University job comes down to problem solving
During his childhood, Curtin University economist and happiness expert Mike Dockery had a stellar goal.
“It must sound pretty nerdy, but I dreamed of being a theoretical physicist, someone who sort of combined hard science with a bit of philosophy. But I don't think my mathematics was quite up to it,” says Dockery, 54.
Today, the associate professor’s job comes down to problem solving. A key skill is being able to see through the haze – get to the core of a problem and see clearly what the issues are, he says.
“I guess in a more formal way, that's formulating hypotheses or challenging assumptions. So sort of getting to the nub of the problem is the first skill.”
The second key skill is being able to test the hypotheses or assumptions, which requires the use of technical empirical skills, creative use of data or natural experiments.
“The toughest challenge or the biggest battle is probably the big gulf between what I do and what I want to do: which is actually make a difference to people's lives.”
At university what your superiors want you to do is publish in top-ranked journals. That does not change anybody's life, he says.
He would like to make a difference on policy and programs. But when he pursues research there is a big layer between him and the people he is hoping to help.
The layer is made up of policymakers and bureaucracies, according to the Curtin doctor of economics who has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in national and international journals. His research areas include a look at the positive mental health impact of Australian Football League participation on young indigenous men.
The research he has done on culture and well-being for indigenous Australians clearly shows that indigenous cultural identity and cultural engagement actually improves their outcomes in terms of employment, education and health, he says.
“And if we start improving those outcomes and improving white Australians’ understanding of indigenous culture, that's when the gaps will start to close,” he says.
Meanwhile, however, all policy dialogue assumes there is a trade-off between culture and those outcomes.
“So that's one of the assumptions I've challenged, and the data clearly shows that we should actually be supporting culture and celebrating culture and teaching culture, rather than letting it die out. But it's very difficult to get that through policymakers,” he says.
The biggest myth surrounding his work is that economics centres on making money and economists make money or can tell people how to make money.
“It's not true at all. We don't make money. My wife says I'm not a real doctor because I don't make enough money,” he says.
His advice on handling stress is just to talk to people. Talk to your colleagues, talk to your family or do some exercise – nothing clears stress better than a good workout.
His top success tip is to find people who you can work well with, and invest in those relationships, because different people bring different skill sets.
“So you've got people who are big ideas people, who have got great ideas but they're never actually really going to achieve anything. And you've got those workhorses actually implementing and getting things done. And you've got people with empirical or very technical skills.
“So I think the real main tip for success is to seek out those people that you work well with and have those complementary skills and invest in those relationships.”