Cheer up, my academic colleagues! Happiness Anonymous

This post was originally on the Guardian Higher Education in the academics anonymous column. It was anonymous, because it's ok to be happy as an academic, but not ok to let anyone else know...

Good moaning

As a tribe, we academics enjoy complaining: too much teaching, too many committees, not enough funding, reviewers too mean, houses too expensive, wages not enough, blah blah blah. However, I would like to stick my head above the parapet (anonymously) and propose a new manifesto for 2016: Celebrate Academia. I would like to remind you that academia is fun, to rekindle the spark that got you here in the first place. Yes there are rubbish bits, but when I pause (from complaining) and reflect, the following things make me happy and I think should make you happy too.

Everyday people

The longer you work in academia, the wider your global network. Bask in the reflected company of your peers. We have the privilege to work with brilliant, interesting people from around the world, many of whom are fascinated by the same obscure minutiae of our fields and will happily discuss it late into the night, often over a beer, in an interesting exotic place, or Brussels.

My Generation

Working with students allows you to reflect on the joys of youth through the mirror of their experiences. Undergraduates have a limitless capacity to imagine they are pioneers, that their ironic fashion show is the first of its kind, or that no one else ever pulled an all-nighter to complete an assignment for which they had ample warning because they were too busy organising an ironic fashion show. Celebrate your acquired wisdom and maturity, whilst missing grant deadlines for which you had ample warning because you were too busy organising your children’s fashion show.

Get Better

I don’t have much experience of the real world outside academia, but certainly compared my time as a night cleaner in a refrigerated yoghurt warehouse, working in a university is full of chances to learn. Learn more because you are teaching a new course, learn more because it drives your research. But most of all learn more because it’s fun, it’s there and it’s the essence of the job.

Heal the world

Our work has societal value (measurable if you believe REF). Not only is that a good thing, it is a shield when confronted with your friends from undergraduate days who are now earning a million dollars in the City. It will take the sting out of the fact that they can afford houses in Oxford/ shopping in Waitrose/other essentials.

Research

You get to be the expert in your field. We may not get as much time to spend on research or the funding to support it as we would want. But we are extremely privileged to be given money, most of which comes from other people’s hard work – taxes, charity, benevolence, to indulge our own personal curiosity, which, when you stop to think about it, is amazing.

Time is on my side

Find the things you enjoy and do them: I get deep joy from playing football during the working day. You are, as an academic, more or less your own boss. Yes there are disagreeable tasks: admin, marking, grant-writing. But even the bad bits shouldn’t take all of your day and if they are, drop some. It is acceptable to say no and where not, it is normally possible to shape courses and committees to reflect your research interests.

Under Pressure

Remember, no one forced you to do this job. There are a number of high stress jobs that involve people shooting at you (soldier), shouting at you (police) or dying on you (doctor). There are others that involve horrible hours, terrible working conditions and repetitive tasks, but luckily I stopped being a post-doc.

My Generation

If my relentless optimism isn’t enough for you, think of the children/students. A common reason given by PhD students for not remaining in academia is pressure on junior PIs. Complaining about the stress of academia may be a cunning plan by established faculty to stop newer, smarter people joining the competition. But it isn’t fair on the next generation and wasteful of all we have invested – time, energy, money - in getting them across the line.

Don’t worry be happy

In conclusion and for the sake of balance, I accept that there are problems with the system. There are fewer entry level posts and those that do exist come with considerably less job security than before (believe it or not). The demands of the career have changed significantly and it is much harder to get that critical break-in grant than 20 years ago. But dwelling on the negative doesn’t actually help anyone. So, in 2016, let’s turn the tearoom discussion around and celebrate what we have. Happier people are more productive, healthier and have better hair (just look at Trump/Drumpf he is really angry and has terrible hair).

PS as always bonus points for the artists for the headings.