Our department every year organises competitive summer studentships for our undergraduate students at level one and level two. This year, due to the restrictions imposed by the government to tackle the global coronavirus pandemic, no field or lab work were allowed. However, I have been collecting plant/pollinator visitation rates in my garden shortly after the country went in lockdown, so I thought this would make a good summer project. I offered two studentships and was very lucky to receive some excellent applications. The two students who have been working with me for a month now, Luke and Brooke, have been so engaging and interested. Luke is going to compare plant/pollinator visitation rates between his urban and my rural garden and correlate this with weather patterns - temperature, rainfall and windspeed. Brooke is interested in comparing the abundance of scarce beetles (from the National Biodiversity Atlas), in two locations in southern England and correlate this with weather patterns over the last few decades. After such a long time isolating, it is so nice to be back exchanging ideas and looking at data with students.
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I keep being annoyed at myself for not being 'as productive', as I could. Comparing myself to more productive colleagues. This is obviously wrong and doesn't make much sense when you reflect on it, but it does not stop me from doing it. There are many examples of blogs and microblogging from many colleagues in academia noting the same feeling.
I wanted to write about it - and I will be honest - I started this blog post back at the end of June and did not manage to hit the 'publish' button until at the end of September. This was not for lack of time, but lack of wanting to write about it. I think, however, it is important to talk about it. To normalise the fact that we all work at different paces, for different reasons, and there isn't one single 'measure' that reflects the work we produce. Somehow, in academia the work you produce defines you. This is not how it should be. You - we - are not the work we produce, we are human beings. But academia does not recognise that we can be different, work at different paces, choose to have priorities outside our profession: it only rewards those who can dedicate all their life to work. Of course this is not always the case, there are thankfully examples of colleagues who have championed diversity in the workplace, a healthy work-life balance, a culture of change. Those are the minority though. I am active in several committees at work as in learned societies, because I want to see those different perspectives championed. I don't want to work in a culture where only a 60-hour week will do. To me it matters that I can bring a different experience. I know that experiences shapes the way I see the world. At times it is hard though, taking time is not the easy way. |
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August 2023
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