Generally speaking, it would be "researching" that is a skill that would contribute to someone s academic identity, since research can lead to massively important truths about the topic in question being revealed.
The skill which contributes to your academic indentity would in the first place be researching. What you research is what defines you and if you're researching a field that is rather irrelevant, you're also making your name in a field which isn't particularly well received nor interesting.
