Being a researcher is not the usual job

-

It was just two Sundays ago that I wrote a blog entry about me working on a Sunday because I had a lot to do. And yes, I like my work, so I am happy working beyond normal hours. However, I always try to keep the weekends work-free because I need to recharge my batteries. It is important for everything to function properly.

Guess what? Today, Sunday, I worked a full day again. 

I know many researchers that work basically all the time. Others do not do it. But I always tell people that being a researcher is like running your own company (at times): if you want things to roll, you cannot just say I will work 8 to 5, Monday to Friday. There are times when one needs to walk that extra mile. 

I know, it is not very family-friendly. But let's be honest, society is not very family-friendly right now. It is hard for women to keep up with their careers in general. Women going to work has created a vacuum in childcare that kindergarten and schools do not fill.

In my case, it also helps that my husband is also a researcher. He understands when I need to work extra time, he understands the pressure, he understands that I need to travel. He understands all of it, especially, how important it is to me. Being the partner of a researcher is not easy in general, one of the reasons being that it takes years until we land a permanent job (if we ever do) and in the meantime we are nomads going from place to place, not choosing where not when (the choice is on "where not" and "when not"). I have seen couples suffer a lot because basically, the one that was not a researcher had to become a nomad too and sacrifice their career, or they had to go into a long-distance relationship. 

Maybe one would think: this is crazy, why are researchers willing to do all that? First of all, in many cases, yes, it is crazy, but the point is that researchers have a lot of drive. We just like our jobs, to the point that we do not conceive doing something different (I am speaking in general terms, of course). I would not talk about passion (I don't like the term in general), but definitely there is a lot of drive, and I cannot exactly say where it comes from. I guess just learning new things and trying to achieve new things has that effect.

I could work 8 to 5 if I wanted to, but that would mean that I would do little research (because there is all the admin, teaching, and taking care of the students). But as much as I like teaching and mentoring students, research is what truly gives me the drive. I can enjoy these two activities thanks to my research that runs in parallel.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coaching (4): my experience of starting university

-
It was 2004 when I started mathematics at University.  In 2004 studies were not divided between Bachelor and Master. It was just one degree and it lasted 5 years. It is my understanding that that was pretty much the case in every European country, and things changed with the "Bologna plan". So, back in the day, in Spain, to become a mathematician, one had to study for 5 years, from which 3 years and a half were filled with compulsory subjects. Now, of course, things are very different in the study plans.  But some things do not change: the transition from high school to university was tough. Very tough. And we had to pass all the subjects of the first year (a total of 8) to be allowed to go into the second year (and you had to pay for every course that you registered to, and you could not de-register - you were given a fail -, and every time you had to repeat that subject, it became more expensive). Exams were written, at the end of each semester, and they had a fixed date. S
Read more

It is not that I am good at it: I just know how to learn

-
In the Spanish educational system (at least when I studied) we spent years studying English..., without learning it. We work hard..., work very hard even, but we do not work well. When I moved to France, I learned French and now in Austria, I am learning German. I tell you, I do not feel I have a special gift for languages, but now I am a much faster learner than before, and not only that: I do not work even a tenth so hard as I did. I understood that I had to enjoy learning German if I really wanted to master the language. It is not that I am good at it: I just know how to learn; what works and what does not work. And it is the same for any other discipline: there are methods in which one learns and there are other methods that, despite putting in a lot of time and hard work, the effectiveness is very low: it is not that you cannot learn, it is that you do not know how to learn. Of course, I am not saying that learning does not require effort. What I am saying is that it requires the
Read more

Impostor syndrome

-
The impostor syndrome is widespread. I know it is especially the case in academia. Many people suffer from it. They learn to live with it. I think it is not so easy to fight, it is a bit like that feeling of not "being good enough": it is a mental pattern that is very hard to get rid of. Actually, resisting it makes it stronger. In any case, I found myself doing more and more the things that I like, the way I like them, and this includes things that I am not asked to do (like writing a blog, or doing coaching sessions for the first year students, or trying to improve how we deal with diversity at the Faculty).  Yes, I am not "supposed" to be doing all these things. Nobody has asked for them. But I want to do them, I care for them, so I have the drive. This means that I am being myself: doing what I want, the way I want it. I do not feel like an impostor. I only feel like an impostor when I am trying to force myself to fit some pre-established mold or fixed idea. I
Read more