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Today is our last chance to celebrate #PostDocAppreciationWeek! It’s put such a smile on my face seeing posts about the fantastic work postdocs are doing, often in difficult circumstances.
Inspired by @cjcrompton, here’s a quick thread on the ups and downs of (my) postdoc life.
Inspired by @cjcrompton, here’s a quick thread on the ups and downs of (my) postdoc life.
I’ve been a postdoc for 4 years: 2 of them on a teaching contract, 2 on a research contract. I’ve been lucky not to have experienced as much precarity and uncertainty as many others have. So I won’t go in to that aspect here.
In my teaching post, I loved being in the classroom and the simplicity of my role - I was there for the students first & foremost & didn’t have too many competing demands on my time. The students were fantastic and I taught to my passions. I woke up excited to get to work.
I felt like a valued member of the department and everyone knew who I was, partly b/c I taught a lot, with a several different people, and was in my office regularly. I was also lucky to have stumbled in to an extremely friendly and supportive team.
In my research post now, another big plus is that I don’t have too many competing demands. I can largely focus on my research & don’t have to deal with a lot of the challenges that lecturers do, which is a particular godsend right now. I have a good work/life balance.
I LOVE my research and I get to give it the attention it deserves. I have time for ‘slow thinking’, for career development, and can give careful thought to the path I want to carve out for myself. I have fantastic dedicated mentors who guide me through these challenging tasks.
BUT in both of my roles, I’ve felt like a second-class member of the department. I’ve so often sat through talk & emails about ‘staff’, ‘colleagues’, ‘opportunities’, etc. that are clearly directed at permanent staff, usually lecturers, leaving me feeling invisible & unimportant.
This has definitely been worse in my research post. My role often isn’t understood or accounted for within university systems, leading to multiple oversights and upset as I’m not registered, not included, not involved in important decisions.
The worst feeling is probably that very few would even notice my presence, or absence, much less value my work and contributions. Which is why #PostdocAppreciationWeek is so important! Talk to your friendly local postdoc, find out what they do, and tell them that they matter 
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