A qualitative study of the relationship of personality type with career management and career choice preference in a group of bioscience postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers

Abstract

This study reports on the career management and career choice preferences of a sample of bioscience postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers according to their personality type as determined using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Correlations can be found but other decision‐making processes come into play and are more influential regarding career choices. The aim of this study was to investigate whether personality (measured here as Psychological Type) has an influence on career management style and career preference. The study was conducted on a group of bioscience postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers who had previously attended a one‐day career development workshop. The qualitative survey analysis aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between a person’s preference for particular aspects of their career management such as skills development and everyday tasks (e.g.devising experiments, attending conferences, writing papers, analysing data) and their career preferences (e.g. on their preference for particular types of work).