Download a glossary of terms used in this course.
Self-awareness is fundamentally concerned with focusing attention on your responses and behaviour in order to regulate and improve your reactions to situations (Morin, 2011).
Developing self-awareness is an ongoing process and is a way of thinking that is enhanced through the following:
Honesty
It is possible that when you explore aspects of your personality and behaviours, you might identify things you are not thrilled about. It is important to acknowledge honestly who you are, to be comfortable with it and to make adjustments if you think they will benefit you and others. Honesty with yourself and others leads to true authenticity, which has frequently been linked to happiness.Openness
It is unlikely that you can truly discover yourself on your own. You will benefit from being open to the feedback of others and seeking trusted critique from a few individuals whom you respect and whose advice and criticism you are prepared to accept in equal measure.Time
Self-awareness is an iterative, ongoing process for which you will need to allow time, both in terms of taking time to consciously reflect and in terms of being aware that your journey of self-discovery will likely be lifelong, with the journey being as valuable as the destination.
The Johari window (Luft & Ingham, 1955) provides a practical tool that is useful for starting out in your self-analysis. It can be used to help you consider factors such as emotions, beliefs, values, abilities, ambitions and motivations. When used in discussion with others, it enables reciprocal sharing and the giving of supportive feedback.
The Johari window
This source from Positive Psychology offers further ideas on how to use the Johari window to improve leadership.
Consider this explanation of the 'Johari window', which is a tool for approaching self-exploration. Continue on to learn what each element means.
X axis:
- Category 1: Known to self
- Category 2: Unknown to self
Y axis:
- Category 1: Known to others
- Category 2: Unknown to others
Box X1/Y1:
Open/arena
Known to all – for example, publications, research area, organisational capacity, academic profile and leadership style.
Box X1/Y2:
Hidden/façade
Kept to oneself – for example, future research ideas, personal views, feelings on the academy and political opinions.
Box X2/Y1:
Blind spot
Unknown to oneself – for example, traits or behaviours we do not notice in ourselves but others do, such as our instinctive reactions to challenging situations.
Box X2/Y2:
Unknown
Unknown to everyone and an opportunity for self-discovery – something you may be yet to experience, so you do not know how you will react.
A good starting point is to begin your reflections using aptitudes, personal competencies or behaviour prompt words, such as those covered in the module Actively managing your research career. Even though it may make you uncomfortable, open conversations with people you trust about your (and their) blind spots can support increased self-awareness and personal growth.
Where this can be useful in your career planning is to help you move from an actual to a desired state. If you know what you want to develop and retain within yourself and why, you can channel that growth towards achieving your career ambitions. Uncertainty, changing priorities and desires, and outside influences will crop up, and this is okay – be flexible and consider different options.
To counter this, it is beneficial to consider how you can become your own advocate and increase your control over your future. This is most effective when combined with conversations with others, such as a mentor, trusted peer or more formally with your line manager.
Explore the three concepts related to personal ownership, and use 'Next' to reflect on your reaction to these concepts.
Continue on to explore the three concepts related to personal ownership – identity, agency and strategy. Then, answer the question to reflect on your reaction to these concepts.
Identity
Academic identity is developed through reflection on and harmonising of personal, departmental and organisational expectations.
(Mathieson, 2011)
Agency
Agency is concerned with considering optimum practices, making choices, taking stances and generally being personally assertive in a professional context.
(Eteläpelto et al., 2013)
Strategy
Career strategy can encompass many things, including role competence and skill development, engaging in institutional practice and culture, volunteering for additional projects, creating new personal opportunities, mentoring and personal profile raising.
(Greenhaus et al., 2000)
Reflect on how you are doing with each of these concepts. What might you do to strengthen your identity, agency and strategy?
Combined, these three elements will give you the confidence, motivation and structure to really take control of your professional life and career progression. They will each help to shape your career trajectory: a clear sense of identity guides your career decisions and strategy; agency drives your strategy; and a well-planned strategy, built on self-awareness and proactive decision-making, creates a strong pathway for professional development.
Consider the definitions again, and use the table in the In context screen of this module to define an action you will take to enhance your capacity in one of the three areas. (You can consider your values in more detail in the module Actively managing your research career.)
Identity
Academic identity is developed through reflection on and harmonising of personal, departmental and organisational expectations.
(Mathieson, 2011)
Agency
Agency is concerned with considering optimum practices, making choices, taking stances and generally being personally assertive in a professional context.
(Eteläpelto et al., 2013)
Strategy
Career strategy can encompass many things, including role competence and skill development, engaging in institutional practice and culture, volunteering for additional projects, creating new personal opportunities, mentoring and personal profile raising.
(Greenhaus et al., 2000)
Question:
Reflect for each of the above about how you are doing with these concepts – what might you do to strengthen your identity, agency and strategy?
Feedback:
Combined, these three elements will give you the confidence, motivation and structure to really take control of your professional life and career progression. They will each help to shape your career trajectory: a clear sense of identity guides your career decisions and strategy; agency drives your strategy; and a well-planned strategy, built on self-awareness and proactive decision-making, creates a strong pathway for professional development.
Consider the definitions again and use the table in the In context screen of this module to define an action you will take to enhance your capacity in one of these three areas. (You can consider your values in more detail in the module Actively managing your research career.)
Agency is something that requires confidence. It will develop over time, following experiences where you have successfully acted as an agent for yourself. Our agency often depends on our ability to find balance, our readiness to engage others, taking time out to think and being ready to enact decisions even when the outcome may not be absolutely certain.
Consider your research career development to date. What has gone well? What has not gone as expected? How have your aspirations changed since you began your journey in research? Would you have had a different outcome had you exhibited more agency?
The value of taking time to explore and understand yourself and your level of control is that you can be ready to manage situations and experiences that you might otherwise find challenging. This is where agency really comes to the fore. You can aid your ability to self-explore by engaging in reflective thinking, which we will explore in the screen Reflective thinking and writing.