I just finished the third week of my Ph.D. program! Part of being a Ph.D. student involves working as a research assistant, which I’m currently doing at a family clinic on campus. I recently had an eye-opening conversation at the clinic surrounding self-care, and how vital it is to take care of ourselves as individuals to be better students and employees.
Academia is hard, and I don’t just mean the classes! Sure, coursework can be difficult, but it’s unlikely that someone who is pursuing a graduate degree dislikes the subject matter. The true challenge is learning how to prioritize our well-being while also maneuvering a unique, isolating path. It’s strange being the one friend who’s still “going to school” and having to constantly answer “But what exactly do you do?”. To make it harder, that confusing path falls within an overarching system of oppression. [AK1] I consider myself very lucky to be in the field of academia, but the field historically only benefits certain individuals, and intentionally disadvantages other individuals based on their identity (Which could be gender, race, disability, etc.) which keeps dominant groups in power. It can be difficult to acknowledge the flaws of a system that you’re directly supporting and benefitting from, but higher education needs to hold itself accountable to improve.
Being on the confusing path can also lead to mental health concerns. More than 30% of graduate students screened positive for depression or anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (Chirikov et al., 2020). Research has also found that in 2019, 1 in 3 college students faced food insecurity (Laska et al., 2020), which has likely become even worse due to the pandemic. These statistics prove how difficult it currently is for graduate students to prioritize self-care. Facing a global pandemic and food insecurity leads to our priority being survival, not bettering ourselves, or preventing burnout. Also, these overarching, disheartening statistics don’t acknowledge the oppression[AK2] of other aspects of graduate student’s identities (gender, race, ability, etc.), both within the field of academia, and within society at large.
In addition, imposter syndrome (believing personal success isn’t deserved or legitimate) runs rampant in graduate school, which further impacts mental and physical health, and stress levels. Everyone in academia faces imposter syndrome, but to combat it we must be as kind to ourselves as we would be to our peers.
All this to say, academia is hard, but taking care of ourselves currently might be even harder! The conversation I had recently illuminated how necessary it is to set boundaries. Working from home has made it that much harder to shut off at the end of the day.
But we’re academics, researchers, and clinicians. We’re not robots. We need to acknowledge how much control we truly have over a situation, or the systems we work in, and how much control we don’t have. The conversation illustrated that being able to say “no” sometimes and living a life outside of the ivy walls is a gift. No one makes the space for you but you. So, pick up the new hobby! Start taking the Pilates class! Turn off your phone’s email notifications during the weekend (or maybe all the time!).
I am incredibly thankful for that conversation I had about self-care and thankful to be in a department that values self-care. I’m hopeful that acknowledging and trying to respect these boundaries and tools early on will help me throughout my progression in my program. I’m also hopeful that writing about them for the blog helps you too!
References & Resources
Chirikov, I., Soria, K. M, Horgos, B., & Jones-White, D. (2020). Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic. UC Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80k5d5hw
Laska, M. N., Fleischhacker, S., Petsoulis, C., Bruening, M., & Stebleton, M. J. (2021). Food Insecurity Among College Students: An Analysis of US State Legislation Through 2020. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 53(3), 261–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2020.11.010
The National Equity Project’s explanation on the lens of systematic oppression: https://www.nationalequityproject.org/frameworks/lens-of-systemic-oppression
[AK1]Unpack this a little for context
[AK2]Within or outside academia or both?
