I agree this is an overlooked career path, and one that many advising orgs (including historically my own) havenāt given consistent treatment.
My impression is that more EAs are working in government than we realise, and that many advising organisations do consider it highly impactful. The challenge is that government roles come with expectations of impartiality, so thereās a real limit to how openly funders or career groups can promote specific pathways without undermining credibility.
That said, I think we could do much more to bring policy conversations into spaces like EAGs. The community would benefit from normalising government service as a long-term route to influence, not just as an āadjacentā option.
For those interested, Impactful Policy Careers has done excellent work in the European context, though even we face restrictions on how openly they can be promoted.
I agree this is an overlooked career path, and one that many advising orgs (including historically my own) havenāt given consistent treatment.
My impression is that more EAs are working in government than we realise, and that many advising organisations do consider it highly impactful. The challenge is that government roles come with expectations of impartiality, so thereās a real limit to how openly funders or career groups can promote specific pathways without undermining credibility.
That said, I think we could do much more to bring policy conversations into spaces like EAGs. The community would benefit from normalising government service as a long-term route to influence, not just as an āadjacentā option.
For those interested, Impactful Policy Careers has done excellent work in the European context, though even we face restrictions on how openly they can be promoted.