Thread by @sophie_e_hill

Faculty often tell their grad students to minimize the time they spend on service work.

-"just focus on your research"
-"wait until you have tenure"
etc.

And often that's good advice! Time is a precious commodity in grad school.

BUT...

(a 🧵)

Time isn't the only thing grad students need!

Any minimal list has got to include:

➕Time
➕Resources ($, training, advising)
➕Motivation

So "costs" in one category might be offset by "gains" in another.

We (almost) all accept this point as obvious when we're talking about work-life balance (family, friends, mental health, hobbies).

So, for example: this year I'm lucky to have lots of time (got a fellowship = no teaching requirements!).

On the other hand, sometimes my motivation has suffered because my discipline / my institution / my department are, erm, ... Not Always Forces for Good?

One reason for that is -well, if you've made it this far you've surely heard my rant (at least once) before!

chronicle.com/interactives/h…

Recently I spent quite a bit of time helping to organize this event. Wasn't a huge timesuck but it involved the kind of admin tasks that break up your day and always end up taking long than you think.

So on the one hand, a time cost.

On the other hand though... seeing Terry Karl back in the Harvard Government department for the first time in three-and-a-half decades, speaking out and *being heard*??

That shit is gonna keep me going for YEARS.

I literally watch that clip and BOOM a promising new research question pops into my head.

I... understand Bayesian statistics now?

I'm 👏 making 👏 ggplots 👏 without 👏 googling 👏

OK obviously that's an exaggeration.

But I do feel less shitty about my discipline / my institution / my department right now. And trying to become a political scientist feels more like a worthy goal.

So, professors: if your grad students are making choices that seem straightforwardly suboptimal to you?...

Take a step back. Before giving advice (esp if unsolicited), ask yourself: what can I learn from this?

And grad students: don't let others scare you into thinking that you're wasting time or falling behind if you want to make your community a better place.

(And, of course, don't let anyone trick you into thinking you are obligated to fix the systems that never worked for you.)

In short, just ask yourself:

what would Terry Karl do?

#WWTKD