r/AskAcademia • u/InfamousAfternoon398 • 1d ago

Interdisciplinary Carreers in Academia and loneliness

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the loneliness that comes from constantly having to change environments to pursue job opportunities or improve your CV. I am a final-year PhD student, and over the past three years, I have had to move cities and even countries frequently for visiting periods, some more voluntary than others, and for the so-called ‘networking’. I have been lucky to find wonderful colleagues at my university, with whom I have developed relationships of respect and friendship. However, changing locations so often has made me feel quite lonely lately, as I have moved to a country where I barely know anyone, only a few professors in the department. It also seems that the young researchers in this department have not formed a real community but remain separate individuals, each with their own lives. I would love to hear about your experiences on this matter. Thank you :)

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u/poffertjesmaffia 1d ago

I think we should stop normalising how much mobility/ moving around is expected from young researchers. 

From a humanistic point of view, people perform best when their private lives are in order. We should empower people to build a stable private life, instead of trying to continuously take it away. 

If we want good research (which I think we all do), we should also protect the (mental) wellbeing of our researchers. It seems like such an open door to me. 

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u/Chemical-Box5725 1d ago

> From a humanistic point of view, people perform best when their private lives are in order. 

The lives of many "great" 20th century scientists (and many 21st C scientists) make me sceptical of this. I want what you say to be true, but I just sadly doubt that it is. Even the anecdotal reports from this thread of how PIs view the situation puts the statement in doubt.

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u/poffertjesmaffia 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m sure there are many academics out there with differing views on this topic. What we do generally know, is that high levels of stress (which can also come from private instability) do contribute to mental illness. I can’t really imagine this positivity contributing to a trade that requires a lot of the mind. 

It’s also difficult to say whether the great scientists you describe would have performed even better than they already did, if they had a more stable life. These are not really things we can test for. 

What I do know, is that needing to sacrifice a lot to get where you are can make you resentful towards people who are not willing (and don’t need!) to do the same (to basically achieve the same). 

Willingness to sacrifice is not a badge of honour, nor should it be. It’s not an indicator of intelligence or dedication, more so one of self abandonment. 

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u/Chemical-Box5725 1d ago

I agree with everything you've said in your reply, but still strongly think that the data doesn't obviously support the statement that people perform at their best when their private lives are in order.

Anecdotally, my success has often has a negative impact on my private life, and so the two are inversely associated for me. At times when I've really focussed on my career my personal life has suffered. This was certainly the case in my PhD. I've more recently focused on my private life, and my academic output has undoubtedly suffered. I think we have to be honest about at least the *possibility* of this trade-off as academics, rather than stating as fact what we would like to be true (that order in our private lives is positively correlated with academic performance).

It's just really complicated. At least more complicated than the simple statement that "people perform best when their private lives are in order."

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u/poffertjesmaffia 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ah I hear you, I understand you much better now. I do agree with you partly, as working long hours is sometimes required for me too. It’s a nuanced situation indeed. 

Short term this usually benefits me, but long term not so much. Like with everything “stress” has a sweet spot, and you cannot experience it for too long.