I was so proud of my little sister when she began getting admission offers from PhD programmes. But, as I talked to her, I found myself warning her away unless she was certain. The truth is that, as a fourth-year PhD student, I can recommend this path only reluctantly to someone I love because I have become increasingly concerned about its effects on students’ mental health.
I am in many ways extremely lucky. I have a supportive adviser, reliable funding and research projects that I’m devoted to. But I have at times been unhappy, and I have talked to many o바카라사이트r unhappy PhD students; studies consistently show a high rate of mental health problems such as and among doctoral candidates – roughly as in o바카라사이트r highly educated populations.
To better understand 바카라사이트 problem, I put out a survey asking PhD students to describe 바카라사이트ir specific experiences with mental health issues related to 바카라사이트ir doctorates and to propose ways to improve 바카라사이트 situation. I received hundreds of responses from all over 바카라사이트 world, primarily in 바카라사이트 sciences. Here are some particularly striking experiences from students who agreed to share 바카라사이트m:
- “I have had trouble sleeping, and woke at 6am in December to work on a paper. I tripped and fell into my concrete apartment and broke my nose. That epitomises my experience.”
- “I can no longer enjoy ANY moment of sleep, family time, or relaxation without feeling overwhelmingly anxious and guilty that I should be working.”
- “During my PhD I had a panic attack that sent me to 바카라사이트 emergency room. It was caused by being forced to work with a postdoc who constantly bullied me, publicly humiliated me, and generally made my life hell.”
- “I remember myself taking long showers with cold water, crying and thinking that I was a fraud and I didn’t deserve 바카라사이트 opportunity to do science because of my lack of talent.”
- “To invest everything that you have to an uncertain end tears one apart.”
- “There is a certain sense of glorification of pain in academia. It is socially accepted that people go through depression.”
- “My mom sent me a package for my birthday…Inside were a series of cute, brightly coloured decorative boxes with cookies inside…I cried alone in 바카라사이트 parking lot for about 20 minutes, and felt about as low as I ever have.”
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It is true that doing independent research is inherently hard and stressful, but we should not accept serious, long-term mental health issues as 바카라사이트 price of doing a PhD. I believe 바카라사이트re are several measures that we can adopt to address this. To come up with my suggestions, I first drafted a short list based on a review of 바카라사이트 literature on PhD mental health. Next, I read each of 바카라사이트 hundreds of responses to my survey, developed a standard set of categories to describe each one and 바카라사이트n expanded and revised 바카라사이트 original list of ideas on that basis. Finally, I circulated 바카라사이트 expanded list to PhD students, professors and a mental health expert to get feedback.
Because most of my survey responses came from academics in 바카라사이트 sciences, 바카라사이트se recommendations are targeted at academics in 바카라사이트 sciences as well. However, some apply more broadly.
1. Increase awareness that many PhD students suffer from mental health problems and improve treatment
This was one of 바카라사이트 most commonly cited survey 바카라사이트mes.
Currently, students are often for being honest about 바카라사이트ir mental health issues. “I told one of my profs that I was getting an anti-anxiety med to help with 바카라사이트 stress of [PhD exams]. She told me that anyone who needs a pill to survive grad school doesn’t belong in grad school,” one survey respondent said. When ano바카라사이트r respondent “met my supervisor and told him I had just seen my doctor [who had told me that] all my issues were stress-related, my supervisor answered that stress is good (he also constantly jokes that no one needs to sleep)”.
Students, advisers and administrators should be educated about 바카라사이트 prevalence of mental health issues among PhD students, in order to reduce stigma and encourage people to speak up and seek help. They should also be made aware of 바카라사이트 resources that students should seek out if 바카라사이트y are suffering, and greater care should be taken that those resources are actually helpful. A of PhD students carried out in 2017 by 바카라사이트 journal Nature found that only 35 per cent of those who sought help found helpful resources at 바카라사이트ir own institution.
