Finding workaholic colleagues in academia is probably easier than in any other workplace. Not only do academics tend to spend their free time reading an extra manuscript, writing a new paper, doing additional measurements, evaluating reports, etc. but they also often brag about it and feel proud of being thick-skinned and resilient. Even though the workaholic academics might enjoy the way they work and consider it as an investment to reach their professional goals, they will induce, even unintentionally, extreme levels of top-down or peer pressure in the group.
Despite the restricted official working hours in many countries, it is very common that younger researchers adopt a lifestyle that involves working late, extra hours, at the weekends, etc., simply because their superiors or senior colleagues have set such a precedent. Adhering to the official number of working hours in such environments might even be interpreted as underworking by the supervisors. Eventually, conflicts start to arise when (PhD) students are compared by their superiors based on their number of working hours. Many have reported that they were bullied in group meetings simply because of adhering to the official working hours. It should be noted that, even indirectly, always praising those who work extensive hours and blaming others for their under achievements, would intoxicate the working atmosphere and leads to unnecessary and unhealthy competition between the members of the group.
Yes, the work-life balance may be officially encouraged by the universities and research institutes, but in practice, the cultures of the research groups develop independent of the official recommendation, unless if the senior members of the group, even more importantly the head of the research group, comply with the guidelines. It is very important to notice that people who join a research group come with extremely different personalities, lifestyles, family statuses, and responsibilities out of the working hours. Thereby, what works very efficiently for one group member, does not necessarily apply to other members of the same group.
Finally, success and productivity in academia do not necessarily correlate with extensive working hours and in extreme cases, burnout ruins one’s efficiency and productivity. Thereby, instead of pushing the group members to spend longer hours at work, it is more practical if working strategies and planning are discussed and continuously revised within the group at an individual level. It is highly advised that the group members (supervisor and individual students) set short- and mid-term goals based on clear and reachable criteria e.g., based on SMART* (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) concept. (* SMART Goals – Time Management Training From MindTools.com).
Further read can be find in Workaholic academics need to stop taking pride in their burnout | Times Higher Education (THE)
1) #MeToo comes to STEM. The NIH shared new data detailing complaints it has received in recent years, comprising of more than 300 complaints against NIH-funded scientists. Consequently, 75 investigators were removed from their grants. Read more Sexual Harassment Complaints in Academia Are Up Since 2018 | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)
2) G. Rusteholz, M. Mediavilla, and L. Pires published a case study on the IMPACT OF BULLYING ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, in IEB working paper 2021/01, which can be found in Impact of bullying on academic performance. A case study for the Community of Madrid (repec.org)
3) Dr. Mahmoudi in one of his recently published articles in SSRN addressed the issue of academic bullying in the scientific workplaces. Read more Academic Incivility: What Can I Do? by Morteza Mahmoudi :: SSRN
4) Virginia Gewin published a Nature Career paper titled “How to Blow the Whistle on an Academic Bully”. Read more here: How to blow the whistle on an academic bully.
5) Katie Langin published a Science Career paper titled Nature paper on “Academic bullying is too often ignored. Here are some targets’ stories”. Read more here.
(Newsletter prepared by Saman Hosseinpour and edited by Paritymovement.org)