Having worked on the umbrella theme “questioning the unquestionable” in academia for the past two years, we covered – by means of multiple on-site and online events – a wide variety of topics ranging from mental health to the broad concept of “failure”.
During the last IMISCOE Annual Conference in Lisbon in July 2024, we proposed two sessions around the latter topic. The first session adopted the form of a panel discussion where three established academics, Dr. Norma Schemschat, Prof. Dr. Sayaka Osanami Törngren, and Dr. Apostolos Andrikopoulos, shared their views and takes on “failure”. The second session proposed an interactive workshop whereby the aim was for PhD candidates to connect with each other and challenge notions of "failure”. Proposing a space for free reflection and exhange of thoughts, we put forward questions such as: Who defines failure? Is failure always negative or can it be embraced as a catalyst for collective learning and change?
Beyond creating a space for questioning generally unquestionable topics, this year we also aimed to move a step further. We collected the main take aways, and wrote them down in the form of a blogpost entitled “Reclaiming failure: A PhD student’s journey in academia”. By doing so, we hope to spark further dialogue within IMISCOE and beyond, recognizing that feelings of failure are not confined to any one stage of an academic career. It is therefore of utmost important to recognize the systemic nature of feelings related to “failure” and to make this topic as accessible as talking about success. This blogpost proposes a first step in this direction.
Interestingly, when talking about “failure” during these sessions, certain attendants addressed the topic of joy, pleasure and happiness in academia. On the one hand, there are certain difficult aspects of pursuing a career in academia, like the imposter syndrom, being confronted to a lot of rejections, feeling as if one is failing continuously, and pressure. On the other hand, however, there is a reason why people do want to pursue this career, regardless of these difficulties. We got inspired by these remarks, as well as by the podcast “Joy in Academia” – created by Essanhaji Z., Sahin O., Colak Z., van Veen D. and Bourabain D. – which discusses how especially racialized academics have come to find joy in their academic careers and what enabled or pushed them to overcome certain obstacles. Consequently, we decided to dig into this route for the academic year 2024-2025 and to work around the topic of happiness in pursuing a PhD (and eventually beyond the PhD stage). In this years’ activities and events, we will reflect on why we pursue a PhD, what gives us energy, how we overcome more difficult aspects of the job and what our ultimate goals are. By moving on to this positive route after two years of questioning all sorts of obstacles, we aspire to motivate PhD candidates to reflect on their own journeys in a conscious way and to further contribute to a compassionate academic environment.