Read on Twitter
As a postdoc during the pandemic, I've been thinking a lot about productivity in academia and my relationship to it.
Some people think quickly. Read quickly. Write quickly. Analyze data quickly. Produce quickly. Academia values and incentivizes these things.
But what if you're not fast at those things? What if there are structural barriers that make you slower or that limit your time?
But what if you're not fast at those things? What if there are structural barriers that make you slower or that limit your time?
For me, thinking, reading, and writing are often slow. I need time to work and rework things on paper for them to make sense.
But academia values and rewards productivity, so I have to work long hours to produce at a rate that might, maybe, possibly, someday get me a job.
But academia values and rewards productivity, so I have to work long hours to produce at a rate that might, maybe, possibly, someday get me a job.
I did pretty well in grad school, but I sacrificed a lot to make that happen.
I stopped doing that during the pandemic.
I stopped doing that during the pandemic.
My goal was to NOT be productive. To learn to be okay with that feeling. To stop feeling guilty and recover from grad school. I reclaimed my weekends, and tried not to work in the evenings. My quality of life increased substantially, but my productivity obviously declined.
That was necessary and felt good. But now that things are "going back to normal" it's weighing on me.
Do I have to jump back into the rat race? What about all the folks who never had the luxury to take a break in the first place?
Do I have to jump back into the rat race? What about all the folks who never had the luxury to take a break in the first place?
For me, it's getting harder to justify sacrificing my time, health, values, relationships, etc. to publish papers that a handful of people will read and that, honestly, may never even lead to a stable job or impact society in any fundamental way.
(Re-reading this excellent article by @Psychologician and @sylaswils has put that last bit top of mind) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691620969650
I truly love the *ideal* of this job. I love research. I love mentoring and teaching. I love collaborating with folks to solve problems that I think matter. I love hearing from participants about what impact our research has had on their lives.
I'm grateful to have been and to continue to be in lab environments that value high-quality, rigorous science AND value the people doing the science as whole human beings.
But changing individual lab cultures is not enough.
But changing individual lab cultures is not enough.
We are losing out on so many valuable and necessary voices and perspectives because this rigid, perverse system tells folks they don't belong—implicitly or explicitly.
As we're looking at academia with fresh eyes, can we focus on the cost of relentless productivity too?
As we're looking at academia with fresh eyes, can we focus on the cost of relentless productivity too?
