Why boundaries are important, and why in academia it's hard to have them: A thread. #UCUstrike
1/
It starts with the PhD.
PhDs are training in co-dependency, and a masterclass in hooking your self-worth so closely to your career that you become entirely defined by it.
1/
It starts with the PhD.
PhDs are training in co-dependency, and a masterclass in hooking your self-worth so closely to your career that you become entirely defined by it.
2/
It doesn't happen all at once - it happens bit by bit. Do a bit of writing for free here, take on one 'knowledge exchange' project because it looks good in the long run on your CV, and then another. Everyone does it. Your line manager does it, and their line manager.
It doesn't happen all at once - it happens bit by bit. Do a bit of writing for free here, take on one 'knowledge exchange' project because it looks good in the long run on your CV, and then another. Everyone does it. Your line manager does it, and their line manager.
3/
Soon all you begin to talk about is work, and all you begin to think about, even at 2am (especially at 2am) are the publications you're not writing. You juggle 12 different roles (some in your contract, some not), from therapist to teacher to administrator.
Soon all you begin to talk about is work, and all you begin to think about, even at 2am (especially at 2am) are the publications you're not writing. You juggle 12 different roles (some in your contract, some not), from therapist to teacher to administrator.
4/
You do none of these jobs very well, because you were never trained to do them. You were trained to do only one thing: research. Ironically, that's the thing you no longer have time to do.
You do none of these jobs very well, because you were never trained to do them. You were trained to do only one thing: research. Ironically, that's the thing you no longer have time to do.
5/
Everything is an existential crisis, and that's because your chosen profession is not just a job anymore: it's you. A criticism of an article is not just a criticism of your work, it's a criticism of your very existence.
Everything is an existential crisis, and that's because your chosen profession is not just a job anymore: it's you. A criticism of an article is not just a criticism of your work, it's a criticism of your very existence.
6/
You ask yourself, but what could I do, if not this? You are degraded not all at once, but by inches. You learn not to expect better, and you learn this from management, but you mostly learn it by internalising the behaviour of your colleagues, who also do not expect better.
You ask yourself, but what could I do, if not this? You are degraded not all at once, but by inches. You learn not to expect better, and you learn this from management, but you mostly learn it by internalising the behaviour of your colleagues, who also do not expect better.
7/ You say 'yes' to overwork, and with each personal boundary you erode you tell yourself that you have a higher purpose, either to the research, to the students, or to both.
8/
You occupy a ministerial role within an organised religion that runs on the dissonant belief that its followers are somehow both worthless enough not to deserve decent conditions and yet at the same time that they're very, very prestigious people.
You occupy a ministerial role within an organised religion that runs on the dissonant belief that its followers are somehow both worthless enough not to deserve decent conditions and yet at the same time that they're very, very prestigious people.
9/
You become disillusioned, and you even dream about leaving, but unfortunately the hold the job has over you is emotional manipulation of the most powerful kind: that without it you won't exist, and that no other profession could ever love you in the same way.
You become disillusioned, and you even dream about leaving, but unfortunately the hold the job has over you is emotional manipulation of the most powerful kind: that without it you won't exist, and that no other profession could ever love you in the same way.
10/
And also: there's the dissonance. On some level you must know that your values are in opposition to your actions. You are concerned with equality and yet you exploit yourself. You criticise neoliberal ideology and yet you find it hard to clock off after 6pm.
And also: there's the dissonance. On some level you must know that your values are in opposition to your actions. You are concerned with equality and yet you exploit yourself. You criticise neoliberal ideology and yet you find it hard to clock off after 6pm.
11/
The hours you work are not actually that long at all compared with some other professions, but when you do that little mental calculation you're not counting on the space the job takes up by living rent-free in your head. And it lives there all the time.
The hours you work are not actually that long at all compared with some other professions, but when you do that little mental calculation you're not counting on the space the job takes up by living rent-free in your head. And it lives there all the time.
12/
We wean PhD students on dysfunctional ideals that we accept without question, a process that begins by having them accept that for three+ years their entire professional development will be contingent on 1 person: their supervisor, & so they better hope they have a good one
We wean PhD students on dysfunctional ideals that we accept without question, a process that begins by having them accept that for three+ years their entire professional development will be contingent on 1 person: their supervisor, & so they better hope they have a good one
13/
We need a new age of work where the value we place on ourselves is about who we are, and not about what we do. The truth is that when we are brave enough to free ourselves from the social markers of status we fear to lose, only then are we finally free to really flourish.
We need a new age of work where the value we place on ourselves is about who we are, and not about what we do. The truth is that when we are brave enough to free ourselves from the social markers of status we fear to lose, only then are we finally free to really flourish.
14/
It takes energy to be healthy in a sector where unhealthy practice is the norm. It takes energy to draw boundaries around your professional life, especially when you seem to be the only one doing it. It takes self-confidence to be different.
It takes energy to be healthy in a sector where unhealthy practice is the norm. It takes energy to draw boundaries around your professional life, especially when you seem to be the only one doing it. It takes self-confidence to be different.
15/
It takes courage and effort to have your daily practice consistently reflect your ideals. And as one individual you might not change the sector. But your practice has a ripple effect, and it counts.
It takes courage and effort to have your daily practice consistently reflect your ideals. And as one individual you might not change the sector. But your practice has a ripple effect, and it counts.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
