Bumps In The Road

John Billings is a behavioral economics PhD student at the University of East Anglia. John joined me to share a very personal story about three failures that have occurred during his studies and PhD programme applications, and how – despite these setbacks – he’s ended up where he thinks he’s meant to be. John’s story may seem very context specific in parts, for example he shares some specific difficulties with applying to and working on an economics PhD in the USA, but the overall messages he shares: including understanding the role privilege has in ones ability to withstand failure, as well as the benefits (and downsides) of following what you enjoy, not always what is the most strategic path, are messages that cross all subjects and countries. I found John’s self-analysis and honesty refreshing, and I hope it’s of interest to you too.

Professor Robert Walker is an Emertius Professor in the School of Education at the University of East Anglia, with a Sociology background that has taken him all over the world. Although we do discuss failures - Rob openly shares a couple of high profile projects that suffered from communication breakdowns - one key topic of conversation here is teaching. Specifically, how can we encourage our students – undergraduate or postgraduate  - to develop a questioning mindset, an understanding of the research process and an acceptance of this process as an imperfect journey, within the traditional boundaries of a time-limited degree programme. Throughout this episode, Rob often talks about, somewhat caveats his examples, with saying ‘it was a different era’ in research but I found his thoughts around communication and teaching to be really relevant to the work I do today, I hope you do to.

Dr Katherine Collins is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow working in  the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, where she is  also a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. I invited Katherine  to be a guest on this podcast as I loved her simple but effective idea  of reframing how we view the research process…and I won’t say anymore on  that topic as I’ll leave it up to her to describe in the episode! We  touch on lots of other topics: perfectionism, taking things personally,  the influence we have as researchers, reflective practice, stationary  and how we teach research methods. Katherine and I come from very  different academic backgrounds but found common ground in our  discussion, I hope that whatever your field is you find something to  appreciate here.

Dr Steve Jones is a recently-completed PhD student at the University of East Anglia. A computer scientist by background, Steve completed an interdisciplinary Computer Science and Business PhD in the Norwich Business School.

During the final stage of his PhD, Steve was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that nearly cost him his life. Despite a two-year medical intercalation and extensive physical rehabilitation, Steve came back to complete his PhD. Steve shares with us the techniques that have helped him along the way, including building professional networks and friendships, asking for help, reflective practice and “trickle writing” your thesis (some call this writing a “Living thesis”). These techniques are useful whatever happens to you during your PhD – and I hope not many people live through what Steve has – so I hope there’s something here for everyone to learn from, or at least enjoy Steve’s love for his subject and his positive outlook on life.

Dr Rosemary Bass is a Careers Advisor at the University of East Anglia. Today, Rosemary shares her career story, how she worked her way up the academic ladder and achieved the lectureship she thought she wanted, and how in the past few years she has transitioned into a new career. Rosemary touches on topics ranging from imposter syndrome, work life balance, the difference between what you think you want and what it’s actually like when you get there, and what life is like after leaving an academic position. This chat with Rosemary has reminded me – both overtly through stories she shares, but also just through the topics we cover – of the importance of not comparing yourself to others and following a path that’s the right fit for you. I hope you also find something to take away from this episode.

Kara Langford is a PhD student in the Norwich Business School at the  University of East Anglia. Kara shares how she found herself making a  massive change to her research direction and methods in response to the  COVID pandemic. Although Kara’s PhD challenge is linked to the COVID-19  pandemic the core story behind it: starting down a path and finding that  the project no longer fits your values, or you couldn’t get from it  what you want, isn’t pandemic-specific and I’ve seen this situation crop  up many times. So, I think her message here is a timeless one, and her  ability to deal with the situation with self-awareness, humour,  perseverance and trust in her own ability should be inspiring to many.

Kara also brings her business background to the topic of failure,  sharing processes and theories that can change the way we view research  projects, whether they’re going right or you’re facing difficulties. I  absolutely loved these fresh takes on how we do our work – this was just  the sort of thing I was hoping this podcast project would throw up – I  hope you enjoy it to.

Dr Ruth Flaherty is a lecturer in Law at the University of Suffolk. In this episode, we discuss career changes, making brave choices, realising you don’t want what you thought you always wanted (and what to do next!), decision making…and the fine line between working through difficult things but also knowing when it’s time to quit. A passionate teacher, Ruth shares her thoughts on lockdown teaching, equipping students for life beyond academia and giving and receiving feedback. She’s beautifully reflective, incredibly honest and doesn’t take herself too seriously – enjoy!

Dr Anna Sturrock is an Aquatic Ecologist and lLecturer at the University of Essex, Anna is interested in fish ecology, conservation and management. Anna and I cover a whole range of topics in our discussion, including: the importance of mentorship, the difference between how you view yourself and others view you, salary, job rejections and so much more. One topic of real interest comes up toward the end when we talk about personal relationships and developing skills in this area. The potential for difficulties here aren’t something I’ve touched on in many other episodes, so I hope you find that as interesting as I did. Anna’s open, honest and candid and this is a refreshing conversation – I hope you enjoy it!

