Why People Are Running Away From Academia: A Scientist’s Perspective
If you’re a fellow academic and have been on social media in recent years, then you probably know that there is a lot of talk about everything that is wrong with academia. While this has ruffled more than a few feathers, I believe that it is a harbinger of change on the horizon, or at the very least the possibility of dialogue — as opposed to digging our heads in the sand and pretending it’s all rainbows and butterflies.
Let’s face it, we all know that academia is broken and in turn breaks the backs of many, which is why more and more people are choosing to leave academia and do so without a moment’s hesitation or a single regret. Academia is also racist, sexist, and elitist in most countries, but that is a story for another day. Here, I want to discuss some of the reasons why academics are starting to feel like the grass might indeed be greener on the other side (the other side being anywhere but academia).
First, we’re expected to be academics or scientists and nothing else. It should consume our very being. We should only exist in this one dimension. This isn’t normal or natural. Doing things outside of science and research is the equivalent of holding up a sign that reads I DO NOT TAKE MY CAREER SERIOUSLY. People will raise their eyebrows at us as and assume that if we don’t dedicate our every waking moment to research then we’re not real scientists. If we aren’t skipping meals and working weekends then we’re not working hard enough. We’re not worthy of being in academia and we don’t deserve our titles.
This obsession with unhealthy patterns, which is a clear glorification of overworking, is so toxic that I can’t believe how widespread and deeply ingrained it is. Even worse, anyone who speaks out about it is labeled as weak and whiny.
That’s just how it is, if you don’t like it or can’t handle it then just leave academia.
Defense mechanism par excellence. Unfortunately, leaving academia is precisely what many people choose to do. 50% of PhD students leave their programs without finishing their degrees. The ones who don’t leave are at a higher risk for experiencing mental health issues like depression or anxiety. I’ve personally been there, and the indifference I witnessed was disturbing. It was as if other academics knew what was going on but simply didn’t want to hear about it. They preferred to turn a blind eye. Again, bury their heads in the sand, pretend academia is glorious, and shame anyone who tries to say otherwise.
Here’s a crazy idea: Maybe we should try to fix it instead of force people out of it. Maybe the older generation should tone down the sadomasochism. They feel that just because the system was broken when they were getting started then we should all suffer in the same way too. ‘That’s just the way it is’ is such an automatic response and it might stem from fear of change and a mix of laziness/exhaustion, confusion, and helplessness.
The second reason is many people are turned off by the idea of having to chase publications for the rest of their lives (if they want any chance at funding). This one is particularly disheartening, because we dedicate our lives to science and research thinking that we will help in the important pursuit of knowledge. That illusion is quickly shattered once we understand that the only way to get anywhere in academia is to publish, publish, publish. And then publish some more.
This is wrong for so many reasons, and while many of us recognize it, it also falls under the banner of the infamous and ubiquitous that’s just the way it is slogan. But if we’re designing experiments and extracting results with a publication in mind, then the truth is just the means to an end. The truth is no longer the actual goal for what we do and it is definitely not our overall purpose. That is one of the most damaging effects of chasing publications. We completely lose sight of what matters and why we chose to do research in the first place.
In reality, collaboration and open science might be our only hope if we want to decode scientific mysteries and put an end to horrible diseases someday. Unfortunately, because we’re chasing papers, most researchers are taught to compete against each other and to hide their data until it is published in order to avoid getting scooped and losing that almighty paper. The only thing this accomplishes is that multiple research groups around the world waste precious funding to carry out the exact same experiments.
If our goal were the pursuit of knowledge and truth, then we would prioritize efficiency and ensure that there is little to no overlap. Rather, each group would tackle a particular piece of the puzzle. I’m a dreamer, I know, but we can always hope.
Why is it like this though? Are researchers inherently individualistic? Wasteful? Far from it. I think we’re like this because we’re forced to be like this. We chase publications because the number of publications we have is simply the metric by which we are evaluated. A lot of us hate that it’s like this, but we also don’t know how to change things. Because it’s funding agencies and hiring organizations that have all the power and set the standards that are used to judge who we are as academics, the change has to come from the top-down. Anyone at the bottom who protests against the system will achieve nothing; rather, their careers will be considerably damaged.
The solution? I wish I knew. I wish I had the slightest notion what the solution might look like. But there are a lot of people who have good ideas. Maybe the first step should just be to recognize the issues and be willing to keep an open mind when we listen to people talk about them.
Maybe we can change things for the better so that researchers wouldn’t be forced to walk away from their passion because the system doesn’t care about them or their wellbeing. Maybe we can have a way to identify the phenomenal, incredible researchers without looking at their list of publications. I would much rather admire a scientist who pushes to find the truth every single day instead of a scientist who has hundreds of publications yet couldn’t care less about advancing knowledge.
Some days I love academia and I can’t imagine my life without research. Other days, I’m not sure why I’m still here and I find myself asking myself whether it’s still worth it. My relationship with academia has been toxic on many occasions, but toxic relationships are often the most passionate.
