Dr Sara Bru Garcia

Meet Sara

Dr Sara Bru Garcia is Head of Insight Capabilities (Behavioural Science and Misinformation) at Lynn, where she designs evidence-based communications for positive behaviour change and misinformation protection. A Chartered Psychologist with an MSc in Psychology and PhD in Experimental Psychology (University of Nottingham), she has 8+ years’ experience in cross-industry research, applying behavioural science methods, conducting experimental studies, and engaging with multi-sectoral stakeholders. Sara is a certified member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS) and disseminates research in peer-reviewed publications and at national and international conferences.

1. How does your work help others or contribute to the world, and what motivated you to pursue this path?

I am the head of Behavioural Science at Lynn, which is a communications consultancy mostly – but not exclusively – working in health, sustainability and democracy (for example crime and justice). I could split my work into two main areas: behavioural science and (combating) mis/disinformation. And within these areas I oversee pretty much everything to do with research with target audiences, from inception to the integration of any insights into campaigns and other programmes of work, to making sure that our interventions are having the intended effects. I think my work contributes to our understanding about human behaviour, especially within communities that are not the target of academic research traditionally, and also helps answering very specific questions that can have very tangible impacts and even policy implications (see for example our work around the implementation of 20mph speed limits in Wales). There’s also a knowledge sharing element to my role which I really enjoy, contributing to the creation and delivery of workshops about different topics to upskill others.

I’ve been interested in human behaviour since I can remember. I’ve always been an incredibly curious person, but I didn’t decide I wanted to formally go and study behaviour until much later (in fact psychology was my second undergraduate degree!). After doing my MSc in psychology I had the chance to stay at the university and work as a research assistant on a number of different projects, which confirmed that I really wanted to make my curiosity about human behaviour into a career. I then did my PhD, which mostly involved running experiments in the lab, but I always felt like there was something missing, and that led me to become more and more interested in what happens outside of the lab, which ultimately took me to where I am now!

2. Could you describe a typical day or week in your job to give us a sense of what it’s really like?

That’s a great question but also kind of hard to answer! There’s quite a lot of variety in my job, in terms of specific tasks but also in terms of actual topic areas (which can honestly vary A LOT). But a typical week for me will include (in varying proportions):

• Applied research activities. I’m usually involved at every step of the research cycle, more so when it comes to the design and methodology of the project, but also to some extent in the development of research instruments (quant or qual), secondary research, data collection, analysis and then again more so in the interpretation of the results. This involves producing different reports and also involves some client facing time.

• New business opportunities. These can take a significant chunk of my time. They really vary in topic area and can take a number of forms; tender responses, new business proposals, being in calls with prospective clients, working on developing our products and strategy… I tend to have quite a few meetings each week.

• Working with the rest of the team on different bits and bobs
  

3. What aspects of your work do you find most enjoyable and/or meaningful?

I really enjoy the variety in my job, both in terms of specific tasks but particularly all the different topics and organisations that I get to work with. When I was in academia I would study a topic for a long time, and of course there are trade offs when you work in shorter projects but I really enjoy seeing the impact of my job as well.

4. What skills or traits make you good at what you do and how have past experiences shaped/helped you (or not)?

There’s no question being curious helps, I don’t think I could do my job otherwise. And I mean curious about things in general, but also specifically when it comes to research being curious about the WHY of things, how to find out what’s going on (to the extent that that’s possible) and what to make with the results.

5. How does your type of work fit with the rest of your life?

I work remotely (with few exceptions), which I know doesn’t work for everyone but works great for me. There’s a high level of trust and autonomy in my organisation which is really important, and that allows me to have a good work-life balance. I always make sure to find time to see others and do things that I like outside of work, which in fact make me better at my job (as in, keeping good levels of physical activity for example helps me focus at work better).

I used to be very absorbed by whatever research I was doing, but I’ve become much better at compartmentalising things in my life, which means that I am now better (alas not perfect) at not taking my job or that “researcher mentality” with me everywhere I go.

6. If money were no object or you knew you couldn’t fail, what project would you dedicate yourself to over the next decade, and why?

Honestly, I don’t think I could go back to dedicating myself to researching about a single topic. There are too many interesting research areas in my opinion. My interest in misinformation and its interaction with behaviour has increased lately, that’s an area where I would happily do more research (in fact, I already do). But equally I’m very interested in forensic psychology generally, in an ideal world I would also work on that, I’m particularly interested in improving the experience and associated processes for victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, for example ensuring that they are evidence-based and trauma-informed. I also find the area of health, more generally, and particularly the social determinants of health very interesting, so I would like to do more work in this area as well. When I said that I’m a very curious person I really meant it… Also to do research in all these different areas I would need to collaborate with other experts as well, which would be part of the appeal of working on a number of different things.

7. If a student or someone early in their career wants to end up working in your position or similar, what next step would most accelerate them in that path?

This is a great question, I get a lot of students and earlier career researchers getting in touch on LinkedIn asking pretty much this question… So one thing that I do is directing them to some existing resources. Of course these interviews are one of them, because they’re quite practical and geared towards understanding what people actually DO in their roles, but there are other great resources for people who are struggling, such as fun COM-B analysis to finding behavioural science careers from the great Ella Howes, which also includes other useful resources.

There are some skills that are crucial to being a behavioural scientist. Of course domain knowledge (according to your level of expertise) is one of them, together with research methods, and least some notions of data analysis (quant, qual or – in an ideal world – both). But things like project management or communicating effectively with stakeholders are also really important. These are skills that you can cultivate in many related jobs, even if your role doesn’t have “behavioural scientist” on it.

To a student or someone at the early stages of their career I would also say that careers in behavioural science and research are not necessarily linear. You might find it easier to get an entry level role in an adjacent field and from that move to a full ‘behavioural scientist’ role once you have some experience. Similarly, there are options to move between academic and applied behavioural science – which is what I’ve done in my career – doing a PhD or a postdoc doesn’t prevent you from moving to industry later on. I would recommend networking meaningfully on LinkedIn to see what similar others have done and be aware of different career paths, making sure that you follow relevant people and you’re not afraid to interact with them.

8. If there’s one piece of advice you could give to your younger self or people in their early careers today, what would it be?

I guess I would say be patient and also be prepared to accept rejection without taking it too hard. It’s hard not to experience self doubt when you’re navigating the job market, but you need to remind yourself that not getting a role does not necessarily say anything about your skills, and it certainly doesn’t say anything about you as a person, there are all sorts of external factors at play, learn from previous experiences and keep going!

Thank you so much, Sara, for sharing your insights and advice with us today!