Dr Tom Greaves is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. As you might expect from that introduction, Tom shares a philosophical view on the broad topic of failure, introducing some philosophers and concepts…but relates everything back to the “real world” of academia and provides – despite his attempts not to! – what I found to be useful touchstones, concepts and, yes, even tips – for applying these concepts to our research and teaching. The conversation today kept coming round to an idea of reframing our views, from evaluating things on different scales (or accepting that the scale is not fixed) to examining the language we use. It was a positive, practical conversation that sets the bar high for the academic community whilst being rooted in reality. I really hope you enjoy it.

Emma Thompson is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia. Emma shares an incredibly brave and personal story of her many setbacks/failures within her academic career to date and how she’s come back from them. In particular, the story Emma shares about failing her PhD probationary review (when the common rhetoric is “nobody fails that…”) is one of the stories that sparked this whole project for me. Early on in this conversation we talk about advocating for your needs, and this theme recurs throughout the episode. Whilst Emma has a specific autism spectrum diagnosis she’s referring to, the core message of understanding yourself and advocating for yourself is one for everyone.

Dr Fi Roxburgh is a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. In this episode, Fi delivers honest reflections on their career and life in academia from the get-go. Having worked across politics, philosophy and mental health support (and they’re just the areas we touched on!) Fi has a wealth of ideas about addressing the topic of failure within the research and HE environment. In particular, they talk about their experimentation with radically redesigning the assessment of a module they teach to address the current ‘fear of failure’ and stress - or lack of enjoyment with the learning/research process – they were seeing in their students. Fi is evidence that we, as individuals, can make a real difference to our HE culture within the systems that already exist…whether that’s a radical module redesign, or asking someone if they want a cup of tea. Other topics we touch on include larger issues of equality within society, gender, caring roles and the burden of care, and feminism and failure. There’s so much food for thought here – enjoy!

Dr Felix Naughton is a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at the University of East Anglia.  In this relatively short but super refreshing episode, Felix shares some great, practical tips for surviving ‘failures’ in academia. Failure there having definite air quotes around it...because – as we discuss in this episode – when things don’t go to plan that doesn’t need to be thought of as a complete failure!

Felix shares how he integrates the idea of ‘Plan B’ and the use of broad, overarching goals into his working life which allows him to keep moving forward. The thing I took from Felix’s conversation was the concept of modulating the impact of setbacks by constantly “hoping for the best, preparing for the worst” (his words). That is, by continually moving forward, even incrementally, he starts the next iteration of work from a positive place, not from having to drag himself up from a place of rejection. Anyway, Felix explains this far more eloquently than I can…so over to him!

Andrea James is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia looking at online-based gender violence in education. Andrea is working on her self-funded PhD part-time whilst also working several other part-time roles. In this chat we touch on lots of topics, but in particular we focus on how we (as a society) often link our self-worth to external factors such as how much financial renumeration we receive for our work, or measurements and metrics issued by our workplace. Andrea shares her belief and some strategies for how she ‘recalibrates’ her own sense of worth within this competitive environment. We also touch on the benefits – and pitfalls – of caring really, really deeply about your work, something she approaches with honesty and humour. Moving through politics to hot baths, class issues, going all in, the importance of language and humour – this episode is full of wisdom and honesty, I hope you enjoy it!

Chris Bishop is a Learning Enhancement Tutor at the University of East Anglia. Chris and I discuss so many different topics today, everything from finding a place (even if it isn’t a traditional one!) that fits for you within Higher Education, to links between failure and running, and failure and learning a language! Chris repeatedly touches on the idea of focusing on the process not the finished project, and acknowledging the difficulties you may face during this process. Chris has such a wealth of experience in teaching, learning, researching and writing. In particular, those of you writing a thesis may find some words of comfort and wisdom here...although really I think this conversation will appeal to so many people – enjoy!

Professor Anne Osbourn is a group leader at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. Anne’s research group investigates plant natural product biosynthesis. She’s also an honorary professor at the University of East Anglia, a Fellow of the Royal Society, was awarded an OBE for services to plant science and is an award-winning published poet. Today, Anne shares with us her reflections on a lifetime of scientific research, both the highs and the lows, and if there’s one thing I took from this interview it’s her incredible sense of self and her courage to follow the path she thought was right.

Rebecca Shaw is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute, Norwich. Rebecca is working on conservation genomics of the European Polecat and she’s also an active STEM ambassador and science communicator, currently working on the Norwich Pint of Science events, amongst other things.  Rebecca started her PhD in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic but despite this rocky start her discussion today was nothing but positive. Rebecca’s clearly passionate about the role of good communication and building community – whether in person or online. I found this discussion really uplifting, I hope you do too!

Dr Katherine Deane is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia. As well as her academic role, Katherine is UEA’s Access Ambassador and champions for a more inclusive, thoughtful and kinder environment – both physical and social – both in research and beyond.

Katherine openly discusses how developing a disability at the start of her career impacted her career choices and opportunities, and how she has used it as a force for good, creating for herself a research career that is both personally fulfilling but also directly impactful to society. We discuss the danger of seeing “being healthy” as normal – we’re all constantly on a spectrum of physical and mental healthiness and this isn’t a failure to be fixed, the importance of learning to say no and of understanding your own values, and how Katherine built a varied, ‘portfolio’ career rather than the – somewhat traditional – academic model of specialization. Katherine is honest throughout the conversation, for example she shared the times decisions were made with the mortgage in mind and times when her research looks quick, but the process ‘behind the scenes’ was slow.