A couple of years ago, I read two articles that deeply disturbed me. Both were about specific issues faced by academics and how certain aspects of academic life and culture are having a negative impact on researchers’ lives.
One article spoke about how more and more researchers are experiencing isolation at some point in their academic lives. Despite the emphasis on collaboration, as a result of intense competition within academia and high pressure to perform, academics “often feel obliged to disengage from potentially energising relationships with local colleagues and friends. This is because of a fear it may damage their productivity or prevent them from reaching their goals.”
The other post highlighted that not only are academics at risk of burnout because of high levels of stress, but the continued exposure to stressful factors could be affecting their mental health and wellbeing. Moreover, the stigma surrounding mental health could pose a barrier to them seeking help. I also noticed a lot of social media posts among academic circles about the toxic culture in academia and how researchers often find it difficult to stay motivated to go through important stages – like enrolling and qualifying for a research program, conducting research, defending their theses, publishing their findings in journals, finding employment or opportunities for further research, juggling their personal lives alongside, and so on.
I felt that the issues within the academic culture are real and certainly need to be discussed. This is essential to enable positive changes towards a more nurturing academic culture. But I also could not help feeling that this was not enough.
Perhaps we also need something to balance the negative – something that would highlight “the positive, inspired side of academia.” It is important for researchers to not feel isolated and see that there are others like them – researchers themselves – who understand and live through the same struggles and challenges. I realized that the best support and motivation for researchers would come from researchers themselves.
So I started approaching academics everywhere – on social media and within my network – to ask if they would like to share little nuggets of positivity, wisdom, or motivation. These words of inspiration would help other researchers feel supported and realize that they are part of a thriving community of academics with shared stories and experiences. I wanted to see if we could balance the negativity with optimism and camaraderie. In other words, I was looking for positive quotes from researchers in order to motivate other academics in their otherwise tough and stressful journey.
I was amazed at the overwhelming support this received and how researchers are keen to play the role of cheerleader for those who need encouragement. The academics I spoke to were happy to cheer their fellow researchers to stay motivated every day, on each day of the year! Soon enough this resulted in a lot of positive, motivational quotes – enough for us to put together a daily motivational calendar for researchers!
Witnessing this stream of positivity has been a humbling experience. The resulting fully-crowdsourced daily motivational calendar for researchers is available here. All you have to do is subscribe to receive these positive thoughts in your inbox daily. If you like this project and would like to become a cheerleader for researchers by sharing a few inspirational thoughts yourself, do reach out at support.voice@researcher.life – I’d be happy to add your quotes to this calendar!
Pages linked in this post:
- Overworked and isolated: the rising epidemic of loneliness in academia: https://theconversation.com/overworked-and-isolated-the-rising-epidemic-of-loneliness-in-academia-110009
- More academics and students have mental health problems than ever before: https://theconversation.com/more-academics-and-students-have-mental-health-problems-than-ever-before-90339
- From “be-negative” to “oh-positive” – Academia needs cheerleaders today: https://www.editage.com/insights/from-be-negative-to-oh-positive-academia-needs-cheerleaders-today
- Daily motivational calendar for researchers: https://www.editage.com/insights/motivational-calendar-for-researchers/
