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We need to be really careful in academia to not let survivor& #39;s bias cloud our advice on how to make it in this career.
Person does X and succeeds, doesn& #39;t mean only doing X will lead to success. There& #39;s often more happening behind the scenes and, yes, luck is a factor.
Person does X and succeeds, doesn& #39;t mean only doing X will lead to success. There& #39;s often more happening behind the scenes and, yes, luck is a factor.
A position opening up that we& #39;re precisely qualified for is often luck. That doesn& #39;t erase the hard work that went into being qualified for it, but luck is playing a part in getting that job at that time.
Someone can work incredibly hard for years, but if there& #39;s discrimination working against them, they might not look as qualified as someone who didn& #39;t experience discrimination. I wouldn& #39;t call that luck, but it is something we have to recognise if we want to remove barriers.
These tweets were sparked from a tweet I saw, but it& #39;s not a subtweet because this isn& #39;t the first time I& #39;ve seen comments like that, and I really don& #39;t want anyone to pile on one person. It& #39;s the culture that needs to change.
The culture that thinks that science is only a meritocracy. I can share a dozen articles that show that people in science are not always hired because they& #39;re the most qualified, there are other factors that influence how our hard work is judged.
So please, celebrate your successes, really! There are so many rejections in science it& #39;s important to take a moment to feel joy in achieving your goals. But please be pensive too, and look back at how you might have had fewer obstacles, then remove them for others.
