I would like to raise mental health awareness among faculty members within my department. I think there is generally a lack of awareness and advocacy for student mental health, particularly for graduate students. I would like to ask if you have specific advice on what I can do as a faculty member and what obstacles I should anticipate.—Anonymous assistant professor A mental health crisis exists among students and postdocs. As faculty, we are often the first responders in this crisis, and there is much we can do to provide support and help individuals seek out treatment when needed. But before we get to that, we need to talk about something else, and this column will be the first in a two-part series aimed at addressing this crisis. If someone is drowning, who should they look to for help? Someone else who is drowning? Of course not. They should look to
Lights are coming back on and experiments are returning to life. After months of being shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19, research activity is ramping up again in labs across the country and around the globe. As we feel the excitement of heading back to the work that motivates us and is critical to our career progress, it is also important to recognize that we are returning to a “new normal” that will require different ways of working and managing our time and projects. As we all adapt to this new normal, we can benefit from practicing a different type of management: expectation management. Managing your own expectations. If you’re a grad student or a postdoc scholar, as excited as you may be to get back to the lab, it’s important to recognize that you have been away for several months. This means that you will need time
You’ve mentioned on Twitter that you solicit anonymous feedback from your lab group, and your lab members also provide peer-to-peer feedback. Why do you think it’s important to engage in this kind of practice, and what kinds of practical tips can you give for a principal investigator hoping to implement the same practice in their lab? —Katie Feedback is a gift. When we’re receiving feedback on our job performance, we may be tempted to look at it like that ill-fitting sweater we received for our birthday last year and ponder the question, “I wonder if I can return this?” Receiving critical feedback may feel uncomfortable in the moment, but if we want to become more effective in our workplace, it’s essential to know what we’re doing well and where we need to make changes. For those who work in industry or many other areas of the public or private sector,
I would like to raise mental health awareness among faculty members within my department. I think there is generally a lack of awareness and advocacy for student mental health, particularly for graduate students. I would like to ask if you have specific advice on what I can do as a faculty member and what obstacles I should anticipate.—Anonymous assistant professor Welcome to the second half of a two-part Office Hours series tackling this difficult yet extremely important question. In last month’s column, I proposed that faculty need to first take care of our own mental health so that we can lead by example and be prepared to help our students. Now that you’ve secured your own oxygen mask, you’re ready to assist the person sitting next to you. Creating an environment that supports student mental health requires that we do three things: recognize the challenge, take action, and empower others.
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