Everything in life has its stresses, and academia isn’t necessarily more stressful than any other professional sector. But academia does have particular contours of cost and benefit, some of which we readily talk about while others are easier to ignore.
In this five-part series of blog posts, Careers Adviser Dr Rachel Bray and TORCH Research Associate Dr Emily Troscianko explore the topic of emotional resilience for early career researchers. The series addresses two questions:
1. If staying in academia is so hard, why do so many people want it?
2. If you do want it, how can you work towards it whilst preserving your sanity?
These questions are addressed through the notion of resilience, or how we act and react to our circumstances: how we can understand and adapt our approach to the context we're working in, or how and when we decide to remove ourselves from that context.
The full series of posts are:
1. Does academia complement or conflict with who you are?
2. The feedback dynamics between you and academia
3. Distinguishing between assumptions and reality
4. Your working identities
5. Having a strategy for cultivating resilience
We recommend reading each of these blog posts separately, allowing yourself time to pause and reflect before moving on to the next one. However, the full series of posts is also available in one 'long read', accessible here.
We hope that you find this blog series useful and stimulating. As mentioned in the posts, support is available to explore any questions and their implications that may arise while you are exploring this topic: you can speak to a Careers Adviser or access any of the University's mental health support services (for students and for staff).
If you have any broader feedback on the content and value of this series of posts, you are welcome to email Emily and Rachel.
The Early Career Blog was created in 2013 by Steve Joy, who was then working as a Postdoc Careers Adviser. He is now Head of Researcher Development at the University of Cambridge. The blog is a joint endeavour between the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, drawing on expertise from a broad team of careers advisers and development professionals. It provides up-to-date insight into the political economy of early career research, tips for developing personal and professional attributes, practical advice for exploring next career steps, and guidance on job applications both within academia and beyond. All researchers – regardless of their home country or institution – are welcome to read and engage with the blog, and suggestions for future topics are warmly received. You can email Emily and Rachel as above to suggest topics, or you can tweet the blog @earlycareerblog.
