黑料福利网

Jennifer van den Berg calls herself a lifelong doubter. She says it with a laugh, but she means it. 鈥淭he question 鈥榳hat now?鈥� runs like a thread through my life. I constantly doubt myself, the place I鈥檓 in, whether I can actually do it.鈥�

After completing her PhD at 黑料福利网, she started working at a commercial company and returned in 2024 as a postdoc in Innovation, Technology Entrepreneurship & Marketing within the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences.

She now studies how trust and psychological safety in technical teams help people speak openly, make mistakes, and learn from them. Ironically, for a long time, she did not always feel safe enough to do that herself.

Expert versus doubt

鈥淚n academia, you are trained to be an expert,鈥� says Van den Berg. 鈥淵ou have to know what you are talking about, have a plan, and show that you are the best.鈥�

At the same time, doubt is at the heart of science. Asking questions, examining assumptions, not taking anything for granted. 鈥淚 find that tension interesting. In our research, we are allowed to doubt. But as people, we are expected to be confident. There's tension there.鈥�

In our research we are allowed to doubt. But as people we are expected to be confident. There's tension there.

Jennifer van den Berg

During her PhD from 2017 to 2021, Van den Berg studied organizational resilience, mainly in healthcare. She looked at the factors that determine whether teams can cope with setbacks. Trust proved to be crucial, as well as the feeling that you can speak up, even if others disagree with you.

For her, Harvard professor  definition of psychological safety fits well: the shared feeling in a team that you can speak up without fear of negative consequences.

Grey areas

鈥淧sychological safety is often confused with social safety,鈥� Van den Berg explains about her field. 鈥淪ocial safety is about major incidents or boundary-crossing behavior, about your basic safety as a person. Psychological safety, on the other hand, exists in the grey areas. In meetings where everyone remains polite but feels uncomfortable, and nobody speaks up. Or in situations where 鈥榯his is just how it鈥檚 done.鈥欌��

Within the university, she sees many of these moments, for example, around co-authorship. 鈥淚t鈥檚 often considered normal for a PhD student to do most of the work while a professor is listed as a co-author, even if they may not have contributed much. That is seen as part of the system.鈥�

Observing and speaking up

She says it calmly and without blame, more as an observation. 鈥淭his is how the academic system works, and scientists grow up in this system. Naturally, you start to accept it as normal.鈥�

Van den Berg does not accept it as normal and dares to speak up. 鈥淭hat is not always comfortable. Many PhD students and postdocs are cautious. Their careers depend on recommendations, publications, and networks. So it makes sense that they don鈥檛 dare to be too critical.鈥�

If we said this more often: 鈥業 don鈥檛 know either right now,鈥� it would make a big difference.

Jennifer van den Berg

She personally feels more freedom to speak up. 鈥淚 know I鈥檓 not aiming for a traditional academic career. That makes it easier to speak up. But really, it鈥檚 strange that you only dare to speak freely when you think you have nothing left to lose.鈥�

鈥淚 think it would be good if we were more honest and dared to admit that we don鈥檛 know everything. Or that we don鈥檛 have an immediate answer and need to come back to something. I think there is a real need for that. Within our university, within science.鈥�

Looking inward

鈥淚 am critical of external organizations I study, but it鈥檚 also important to look inward. What can be improved internally here? That鈥檚 what I started working on in my own research group (Innovation, Technology Entrepreneurship & Marketing, ed.).鈥�

She noticed that a lot is happening at the central level regarding psychological safety, but it hasn鈥檛 always filtered down to the departments. 鈥淚f you want to work on psychological safety at the group level, for example, HR or L&D need to be involved, but they don鈥檛 always have the capacity to help.鈥�

Still, she is hopeful: 鈥淚 notice that colleagues are increasingly realizing how important psychological safety is. Groups really want to engage with it. That鈥檚 the first step.鈥�

In-between zone

As a postdoc, she finds herself in what she calls an in-between zone. 鈥淧hD students have four years to work toward something. Staff members have a permanent contract and therefore security. Postdocs are in between: they have a temporary contract, and their career path is unclear. And they have to perform while already applying for their next step. That makes their position vulnerable.鈥�

To make the position of postdocs more visible and stronger, she is an active member of the 黑料福利网 Postdoc Association. 鈥淚 want to contribute. I believe that when we dare to speak more openly about doubt and discomfort, people are less likely to get stuck or drop out.鈥�

The eternal doubter

鈥淚鈥檝e had many applications for university positions over the years. I noticed that it鈥檚 not done to show your doubts. They want to see five-year plans, hear a sales pitch, because you have to be very confident in your work. I often went along with that, but that鈥檚 not who I am.鈥�

Leopard pants on the couch

Who she really is comes through in Van den Berg鈥檚 Dutch  Ik zit in mijn luipaardbroek op de bank (I鈥檓 sitting on my couch in my leopard pants, ed.), released today on International Women鈥檚 Day. It鈥檚 not a scientific work, but a personal diary she kept while doing her PhD. About imposter feelings. About seeking validation. About losing yourself and finding yourself again.

鈥淲hen I talk about this, I often see recognition, especially among women. That鈥檚 why I think it鈥檚 important to show that it鈥檚 okay to doubt. As a researcher, you鈥檙e mostly focused on your head. I had lost touch with my feelings. You can see that reflected in the book. I always thought that one day I would be 鈥榗ompleted.鈥� That I would then be confident in myself. But it doesn鈥檛 work that way. You鈥檙e never finished.鈥�

Vulnerability as a starting point

What she hopes for? Not sales numbers as an end in themselves, but sparking conversations. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 just want to sign books and go home. I want people to start talking to each other. About what they feel ashamed of. About what they find difficult. About what they doubt.鈥�

Maybe psychological safety starts with just one person daring to speak up.

Jennifer van den Berg

The same goes for the university. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all smart people. But that doesn鈥檛 mean we know everything for sure. If we said more often, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know either right now,鈥� it would make a big difference.鈥�

鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 mean we should say everything on our minds, because ultimately it鈥檚 about feeling safe together. That鈥檚 what I try to convey with my book.鈥�

The leopard pants are no joke. Even though she doesn鈥檛 feel comfortable in the spotlight, she still feels a drive to show herself. A pink car, eye-catching clothes. And yet, there鈥檚 still hesitation.

Being visible and doubting

鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 exactly the point. You can be visible and still doubt. You can be an expert and still explore. For me, these things go together.鈥�

鈥淎nd maybe psychological safety starts there. With one person daring to say out loud what others only think.鈥