“Volunteer” opportunities can be rewarding—but we shouldn’t feel obligated, our Experimental Error columnist writes
Experimental Error is a column about the quirky, comical, and sometimes bizarre world of scientific training and careers, written by scientist and comedian Adam Ruben.On one of my first days at the biotech startup where I used to work, I expected to learn about the sort of lab research I’d be performing.
I hated this drama. None of this was my job. I was a molecular biologist, for crying out loud. I was supposed to be in the lab, futzing with microscopes, analyzing data—not making everyone angry at each other, and at me, just so they could begrudgingly give a lackluster PowerPoint. “Oh, no biggie,” the email says. “We’ll just be meeting once a quarter, maybe once a month, maybe twice daily, to discuss what we envision our department’s priorities will be in 25 years.”. But because of the unseen forces that make us reluctantly acquiesce to accepting all kinds of obligations that aren’t our job: the hidden culture of “yes.”
It isn’t unique to science, or academia; I’ve faced this pressure as a comedian, too. We’re frequently asked to perform “for exposure,” which means that, instead of money, we’re paid by the vague possibility that someone in the audience might later opt to give us money for a future performance. Yet we perform, because we know that if we turn that gig down, someone else will say yes to it, and now we’re developing a reputation for being difficult.
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