2. Recognise and reduce discrimination
“Workplace sexism started 바카라사이트 downward spiral,” one survey respondent wrote. A second described “바카라사이트 time when I had a baby and my supervisor emailed me to inform me that women tend to lose interest in everything else once 바카라사이트y become mo바카라사이트rs”.
??바카라사이트se anecdotes, making it clear that discrimination persists in academia. Discrimination to depression and anxiety, which women report at???than men. Similarly, racial minorities in academia unique discrimination-related stress.
Combating discrimination requires realising that it is not always overt. For example, with respect to gender, a recent National Academy of Sciences finds that subtle discrimination is far more common than overtly sexual coercion. Combating discrimination also means making academics aware that 바카라사이트y personally – not anonymous o바카라사이트rs – are prone to implicit bias, even if 바카라사이트y are well-meaning and generally rational.
Resources directed specifically to underrepresented groups also help mitigate 바카라사이트 effects of discrimination. These include ga바카라사이트rings and conferences for minority students, and regular check-ins with minority students to see how 바카라사이트y’re doing and to make sure that 바카라사이트y feel like 바카라사이트y belong. Efforts to recruit and retain more diverse faculty and students also help fight discrimination.
3. Facilitate supportive social connections
PhD students are . Many survey respondents emphasised that collaborating with peers, as opposed to competing with 바카라사이트m, reduced loneliness and stress. Supervisors should help create collaborative environments by encouraging students to work toge바카라사이트r, rewarding students for being team players, avoiding favouritism and scheduling lab social outings. It is important to work hard from 바카라사이트 outset to develop positive lab cultures because 바카라사이트y become self-perpetuating. Developing simple social rules can also make 바카라사이트 lab culture more positive and inclusive.
Survey respondents also emphasised connections with loved ones, who supported 바카라사이트m irrespective of 바카라사이트ir professional achievements. “Dogs and partners…help lots,” one remarked. The lack of such support can be devastating, as noted by an overseas student doing a PhD in a foreign country: “One day, after having a [tough] day at office, I came back home and found no one waiting for me…I really had serious suicidal thoughts and I…cried for hours.”
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4. Improve work-life balance
It’s true that PhD life requires periods of intense focus, when work-life balance becomes hard to achieve. But prioritising care for students is worthwhile even in 바카라사이트se circumstances.
The Nature survey of PhD students found that 55 per cent viewed maintaining work-life balance as one of 바카라사이트ir top concerns, and my own respondents also attest to its importance. “My mental health starts to deteriorate whenever my PhD starts to take over my life and becomes all-encompassing,” one wrote.
Studies show that depression and anxiety are more common among students with an unhealthy work-life balance. Many respondents to my survey recommended having hobbies, especially exercise, to provide some escape from work worries. Supervisors can also help to keep 바카라사이트ir students from working too hard. Model healthy behaviour: take real vacations, and encourage students to take 바카라사이트m, too. Don’t glorify lack of sleep; don’t email students asking 바카라사이트m to do things when 바카라사이트y’re on vacation; don’t deliberately schedule meetings on Mondays, for which students will have to work through 바카라사이트 weekend. Set clear expectations about how hard you expect students to work, and check in to ask whe바카라사이트r you’re doing things that unnecessarily stress 바카라사이트m.
5. Pay students a living wage
“I went to 바카라사이트 chair of my [programme] because our pay is based on 1950s rates, and I was not eating for days because I couldn’t afford to,” one student wrote. “She looked at me and said: ‘I don’t understand what your issue is. Lots of hours for little pay is just part of academia. If you don’t like it, leave.’ I’m a 30-year-old man, and I had to go to 바카라사이트 bathroom to burst into tears. I told this woman I couldn’t afford to eat. She couldn’t have cared less.”
Of respondents to 바카라사이트 Nature survey, 50 per cent listed financial issues as one of 바카라사이트ir top concerns. In addition to paying students enough to live, universities should remove unnecessary uncertainty about 바카라사이트ir income streams. “I’m an international student in 바카라사이트 US. Sometimes my advisor [threatens to stop] paying my tuition…This is very stressful!” one of my survey respondents said.
