Close Encounters of the Client Kind

Many anthropologists are employed outside of academia, and much as someone would expect, our day-to-day work lives look vastly different from those of our academic peers. This is because we are affected by, and work within, different circumstances. For example, the jobs of private sector practitioners are influenced by limited timelines and budgets, employers who are focused on profit rather than contributing to a greater knowledge base, and a lack of pressure and support to publish (in fact, it is sometimes discouraged). In order for a practicing anthropologist to be successful in the private sector, one must play multiple roles, understand the business context as it relates to the research, and work within multi-disciplinary teams. Our roles vary because of these circumstances as well: practicing anthropologists must prove their value to projects; they must evangelize for research within organizations and sell research to prospective clients and ensure that the research findings will be useful to their clients.

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Close Encounters of the Client Kind

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Training the Next Generation: Business Anthropology at the University of North Texas

Training the Next Generation: Business Anthropology at the University of North Texas

Beyond Research: Adding Value as an Anthropologist

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