There is no doubt that academia is stressful for many folks. And while not all scientists are in academia, almost all will have academic training at the undergraduate, M.S., or PhD. level. So what is driving the stress in academia? Well, there are many candidate factors- high to unrealistic expectations, a competitive culture, lots of critical external evaluations, and uncertainty. I think anxiety is an important factor for many people in what kind of jobs they want and whether they want to stick with science.
One thing that I wanted to mention is that I don’t know that academia is more stressful than other careers that are highly competitive and involve years of training. I would have to imagine that vet med school, or med school, or law school, are just as stressful or more stressful than grad school in the sciences, at least for most folks. I suspect that competition, and the accompanying uncertainty, is probably always going to be a generator of stress.
My own experience with stress in academia might be a bit atypical, because I rarely feel much in the way of stress, and I struggle to be aware of when I might feel stressed. I don’t think I am consciously suppressing anything, but I just don’t seem to notice that I am stressed out unless something makes it obvious. As an example, I am pretty sure that I was at my most stressed out when I was a postdoc, particularly during the final year or two when I was on the job market. I recall feeling busy, but not particularly stressed. However, during this period, I would sleepwalk regularly, enough so that it was a joke between my wife and I. I had not sleepwalked as an adult before, and have not since. I have to imagine it was stress, driven by busyness and uncertainty at this transitional period in my life.
I was curious about how typical it was to feel high stress at the postdoc stage, so I asked about a dozen of my friends in science. These folks have positions ranging from working for the federal government to professors at liberal arts colleges. This is of course not a random sample, but it is a bit of a sampling of when mid-career folks like me have felt the most stress.
Almost everyone I talked to (10/12) felt the most stressed out at the end of the PhD and during their next position, whether it was as a postdoc, adjunct lecturer, assistant professor, or other professional position. The two folks who were not most stressed during this period felt the most stress either as a pre- or post-tenure faculty.
The most straightforward interpretation of this pattern is probably that uncertainty and contingency are major generators of stress and anxiety. While I was having some success getting interviews and offers during my “big” year for applying for a permanent faculty position, there was also a massive amount of uncertainty. The offers kind of dribbled in, and I had to turn down okay offers before I had a better offer a couple of times, which was a gamble that I was pretty nervous to take. In addition, while my wife is not an academic, there was some uncertainty around whether she would have a job when we moved. And I also think just not knowing where you will be for the next substantial chunk of time can be stressful.
Beyond contingency, I think the other major factor is if the job/school/advisor is a bad fit, or if you end up working for toxic person. At least a quarter of the people who I spoke with had a difficult boss during their most stressful period. Clearly, being required to work with someone who you don’t click with, or someone who is a jerk, would spark anxiety, particularly if they control your paycheck and your future.
I don’t know that any of the above will necessarily help anybody who is in a stressful period. I think in most careers there will be times of high stress. If you have an anxious personality, I suppose it might be good to be prepared for the stressful times, and it most likely will be during the end of the PhD and beginning of the postdoc. I have a bunch of friends who saw mental health professionals and took anti-anxiety meds to make it through the difficult times, and I think that could be a great way to be prepared for the tough times. If the stress is due to something you can change (e.g., a toxic mentor), then it might be in your best interests to pivot to a different lab or project. But mainly I just wanted to convey that almost everyone experiences these periods of high stress during an academic job, and the experience of myself and my network is that these periods do not last forever, and you can often come out the other side more resilient and hopefully empathetic with others who are having a tough time.
One thing that I wanted to mention is that I don’t know that academia is more stressful than other careers that are highly competitive and involve years of training. I would have to imagine that vet med school, or med school, or law school, are just as stressful or more stressful than grad school in the sciences, at least for most folks. I suspect that competition, and the accompanying uncertainty, is probably always going to be a generator of stress.
My own experience with stress in academia might be a bit atypical, because I rarely feel much in the way of stress, and I struggle to be aware of when I might feel stressed. I don’t think I am consciously suppressing anything, but I just don’t seem to notice that I am stressed out unless something makes it obvious. As an example, I am pretty sure that I was at my most stressed out when I was a postdoc, particularly during the final year or two when I was on the job market. I recall feeling busy, but not particularly stressed. However, during this period, I would sleepwalk regularly, enough so that it was a joke between my wife and I. I had not sleepwalked as an adult before, and have not since. I have to imagine it was stress, driven by busyness and uncertainty at this transitional period in my life.
I was curious about how typical it was to feel high stress at the postdoc stage, so I asked about a dozen of my friends in science. These folks have positions ranging from working for the federal government to professors at liberal arts colleges. This is of course not a random sample, but it is a bit of a sampling of when mid-career folks like me have felt the most stress.
Almost everyone I talked to (10/12) felt the most stressed out at the end of the PhD and during their next position, whether it was as a postdoc, adjunct lecturer, assistant professor, or other professional position. The two folks who were not most stressed during this period felt the most stress either as a pre- or post-tenure faculty.
The most straightforward interpretation of this pattern is probably that uncertainty and contingency are major generators of stress and anxiety. While I was having some success getting interviews and offers during my “big” year for applying for a permanent faculty position, there was also a massive amount of uncertainty. The offers kind of dribbled in, and I had to turn down okay offers before I had a better offer a couple of times, which was a gamble that I was pretty nervous to take. In addition, while my wife is not an academic, there was some uncertainty around whether she would have a job when we moved. And I also think just not knowing where you will be for the next substantial chunk of time can be stressful.
Beyond contingency, I think the other major factor is if the job/school/advisor is a bad fit, or if you end up working for toxic person. At least a quarter of the people who I spoke with had a difficult boss during their most stressful period. Clearly, being required to work with someone who you don’t click with, or someone who is a jerk, would spark anxiety, particularly if they control your paycheck and your future.
I don’t know that any of the above will necessarily help anybody who is in a stressful period. I think in most careers there will be times of high stress. If you have an anxious personality, I suppose it might be good to be prepared for the stressful times, and it most likely will be during the end of the PhD and beginning of the postdoc. I have a bunch of friends who saw mental health professionals and took anti-anxiety meds to make it through the difficult times, and I think that could be a great way to be prepared for the tough times. If the stress is due to something you can change (e.g., a toxic mentor), then it might be in your best interests to pivot to a different lab or project. But mainly I just wanted to convey that almost everyone experiences these periods of high stress during an academic job, and the experience of myself and my network is that these periods do not last forever, and you can often come out the other side more resilient and hopefully empathetic with others who are having a tough time.
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