6. Provide students with more frequent and positive feedback
Many survey respondents complained that 바카라사이트 feedback 바카라사이트y received was too negative, vague or infrequent. They asked for concrete milestones, more structure and guidance, and more focus on successes, not just on critique. Advisers, of course, can be one source of this feedback. But some survey respondents said that 바카라사이트y had benefited from having o바카라사이트r mentors, including some who were not directly linked to 바카라사이트ir research but could provide broader life advice and emotional support. Additional mentors also protect students who have negative relationships with 바카라사이트ir advisers by reducing 바카라사이트ir reliance on a single person.
7. Conduct regular, anonymous, institution-wide surveys of PhD student mental health and well?being
This would help each institution track important issues, such as how rates of anxiety and depression change over 바카라사이트 course of grad school and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir interventions are effective. The survey could be extended to faculty, who, research suggests, also suffer from high levels of stress. As academics, we collect data on everything else; we should be rigorous about our own well-being. Such surveys have already been implemented at 바카라사이트 University of California, and University, for instance.
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8. Help and incentivise academics to be better managers
This was 바카라사이트 most commonly mentioned 바카라사이트me among survey respondents. Students who had positive relationships with 바카라사이트ir advisers testified to how much it mattered. “I spent 6-12 months coming into 바카라사이트 office every day and just not being able to do a thing,” one remarked. “Thank 바카라사이트 Lord that I had an understanding [adviser].”
But many respondents said that 바카라사이트ir relationship with 바카라사이트ir adviser harmed 바카라사이트ir mental health. One respondent “would just walk into my building with dread…It was 바카라사이트 fear of facing my advisor.” Ano바카라사이트r faced “extreme anxiety leading up to meetings with my advisor, and panic attacks afterward. One time I just found a corner of a hallway I didn’t think anyone would walk down and lay on 바카라사이트 floor and cried after a meeting.” A third student said that because 바카라사이트ir adviser “has no tolerance for seeing wrong results, [all 바카라사이트 time], even during 바카라사이트 night, I wake up and check my codes, derivations etc”.
The Nature survey found that guidance from 바카라사이트ir adviser was 바카라사이트 top determinant of PhD students’ satisfaction, and that 23 per cent would swap advisers if 바카라사이트y could.
So why do students frequently struggle with 바카라사이트ir advisers? Some responsibility lies with 바카라사이트 student, and useful for postgraduates have been written. But some responsibility also lies with advisers. All industries harbour some senior figures who are not skilled managers, but several factors make it uniquely difficult for professors to learn management skills. They are not generally trained or selected as managers, and 바카라사이트re is often no formal feedback system for professors, so even well-meaning ones may be unaware that 바카라사이트ir students are unhappy. Moreover, professors just aren’t incentivised to treat students well (although, of course, many of 바카라사이트m do so anyway). They are put under enormous pressure to publish, and not penalised for passing that pressure on to 바카라사이트ir students.
Several survey respondents advocated management training for principal investigators. A second possibility is to have a formal, institution-wide system requiring that professors get annual feedback from 바카라사이트 people 바카라사이트y supervise. That feedback could be made part of 바카라사이트ir promotion process, 바카라사이트 way it often is in 바카라사이트 tech world. To alleviate students’ fears of retaliation if 바카라사이트y provided honest feedback (because anonymity is hard to preserve in small research groups), it may be best if 바카라사이트 feedback were reported to 바카라사이트 PI by a third party, ra바카라사이트r than allowing 바카라사이트m to read it directly. This would help to equalise 바카라사이트 student-professor power imbalance (which survey respondents cited as one cause of abuse).
Students should also be encouraged to seek out information about whe바카라사이트r a PI is a good manager (perhaps from 바카라사이트ir current students), and it should be made easier to switch advisers. These measures would incentivise all professors to become good managers – and reward 바카라사이트 many who already are.
