The PostDoc Office cultivates a valuable network of people who moved their careers beyond academia after their PhD. They work in research-related leadership roles, in research positions outside the university, or in other really exciting jobs that suit a person with a research background.
One of these people is medical anthropologist Margret Jäger (find her on LinkedIn and check out her company's website). We are delighted that she consented to be interviewed for this series, providing us with her insights into the success strategies and surprises of her career journey.
1) What was your last job in university research, and what are you doing right now?
I worked as an assistant professor (permanent post, promotion ahead), doing research and teaching qualitative methods in several psychology programmes. Furthermore, I was module coordinator for a mandatory module in medical education at the same institution. This meant belonging to two faculties, which was sometimes tricky – having resources on one side (medicine) and being told "no, not possible" on the other (psychology).
Currently, I work as a researcher in the Research & Development Department of an internationally recognised company specialising in digitalisation in healthcare. We conduct research, collaborate with other research institutions and companies, publish our findings and present them at scientific and professional events. We also allocate time to delve deeply into new topics to further develop our products. Fieldwork is also one of the tasks I carry out as the anthropologist in the multidisciplinary team, which makes my anthropological heart beat faster.
I still do some teaching on the side because I don't want to lose contact with educating health professionals. This gives me valuable insight into the needs and aspirations of our future healthcare workforce.
2) With some distance to leaving university research: What was your biggest learning you developed in your new sector?
1. Research is conducted in many areas outside academia.
2. Contrary to popular belief, academics do not research whatever they want; they research what they get funding for, due to the pressure of third-party funding within the system.
3. Collaboration is an amazing tool for making progress. In academia, collaboration is often forced upon researchers by calls for project funding or within institutes or departments. By contrast, those conducting research outside academia collaborate with others who want to solve real-world problems together and the issue is at stake, not academic success or researching what a funding call asks for. It feels quite different. People are much nicer to each other as well – caring about others health and wellbeing in project teams.
3) What surprised you the most in the beginning?
That eight hours of work per day is enough. Nobody expects me to work at weekends or be contactable during my holiday. Leisure time is a real thing! Amazing! While working from home, I finished my work duties at 4 pm, just as my partner came home from his job. He was used to an 'always working' me, but after leaving academia, I was waiting for him with the question, 'What shall we do today?' We both needed to get used to my newfound free time and redefine the activities we enjoy together.
People are impressed by my experience abroad and with many different projects and topics. This is just normal for academics, and not outside academia.
4) What did you already do before you made the decision to switch fields that helped you later on? (Or what do you wish you had done earlier?)
I am a great networker and have learnt how to build supportive relationships in the business world that extend beyond merely having someone's contact details for when you need something. Teaching health professionals (often as part of continuing professional development) in academia helped to create this network. Choose wisely to which network meetings you go and how you engage in them.
I undertook some coaching to determine where I currently stand in terms of my professional aspirations and my desire for a happy, healthy life. I would recommend this to anyone who is asking themselves, 'Am I still in the right place?'
Interview: Johanna Stadlbauer, 29.10.2025
Upon request, we make our contact list (the PostDoc Office Address Book for Careers Beyond Academia) available to our University of Graz postdocs. It‘s a curated list of selected people, and like a good library it can provide information from a great diversity of disciplines and fields. Reach our via postdoc@uni-graz.at!