Publish or Perish: Precarious Employment, and the Pressures of Graduate School

As graduate students, it can feel as though we are trying to balance an ever-growing list of to-dos. From our theses, grant applications, volunteering, teaching, to simply being a person – the balancing act never ceases. We are under pressure to publish our research in journals and present our findings at conferences. We have a few short years to gain experience and bulk up our CVs. And at the end of the day, we are still people who are trying to maintain friendships, maybe have a partner, or even care for a family. Even basic self-care such as exercising, sleeping, and eating well can feel like another task on the to do list. We do all these things in order to hopefully one day get a job. But the truth is, academia is the home of many precarious employment opportunities, so after all our hard work, there is no guarantee. 

Any graduate student you meet will likely tell you that they have a lot on their plate at any given time. It’s almost as though being stressed is a requirement of graduate school. Between applying for scholarships and grants, and juggling one or more jobs outside of our theses, our time is stretched thin. It can feel as though the list of demands put onto graduate students is overwhelming – and for what? We are all working our hardest to win the top awards, publish in the best journals, and go to the most impressive conferences. 

We want to be the best to get the best jobs, but the truth is that is no guarantee in academia. Precarious employment appears to be the future for many of us. Perhaps we will be offered a short-term instructor position or get a grant that will last a few years, but graduate school is no longer a guarantee for the best job, let alone a better job. 

Does all this stress placed onto graduate students result in better work, better applicants to higher education and to the workforce? I would argue no. But as long as some students are pushing their limits, the rest of us must follow suit or else fall to the bottom. It is a culture of fighting to the top and pushing yourself to extremes. It feels like our CVs matter more than our mental health. You can’t pour from an empty cup and yet so many graduate students are expected to keep working, keep applying for scholarships even when they are at their wits end. 

We need a culture shift in graduate school. We need to value a healthy work-life balance and respect when our colleagues need a break. We need to remove the obsession with being busy and replace it with healthy boundaries. There is a sense of guilt that many graduate students feel when they take time off from writing or from being in their lab. We should be encouraging students to set boundaries for when they should be working and when they should be taking the time to care for themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. This culture shift won’t happen over night. We’ve been conditioned, both within academia and outside, that being busy is a sign of being productive and therefore valued. While having a full CV is usually a sign of an accomplished person, if each of these CV lines represents last minute rush papers/presentations and volunteer positions that feel like chores rather than enriching learning experiences, then how much knowledge and skill building are these students really gaining? We should value deep, meaningful experiences that help us to grow rather than just quick CV boosting events that do nothing to help us learn. 

When we are rushing to fill up our time with more tasks and more commitments, we often don’t have time to stop and reflect on what we are doing. So much of learning is taking the time to contemplate and examine what we are reading or being told. When we are busy, we often don’t take the time to deeply reflect on the experience that we are having. If we accept a slower pace of work in academia, then we would have more time to truly think and digest the ideas that are being thrown at us all the time. I hope and truly believe that taking some extra time and slowing down our pace will result in better work being produced and deeper learning for our graduate students.

Graduate school is stressful, and while I believe the culture shift is coming, it can feel like we are still fighting to keep our heads above water. But it’s not all doom and gloom and the crushing weight of stress. There are things we can do as graduate students to manage it all. Remember why you’re here – it is so easy to get caught up in the stress of everything but when you step back and remember what you’re studying and what you are researching, you remember the passion that brought you to graduate school. Care for yourself – take breaks when you need them, say no to offers that don’t excite you. Use the resources that the university provides, such as the Dalplex for a good sweat or a relaxing yoga class; talk with Student Health and Wellness, lean on your supervisors, and find support in your student society. You’re not alone in this.