Burned Out Already?
If you hear this question as a first-year student, you are not alone. While you may only have been in graduate school for less than a year, the challenges of those first few months can be numerous, including adjusting to a new environment, becoming financially independent, choosing a supervisor and project, and passing classes! The first year can be particularly tough for first year students. One of my favorite questions that I received through Benchfly.com (it is a great site for life scientists!) is as follows:
Dear Dora,
I am a first year PhD student from a foreign country, and I work 12 or 13 hrs a day in a molecular biology lab. I get no guidance from my advisor and the people around me are unfriendly. I used to cook and play the ukulele but now I work all the time. I am exhausted and feel guilty, because I do not get good results. I am doubting this career choice, wondering whether I can do it, and approaching burnout.
A hopeless PhD student
My reply (partially)
Dear Graduate Student,
If you work 12-13 hours day, it is no wonder that you are already exhausted as a 1st year student! After reading your question, I wonder whether this lab is a good match for you. It sounds like you would benefit from an advisor who gave his/her students more guidance. My advice is to talk to your boss, and to tell them why you are frustrated. He/she might not expect you to work such long hours, and your guilt could be self-imposed. Perhaps you could talk to him/her about their expectations, and see how you can work together to get your research going.
(You can read my full answer at http://www.benchfly.com/blog/is-burnout-in-the-first-year-normal/)
I love this question because the student was so honest about his hobbies, and his frustration. In my experience talking with PhD students, is that students have unrealistic high expectations from themselves in their first year. They work long hours and expect that their hard work will pay off by giving them results quickly so they can graduate sooner. Sometimes, this plan backfires, and they burn out, and might even consider leaving graduate school. I wrote a newsletter last year called "Graduate Schedules That Work"), which outlines a few ideas to help you get your work done while still enjoying life. (http://phdnet.org/phdnews/sept10_graduate_schedules.html).
I hope you will find a few ideas to help you stay productive and focused even is spite of stressful situations. Do you have any suggestions for students struggling with a burn-out or a personal experience you would like to share? Simply click on the orange 'Reply' button!
Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author: "The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates."
p.s. I am going on vacation and will not be able to blog until May. Talk to you soon!
Now Available in Kindle Edition!
Are Women Given An Unfair Advantage In Academia?
If I were writing a blog about women in academia 15 (or even 10) years ago, the title would have been just the opposite: "Are Women Given an Unfair Disadvantage in Academia?" I recently red an article in the New York Times that was close to my heart. "Gains, And Drawbacks, For Female Professors" (3/21/11)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/us/21mit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
While I decided not to pursue an academic career, the article focuses on changes in policies for female professors at MIT, my alma mater. In fact, the study that is discussed started 12 years ago, when I was a student there. Back in 1999 when MIT admitted discriminating against female professors, the school became a model for resolving gender inequality in academia. Since then several policies have been implemented to support female faculty members, including a generous family leave, a one-year pause on the tenure-clock after each child, and subsidized daycare on campus.
Given the strong push for hiring female professors in the last decade, women at MIT now fear that their male colleagues view them as having unfair advantages. However, the requirements for tenured positions remain stringent, including recommendations from at least 15 scholars outside of M.I.T. Furthermore a significant number of female faculty are recipients of awards including the National Medal of Science and membership in the National Academy of Sciences.
Overall female professors feel that more change has been made in the last 10 years than they had expected. Back in the 90's I went to a conference of the Society of Women Engineers, and the recipient of their highest award went to a female professor who had been a faculty member since the 1970's. Back in the 1960's she applied to several Ivy League schools for college and one of them (I chose not to disclose which one), simply replied "We do not accept women." Thirty years later, she was a tenured female professor at one of the most distinguished schools in the country and the recipient of numerous national awards. But, I do remember that back in the 90's women were still fighting for adequate lab space, and feared that having children would derail their careers.
Despite the encouraging progress in their career paths, women still feel that they are under more pressure than their male colleagues. Besides the demands of family, women are highly sought after to serve in university committees and speak about work-life balance. Some female faculty feel these commitments take precious time away which could be spent preparing for lectures, doing research or outside consulting. Nevertheless, the progress that has been made in the last 10 years is amazing, especially as more universities are working to eliminate gender inequalities.
Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author: "The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates."
Now available in Kindle and Softcover
Vacation: A Double-Edged Sword
Hello from the Northeast on this snowy April Fools Day! It is one of those times when the idea of a Caribbean vacation sounds really good, even though spring is theoretically already here.
Speaking of vacations, they can be wonderful or, well, stressful. While we take time off to rejuvenate, sometimes the relaxation takes a back-seat to duty. Whether we are frantically trying to finish up work right before we go away or, possibly, bring work with us to on our well-deserved journey, it is tough to completely let go of our projects.
Dawn (not her real name), was a graduate student in the life sciences. She was always conscientious of completing her work, and she told her supervisor about her upcoming (5 day) vacation a few weeks in advance. Journeying through the Grand Canyon, Dawn could not have brought computer-related work with her even if she wanted to. She arrived back at work refreshed, but her supervisor was not thrilled.
"Where were you last Friday? " he demanded. "You know we had group meeting, and we had to make decisions about your project without you. Your input would have been useful."
"Well," Dawn said "I told you about my vacation a month ago."
"You should have reminded me right before, Dawn" her supervisor replied. "Then we could have discussed these issues before you left. I cannot keep track of where everyone is."
Fortunately, the decisions that were made without Dawn were not critical to her project, but Dawn certainly learned her lesson. Besides planning the vacation itself, we need to make sure that all of the loose threads are wrapped up before we leave. Most supervisors need to be reminded several times of your vacation, so they can plan their work accordingly. If you have a very hands-off supervisor, it is still a good idea to let him/her know of your whereabouts, in case the one time he/she decided to pop into your office, you happen to be miles away. Feeling overwhelmed the weeks/days before taking off? Just think of the extra energy you'll bring back with you, that will motivate you for quite a while.
Summer is just around the corner, we hope you have exciting plans!
Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author: "The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates."
