Why an industry career move is a taboo topic in academia

"What I try to do is help use what we've learned from decades of psychology and neuroscience to dig a little bit deeper. And that's Josh's academic background: neuroscience. After my PhD had finished, I knew that I wanted to change direction a little bit. Actually, I knew at that point I wanted to do something that was maybe more applied than the work I'd done."

"I loved my PhD, and I loved the work that I had done for my PhD. So my first postdoctoral fellowship was in combination with GlaxoSmithKline. So I started to tap into some of that, that pharma world, and some of that. But it was still very academically rooted, what I was doing there."

Academic careers face significant challenges including reduced job security, intense pressure to publish, and difficulty maintaining work-life balance. Many researchers respond by transitioning away from academia, yet this commonplace decision remains largely unaddressed and taboo within research communities. Josh Balsters, a neuroscientist who became neuroscience director at NielsenIQ, exemplifies this transition. Initially committed to building an academic career, Balsters gradually shifted toward more applied work. After completing his PhD, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship combining academia with GlaxoSmithKline, blending pharmaceutical industry experience with academic research. This hybrid approach allowed him to explore practical applications of neuroscience and psychology while maintaining academic roots.

Read at Nature