This is the 3rd of 6 Fellows’ stories sharing how the Fellowship programme has supported both their career and advocacy for good software practices. The stories were developed as part of the Fellows Impact Evaluation. The full report can be found here. Pseudonyms have been used for anonymity.

Sophie: Becoming a domain-specific community leader.

“Saying I've got an SSI fellowship has given me a lot of confidence and capital… to approach deputy directors, team leads, directors, director generals who I would never have spoken to.”

Sophie applied for an SSI Fellowship as she saw a need to expand good software practices across her organisation. She wanted to replicate the collaborative ethos and transparent working practices of the SSI to engage her colleagues and give longevity to her activities. Others have since copied this way of working, demonstrating the reach of her SSI activities beyond her institute.

Both Sophie’s technical and management skills improved during the Fellowship through other fellows sharing their experience and recommending resources, as well as through gaining feedback on her own ideas from the SSI community. She also improved her knowledge through formal learning settings such as seminars and training courses. Her management skills developed further through needing to understand better how best to advocate for good practices within her institute. She is now confident in being able to fulfil the range of skills required when looking at potential promotion opportunities.

The non-judgemental attitude within the SSI towards diverse professional backgrounds and levels of experience encouraged Sophie to engage with the Fellowship and supported her to gain confidence in her knowledge and skills. Sharing her own experience and knowledge within the SSI community led to her feeling valued, and having an SSI fellowship gave her the confidence to approach senior staff whom she would not have otherwise.  She also gained an increased sense of purpose from seeing how her SSI activities benefitted her organisation.

The Fellowship gave Sophie an insight into possible career paths and she would now consider RSE roles in the future.  She found the Fellowship very meaningful and chose not to apply for potential new roles during her inaugural period due to her commitment towards completing her plans as she could see the benefit for her institute. She continues to strongly engage with the SSI community.

Other blogs in this series

Vicky: Becoming a leader in research reproducibility

Theresa: Making the transition into research policy