Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a Research Coordinator, Speech Pathologist
It’s been four years since my last interview with a speech pathologist, and today’s interview with Petrea Cahir helps show that there’s a lot of variation in how speech pathologists work. Petrea works in a paediatric hospital, and coordinates research alongside doing clinical work. On top of that, Petrea is currently a PhD candidate. A PhD does mean you’re a student again, but being a PhD candidate involves more of the skills you often develop in the workplace - good time management, independent work and a sense of purpose (and perspective!). You can follow Petrea on Twitter (@petrea_cahir).
What did you study at university?
I completed an Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science and then did Honours in Linguistics. A few years later I did Masters in Speech Pathology and after 7 years of working, and 2 children later, I started a PhD which I’m half way through.
In my undergrad I majored in psychology and linguistics – in my eyes this was an exciting combination: The neuropsychology, biology and physiology subjects gave me an understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of language which I now apply day-to-day.
The linguistics subjects I chose were really varied – aside from the core subjects, I was generally more interested in the applied linguistics including cross-cultural communication and sociolinguistics but also loved semantics and phonology. At my university there was a strong focus on Aboriginal Australian languages which is how I ended up doing language documentation and investigation of verb functions of Malak Malak, an Aboriginal language.
After Honours I started working as a research assistant at a child health research institute on a longitudinal study of child language development with a gaggle of speech pathologists. Myself and another RA were linguistics graduates and both of us have since pursued research careers at the same institute in Global and Indigenous Health. The exposure to speech pathology inspired me to do a masters in it as I saw this as a way to apply my linguistics skills and ideally contribute to addressing social inequities and afford social change in the health and education settings.
I worked as a speech pathologist on the acute team at a paediatric hospital for almost 10 years. I was mainly attached to the neurology, neurosurgery, general and developmental medicine teams seeing children with complex medical and neurodevelopmental needs.
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
I apply linguistics to my research and clinical jobs every day. My deep understanding of phonetics and phonology allows me to efficiently compile phonetic inventories for kids with complex articulatory systems (e.g., kids with dysarthria associated with cerebral palsy), voice disorders, and bilingual children. Thanks to my semantics training, my assessments of language disorders associated with traumatic brain injury (e.g., aphasia) or developmental language disorders always take a deep dive. My PhD is in Aboriginal children’s ways of using English so I’m certainly applying cross-cultural and sociolinguistic knowledge there.
Other than those obvious applications, the linguistics training in identifying patterns makes me a better clinician. This skill helps me apply clinical evidence to groups of patients, work through complex patient and family histories, and identify what is and isn’t working for families.
Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
I have always shied away from calling myself a linguist because I don’t have a postgrad qualification. I look back and think this is wrong – if you are trained in analysing speech and language then you are a linguist and those skills are definitely transferable to other areas, in creative ways.
Be flexible and open to opportunities as they come along. I actually never saw myself working in academia and here I am doing a PhD but I was only approached for the opportunity because of my life, meaningful networking and work experience. If you’re looking at doing a PhD you don’t have to rush into it. Working and life experience have meant that I have a great deal of perspective when it comes to completing my PhD… maybe too much!
Any other thoughts or comments?
There’s strength in diversifying. The current funding climate in research is in quite the downward phase of the cycle (even before the pandemic) so I’m not optimistic about postdoctoral opportunities. But because I have a diverse background in both clinical and research experience, I know I will have options.
What’s next? I remember sitting in Prof Janet Fletcher’s office for a practical phonetics exam and spotting a Forensic Linguistics journal…. That area has always been in the back of my mind – maybe it will come to the front!
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