Behavioral science resources

What we think of as applied behavioral science is the attempt of practitioners to learn and translate academic research, or learn the process of generating their own research, into real-world application. Some people interested in behavioral science might find the academic career path compelling. This likely involves getting a PhD in a social science like psychology, marketing, or economics, conducting research, publishing papers, and navigating the pros and cons of academia.

There are behavioral science roles in international development organizations. These positions often, but not always, seek candidates with a PhD due to the complex nature of implementation and impact evaluation for many development interventions.

The modern movement of applied behavioral science got its start in government. Roles span municipal and state governments, federal agencies and cross-cutting teams, and international organizations. These teams tend to focus on the design and implementation of public policies.

Worth noting here is that as you move “up” in hierarchy, scale and potential impact increase, but so do complexity and time to implement. You also put greater distance between yourself and the end beneficiaries of your work. Not bad or good, but a tradeoff to keep in mind depending on what motivates you.

There is a wide variety of behavioral science roles in industry, including product, innovation, marketing, human resources, and data science. There are also centralized behavioral science teams that typically work as internal consultancies.

As you would expect with such variety, the skills and credentials you might need vary as well. Industry often accepts practitioners without a PhD, looking instead for some combination of behavioral science knowledge, experience applying it in the organization’s setting, and an ability to measure impact.

Isn’t consulting part of “industry”? Well, yes and no. I’ve separated it here because of the diversity of consultancies. There are large firms focused on commercial work, large firms focused on government work, boutique behavioral science consultancies, and solo practitioners.

These all have different implications for the clients you work with, the way your organization makes money, the activities you’ll do on your projects, compensation, and more.

OK, I know this one sounds weird to include. But hear me out. There are lots of roles that aren’t explicitly called “behavioral scientist” that still allow you to use behavioral science in your work. This takes some creative job searching, but I’d recommend looking at innovation, user or customer experience, design and design research, and policy analysis.

Depending on the team, your interest and experience in behavioral science can be a useful differentiator. If you find that you’re not able to actually do the work you’re interested in, I’d consider moving towards one of the paths above.