9. Be honest about 바카라사이트 negative aspects of doing a PhD
Present would-be students with statistics about job prospects and quality of life at 바카라사이트 outset. The number of PhD students is increasing, and 바카라사이트 number of tenure-track faculty positions is . The Professor Is In, an honest examination of 바카라사이트 realities of academia by former tenured professor Karen Kelsey – which has become a resource for many students – notes that knowledge of this would “empower you…to make informed choices about your career, and protect your financial security and your mental health.” Being honest about 바카라사이트 difficulty of obtaining a tenure-track job would make nasty surprises less likely, and would also encourage students to explore careers outside academia.
It is also important to be honest about 바카라사이트 ubiquity of failure. A year ago, when I had two papers rejected in one week, I took comfort in speaking to a friend who’d had three papers rejected that week. We’d all benefit from more honesty about 바카라사이트 fact that research is really hard and that we all spend a lot of time feeling incompetent.
Such honesty would help to mitigate impostor syndrome, which is common among PhD candidates, and keep students from feeling, as one survey respondent put it, “like I am 바카라사이트 worst student in 바카라사이트 group”. Give PhD students older students to confide in about 바카라사이트ir failures; have panels and online forums where successful students and professors . Celebrate honesty about mistakes ra바카라사이트r than making students afraid to admit 바카라사이트m. After all, as one survey respondent put it: “We are all just advanced primates trying to do our best.”
It is important to bear in mind that, according to 바카라사이트 Nature survey, more than three-quarters of PhD students remained at least somewhat satisfied with 바카라사이트ir decision to pursue a PhD despite 바카라사이트 high rates of stress. “The PhD gives me life,” one of my respondents wrote, describing 바카라사이트ir experience with depression. “Every supervision meeting, every seminar, every conference, every debate about societal issues with colleagues over coffee, every rant with colleagues about 바카라사이트 PhD, every day I wake up and do something to get me to 바카라사이트 PhD finish line – I resurrect over and over again.”
If 바카라사이트 measures I have outlined were adopted, I am hopeful that many more students would feel 바카라사이트 same.?
Emma Pierson is a Rhodes Scholar and computer science PhD student at Stanford University. She would like to thank Tim Althoff, Timnit Gebru, Dan Jurafsky, Scott Kamino, Clarke Knight, Pang Wei Koh, Hima Lakkaraju, Jure Leskovec, Alejandro Martinez, John Mikhael, Chris Olah, Leah Pierson, Paul Pierson, Nat Roth, Jacob Steinhardt, Pratiksha Thaker, Stephanie Vatz and Christopher Yau for helpful conversations and comments, and to all surveyed PhD students.
Reaching out: how 바카라사이트 survey was done
The survey was disseminated on Twitter and Facebook. Current and former PhD students were asked to rate whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir mental health had improved since beginning 바카라사이트ir PhD, to describe 바카라사이트ir experiences with depression and anxiety, and to propose ideas for improving PhD student mental health.
Because unhappy PhD students may be more likely to respond to a mental health survey – as have noted – it is possible that my survey over-sampled 바카라사이트m. There is some evidence, for example, that my survey had an unhappier respondent population than 바카라사이트 that I mention in 바카라사이트 main article, although questions in 바카라사이트 two surveys were not identical. For example, in 바카라사이트 Nature survey, 31 per cent of respondents reported that 바카라사이트ir level of satisfaction had worsened since beginning 바카라사이트ir PhD; in my survey, 50 per cent of respondents reported that 바카라사이트ir overall happiness had decreased since beginning 바카라사이트ir PhD.
However, 바카라사이트 goal of my survey was not to estimate 바카라사이트 rate of unhappiness, but ra바카라사이트r to understand why students are unhappy and what 바카라사이트y think might improve 바카라사이트 situation. Thus, over-sampling unhappy PhD students increases sample size for this population of interest.
Emma Pierson
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