Whenever I speak of Paris, people always assume I am on vacation mode.
“Wow, Paris! Enjoy your holiday.”
Every time someone says something along those lines, I can already tell they are imagining me posing in front of the Eiffel Tower with a giant croissant in my hand, or painting in front of the Seine while being serenaded by a street performer. Of course, Paris is a beautiful and unique city like nothing else I have ever seen in my life. I am here to indulge in it, after my 7-8 hours of work and on the weekends. I absolutely had to pose in front of the Arc de Triomphe and get gelato with a macaron on top of it this weekend.
People associate the city with art, museums, food, romance, and the Eiffel Tower, of course. But it surprises me how little people know about the scientific side of it. The research output produced by institutes in Paris and the surrounding area is massive, especially for the health and biological sciences. Institut Curie, named after Marie Curie, is an internationally renowned cancer research scenter here. There are several other institutes, to the point that during the Fête de la Musique (annual music festival), a special event was organized for young researchers from all the scientific institutes. Science and culture blend together, and I would love to see people honor the city not just for its beauty and aesthetics, but also the science and technology.
The work I have done at my internship is more challenging than any other job I have ever had. Bioinformatics is a niche field, so there are not a lot of resources out there to help, especially for an undergraduate. The scientific and technical aspects are already rigorous to begin with. I am also navigating language barriers and experience gaps with all my colleagues; most of the members of the lab are PhD students or postdoctoral students, with a couple of master’s students. So my supervisors and colleagues often forget that I am still an undergraduate student, which leads to higher expectations from me when it comes to experience and scientific knowledge. I often smile and remind people, “non, je ne suis pas en Master. J’ai récemment terminé ma troisième année de licence.”
The advantage to being mistaken for older or more experienced than I am is that I get a lot more autonomy with what I do and how it is done. People are also more ambitious and encourage me to go higher, even if there are time constraints. My supervisor has been telling me that my project could be packaged into a publication and I could present my work at conferences. As a result of encouragements, I feel that I have more of the confidence and mindset of a leader even if the hierarchy is limiting.
Before this experience, I would say that I assume the leadership role if I sense that no one else is communicating, taking initiative, or expressing their opinions. However, even if I am leading people, I often seek feedback and opinions. I worked as a sales representative for a biotechnology company and it was remote, so the weekly Zoom meetings we had were key for communication. I was asked to train the new representatives, which I happily agreed to, but I would often check back in with everyone to get second opinions. Part of this does come out of consideration, but I realized recently that a confident leader does not always have to ask every single time for each decision.
American society tends to encourage people to take the initiative and challenge the norms a lot more. People are get promoted a lot more quickly as well; I have seen people join and get promoted in a span of a few months. One reason why I think this happens is because Americans are a lot more friendlier and informal with their bosses. An accessible and collaborative dynamic is encouraged. It’s pretty normal to ask your boss what their weekend plans are. Moreover, people are encouraged to highlight and broadcast their contributions openly.
In France, on the other hand, based on what I have heard and observed, the hierarchy is a lot more clear between bosses and employees. Although colleagues can definitely be informal and friendly with each other, and bosses will be polite, it can be seen as intrusive and strange to make casual talk with bosses. Fraternizing with superiors can be seen as ingenuine, manipulative, and looked down upon. As for self-promotion, modesty and humility is encouraged a lot more.
A good comparison would be that American society emphasizes the importance of a vertical relationship with bosses, while French society prioritizes a horizontal relationship; getting the support of colleagues.
So how does this tie into my leadership experience? For one, as I mentioned before, France is already quite hierarchical when it comes to professional culture. People cannot simply step in and start assuming leadership roles to direct the rest of the team. In a lab where most people are in their Master’s, PhD, or postdoctoral researchers, this applies even more.
Nevertheless, there are definitely ways to be a leader, even when almost everyone in the team has several more years of experience. Being autonomous and having the right thought process to solve problems without needing to ask questions or depend on someone is already a form of leadership many people lack. It doesn’t mean staying silent or doing whatever comes to mind if you are not confident. Rather, if a supervisor gives more open-ended instructions, rather than assuming something is incomplete or missing, filling the details on your own is a valuable skill. It’s still great to propose new ideas. The difference from the American society is here, it’s a lot more important to run it by the boss.
I would say I am a lot more independent and self-sufficient, which is a great leadership skill to have. It allows me to develop and complete new projects. I have also made a lot of professional connections. The long lunch breaks and frequent coffee breaks which serve primarily as a way to recharge and clear your head are also the prime opportunities to catch up with colleagues. I did say earlier that self-promotion is not seen the same way here, but it does not mean networking does not hold value. It just works differently.
I love spending time with my colleagues. They are very kind and welcoming. What stands out is that quite lot of them are not Parisian; they come from other parts of France (Marseille-Aix, Bretagne), as well as other countries like Germany, Italy, Brazil, China, India, Lebanon, and more. This is definitely inspiring to someone like me from the US, trying to adapt to a new society during my eight weeks here. Some of them are new to Paris, some new to France, but most are well-adapted to the Parisian lifestyle. It is always interesting to discuss our day-to-day life and share experiences from our home country/region.
That being said, I do enjoy and need some solo time as well. Especially with internships and work creating varied schedules, it is not always possible to eat with everyone else or meet up with friends all the time. Moreover, although I might not like to admit it, I am still a tourist and exploring and it seems unreasonable to expect people to join me to the bakery or any restaurant I go.
I like to take walks during lunch breaks. One afternoon, I stumbled upon a restaurant and looked up its Google Reviews. The 4.7 star rating and French cuisine with a rotating menu had me sold, so I walked in and decided to order. I got the menu du jour offering with the chef’s salad and dessert, which was chocolate mousse. This is one of the best salads I have had in my life. I am definitely inspired to try and recreate something similar when I get back to the US.
À plus tard, and thank you if you spent the time reading my blog!
