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<b><h4>What broader responsibilities, apart from your research, have you taken on over the course of your career, both within your university and externally?</h4></b>

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<b>Valeria Scacchi, MA, Research Analyst, The Froebel Trust</b>

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As part of my career, I took a lot of roles on, and I started as a visiting lecturer for the university. I started with very few modules, and then I increased as my experience increased. I became a committee member for different committees in the university. I became a Research Officer for the Research Centre. I started to assist members of the team with their publications, and with really more administrative tasks, that they might not have time to do. 

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Right now, I've started to take responsibilities as a scrutineer. I review journal articles for a specific journal, and I am working as a Research Analyst for The Froebel Trust. So I look at the process of research through a really broader lens, even on the way that the research has an impact on the current system.
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<b><h4>What challenges and benefits did you encounter within these roles?</h4></b>

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<b>Valeria Scacchi:</b> The main challenges that I encountered is obviously to juggle so many roles together, while remaining efficient in your work. And the benefits is, obviously, my work has expanded. My network has expanded. I have a lot more opportunities to be invited for presentations, to collaborate on publications, and I have gained a lot of confidence. I have really recognised my strengths, so my imposter syndrome has gone a little bit quieter now. Obviously, it's always there for everyone, but now I'm really sure of where my strengths are, and what I can really bring to the field of higher education. 
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<b><h4>What advice would you give to new researchers regarding such roles?</h4></b>

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<b>Professor Janet Boddy, Professor of Child, Youth & Family Studies, University of Sussex</b>

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I think the crucial advice, which I probably wish I'd figured it out myself, 10 or 15 years ago, is that you need to learn when you can say no, as well as when you need to say yes, and to think really carefully about what's involved in that. It's always really flattering to be asked. And what you're asked to do is almost always really interesting. 

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So you have to think very carefully about what you'll not be doing, if you're doing this instead, and weigh up and balance that. And I guess it's also thinking realistically about what you have time to do. So one of the challenges I find is that there are things that I want to say yes to, but I know I won't have time to do it properly. And in that case, it's better that I say no. It's better that I let somebody else have that opportunity, who can really gain from it, who has the time to do it well, than it become something that I do half-neglectfully, feeling guilty about working on in the evenings, instead of spending time with family, for example.