Thoughts on Research Productivity During a Pandemic
I recently ran an email series walking participants through a series of prompts to help them get their bearings and re-imagine their research goals during the pandemic.
I invited participants to share their responses and reflections with me so that I could understand what they were going through.
In one of the prompts I asked everyone to describe what their life looked like. They sent me their answers and—I'm not kidding you—many of them had me in tears.
So many of them described being "behind", "off track", unable to focus, or unable to find the motivation they had before.
I mean...of course they’re finding it hard to focus.
But the part that made me so upset was how absolutely vicious some people were about their lack of productivity.
There was very little they could do to change the situation, and yet they continued to berate themselves for not getting more done.
Look: we're all a bunch of fiercely determined high-achievers. And I mean that in the gentlest, most loving way.
It's how we trained ourselves to excel. No forgiveness, no celebrations, just...on to the next thing.
It's how we trained ourselves, but it's also how the system trained us.
Funding and publications are what matter. Productivity matters.
No excuses—not even during a pandemic.
So when I saw these anecdotes of women submitting fewer papers to peer-reviewed journals and the risks of decreased productivity on women's academic career trajectories, I got angry.
(Not surprised, though.)
It's too early to tell what kind of long-term impact the pandemic will have on academic careers (although we're already hearing about tenure-track faculty being fired...and even tenured faculty).
But right now, in this moment, it just seems so abjectly cruel to expect everyone to continue cranking out grants and papers at a rate that was unsustainable before the pandemic even started.
I wish I had an answer. I really do. Because this is just...hard to take.
Maybe—maybe—those who've been hit especially hard will be given some grace. But that would require some structural changes that, quite frankly, seem like a stretch.
And look: I know this might seem strange coming from someone whose livelihood depends on people writing grants.
But I do this work because I see how tough it is out there, and want to make it easier on you. I try to demystify an extremely challenging, brutally competitive process. And if you've ever been a student of mine, you'll know that I do my best to encourage and support and uplift.
And right now? My advice to everyone is, if at all possible, give yourself a longer runway.
I'm not recommending that people do whatever it takes to get their grant out the door as quickly as possible.
Why?
Because there's always a tradeoff between rushing to submit something sub-par and taking more time to write a better application.
The review process takes months—and it's up to you to figure out whether the quality of your application is strong enough to throw your hat in the ring now, or to spend the next few months improving your application to submit during the next cycle.
There are plenty of factors to consider when you make this decision. But I never recommend a scattershot approach—especially now, when your time and energy (and focus) is precious.
A grant deadline can really light a fire under you to get your writing done, but please, don't let that feeling of being "behind" take over and bully you into submitting before you're ready.
Give yourself some grace—and some time.
(And if you want to go through the prompts yourself, can sign up for the email series here.)