Academia, whether teaching or research based, is built around a group of core characteristics and values. Intrigue, exploration, learning, development, curiosity, and purpose. These underpin the very fabric of what we understand academia to be about. So why has academia developed a culture that places so much emphasis and importance on extrinsic rewards, metrics and ranking systems? The dichotomy between academia’s core values and extrinsic culture causes a real issue to those who work in the industry, and their mental health bares a lot of that burden! 

The COVID 19 pandemic has brought a bit upheaval too many in society, and of course, academics are no different. The disruption in travel has created a significant mental and emotion burden on those who have travelled far and wide in the purist of their academic careers, goals and challenges. Dustin Oranchuk knows this as well anyone. Here he talks very openly about his own story of how COVID 19 disrupted his plans, what affect this had on him before he reflects on his whole experience.

Academics have to go through an awful lot during their respective undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD degree programmes, as well as all the other developmental experiences they go through. So the industrial level subconscious undertone of constantly questioning our character (e.g. motivation levels) is a constant kick in the teeth. But more than this, it exacerbates the emotional, mental and physical health issues that are already deep rooted in the industry. Dr. Robert Seaborne speaks about this in our latest article.

In academia, research, education, and often in wider society, we can become swamped by the ‘success story’ narrative. Where, through the influence of mediums such as social media, we often see a lot of stories of people obtaining grants, publishing papers, attaining promotions, new jobs and so on. In the world of academia especially, this narrative of high rates of success is false. But by being exposed to it continually, it exacerbates a lot of the pressures, stress, mental health issues and emotional turbulence that are associated with our industry. Here, postdoctoral scientist Giulia Guiducci highlights why it is important to share our failures to help re-contextualise this success story portrayal.

Starting a new position or educational journey, whether it be professorship, undergraduate degree or PhD, brings with it a wave of emotional and mental turbulence. It can be quite stressful, nerve-racking, highly pressurised, and exhausting. But what about when you go through this whole process during a global pandemic and an enforced national lockdown. That is what has happened to Kerry Wilson as she began her PhD at Sheffield Hallam University. Here, she describes the impact beginning this journey has had on her mental health and wellbeing.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic effects on almost all aspects of life, world-wide. Researchers and academics are no different in this regard. It has reduced job markets, cut funding, terminated collaborations, halted experiments and put in jeopardy a lot of the academic industry. Alex Brown felt these affects. Here, he discusses how the pandemic stopped him entering into his dream post-doc, the impact this has had on him and, through the power of reflect practise, he his trying to learn and grow from his experiences.

Unfortunately, systemic prejudice exists in almost all facets of society, creating division, discord and disadvantages to specific demographics. Prejudices, such as that concerning race and ethnicity, have leaked into the academic industry. Dr. John Fernandes talks about his experiences with racial discrimination in academia, the physical, emotional and psychology burden these have caused him, and how ‘challenging the system’ is the only way to change the culture in academia, and to combat these prejudices. Read more here.

As humans, ‘time’ is one of our most valuable commodities. But as academics and researchers, it is also one of the variables that is often very hard to come by. We regularly encounter propositions of extra work that, while offering potentially fruitful personal or career developments, come at the sacrifice of time and energy and can become incredibly damaging both physically and mentally. In this article, Dr. Liam Hobbins talks about the strategy he learnt and now uses to help ‘weigh-up’ whether an opportunity is right for him or not. Read on to find out more.

Both academia and research are very target, milestone and landmark driven worlds, with a crazy number of metrics and evaluation criteria defining the very fabric of the industries. Such a culture persuades those who work in this sector to become focussed on ‘end-goal achievements’ that help facilitate successful outcomes of these metric systems. It’s a culture that creates a ‘after my promotion, after my paper is submitted, after my data is collected’ working ethos. The damaging effect this ethos has on students, academics and researchers at the physical and psychological level is alarming. Robert talks through his own story of chasing the next milestone, the effect this had on him during his studies and what helped him alter his way of thinking.

We are always in the pursuit of trying to answer the unanswered. You face the inability to resolve these answers for long periods of time. You find yourself identifying flaws in your own intellect, errors in theories, and huge gaps in your knowledge. These recurring moments of insecurity, doubt and inadequacy are damaging. Read how Robert encountered this what helped him to control this scenario.