lead teams. It does not do justice to the laundry list of skills necessary to do my job. I wish I would have fought harder for titles that better represented my work, and that clearly defined universal titles existed for me to fight for. Anyone who has worked in a lab is in on the secret that research assistants and lab technicians know 2-10x what a PI knows at any given time, but they are often relegated to the acknowledgements section of major publications. Well enough!
We, the hard working members of each and every scientific discovery and breakthrough, deserve better of our departments and employers. We have put in the work, and it is past time we were recognized for it. So the next time you are filling out an application or adding to your resume/CV take the opportunity to add the skills not covered by your job titles. Scientists are not one dimensional lab machines. We have skills that reach beyond the techniques we have developed over the years.