Jonathan Pinckney, PhD, Provides Advice for PhD Students Considering a Career as an Applied Researcher

Jonathan Pinckney is the director of applied research at The Horizons Project, where he leads research efforts on how to apply the tools of nonviolent resistance and peacebuilding to protect and advance democracy in the United States. He was previously a Senior Researcher with the Program on Nonviolent Action at the United States Institute of Peace. He received his PhD from the University of Denver in 2018. In the fall of 2023, he will be an Assistant Professor in the School of Economic, Policy, and Political Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.

What kind of work do you do with the Horizons Project? What energizes you about your career?

I conduct a variety of research projects on tactics and strategies for pro-democracy organizing in the United States. That involves both cross-national data collection, and more qualitative research based on interviews and case studies. We work directly with US-focused democracy activists and organizers, and I’m energized by being able to directly put my research into practice in an area that’s so crucial today.

What did you study in graduate school? Can you say a little bit about your research?

My dissertation, which later became my book From Dissent to Democracy, focused on explaining why and how democracy emerges after mass nonviolent resistance campaigns (and why it sometimes doesn’t). More broadly, my research agenda focuses on questions at the intersection of nonviolent resistance, democracy, and peacebuilding.

The biggest help from my doctoral training has been the ability to carefully and conscientiously think through a complicated question and develop a rigorous strategy to answer it. Those habits of mind were so deeply engrained into me in my PhD program, to the degree that I got used to just assuming that everyone approached complex problems that way.

Why and when did you choose to pursue a non-faculty career?

Very much by accident! I got on this track in 2018 when I was wrapping up a post-doc and saw a job posting for the US Institute of Peace on Twitter. They were looking for a researcher with expertise on nonviolent resistance and quantitative methods, which is exactly my area. I’d always wanted to have my work be directly relevant to activists and policymakers, so the job was appealing to me. I should say, though, that my foray outside of the faculty career has been temporary. I’m going back into a full-time faculty position in the fall, though continuing to work as a consultant in the pro-democracy and peacebuilding policy space.

In what ways did your doctoral training help you in your career?

The biggest help from my doctoral training has been the ability to carefully and conscientiously think through a complicated question and develop a rigorous strategy to answer it. Those habits of mind were so deeply engrained into me in my PhD program, to the degree that I got used to just assuming that everyone approached complex problems that way. But they don’t! So the ability to approach any question with that critical mindset and a methodological toolkit has been a big advantage. Within that methodological toolkit, an understanding of quantitative methods has been a big advantage. Many folks in the policy space, at least the ones I’ve tended to interact with, are hungry for the insights that quantitative methods can provide, but feel intimidated by the initial learning curve of becoming familiar with them. Having those tools at my disposal has given me a big leg up in a variety of contexts, though I certainly have had to practice communicating quantitative results in a way that is accessible to non-specialists.

Do you have any advice for PhD students considering a career as an applied researcher?

Start reaching out to people who are in the policy space or other applied areas that you’re interested in as soon as possible. Most policy communities are pretty small, and very heavily networked. It can be difficult to break into those networks, but if you’ve been working at it while in your PhD program then you’ll find things much easier once you are actually out there looking for a job. Those initial networking steps can be tough, but if you start attending events (even virtual events), and reaching out to people for informational interviews you can start building them. Practice your communication skills, and work in particular on being able to express your research in a variety of written and verbal formats. Writing your first op-ed style piece can be a challenge, but once you’ve written three or four of them it’s pretty easy. Think creatively about how the tools of rigorous research design could be applied as well. A lot of organizations may not say they’re looking for “research” per se but many are looking for monitoring and evaluation expertise, which draws on a very similar skillset.

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APSA’s Career Paths series explores the wide range of career trajectories that political science PhDs can take and provides specific career advice for graduate students entering the job market, as well as other political scientists at all career levels who are looking for new career opportunities. Individuals interested in contributing to the series should email teaching@apsanet.org