Scholar-Practitioner Careers: Integrating Research Capability into Teaching, Leadership, and Consulting

Professional doctoral and applied research programs are producing a growing number of scholar-practitioners who work across teaching, leadership, consulting, and applied research roles. Yet many struggle to translate doctoral research learning into clear professional identity, classroom practice, and career legitimacy outside the traditional PhD or tenure-track pathway. This symposium/panel reframes research not simply as method, but as a portable set of capabilities—including inquiry, sensemaking, and learning-in-action—that can be enacted across roles and contexts.

Drawing on the lived experiences of scholar-practitioners working in diverse settings, the session integrates panel dialogue with participant discussion and interactive reflection. Participants examine common tensions related to research use, identity, and legitimacy, and explore teaching strategies for helping students translate research into practice. The session is designed to be highly interactive and aligned with MOBTS’s emphasis on teaching excellence, learning communities, and the integration of theory and practice.