Defining success on your own terms in academia
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
What does success mean to you?
To measure success, academics have traditionally used quantifiable metrics such as the number of publications, the impact factor of the corresponding journals, H-index, or the amount of grant dollars received. However, these metrics are flawed, as they tend to reflect, and thereby perpetuate, the gender and racial biases that exist within academia. These metrics don’t capture how the field and our communities have changed or advanced as a result of the work that has been done to combat these biases.
Yet, you may find yourself continually measuring your progress against these metrics, because, frankly, it’s easy to do so. They’re numbers. They’re right there. Thanks to tools like Google Scholar and Web of Science, you can see if your citation count is going up over the years, or if your H-index is higher than your work nemesis. As a result, you are playing a game that wasn’t designed for you to win because you haven’t defined success on your own terms.
Recently, many departments, institutions, and funding agencies have changed their policies regarding how academics are reviewed and promoted, noting that impact and scholarship can and should be broadly defined. With this cultural shift, you should check what your institutional policies are, and also consider your definitions of success, and whether they reflect your values or align with your strategic goals. If you don’t, you may not know how to demonstrate to that review panel (or to yourself!) that you are indeed succeeding at your job.
There isn’t one way to achieve success in academia. If you look around your field, you can see different stories of impact unfolding. One of your colleagues may be addressing issues of equity and spurring innovation by openly sharing large datasets that then allow colleagues who may not be resource-rich (e.g., they do not have enough funding and/or infrastructure) to develop new models of cognition and behavior. Another colleague may be elevating the lay public’s knowledge of the field or encouraging healthy behavior changes by giving community lectures or creating a podcast. Yet another colleague may be focused on creating accessible science training experiences for high school and undergraduate students, thereby supporting the next generation of leaders. Successes like these might not show up in a publication audit or an H-index, but they have tremendous impact. Don’t let them go unnoticed!
When you look at the strategic vision for your career, what values emerge? What will have changed in the world if you are able to attain some, or even all, of your goals? The answers to these questions will help you define what success looks like for you. Also consider how you want to feel. The journey to success shouldn’t break you; it should feel joyful, meaningful, and just the right amount of challenging. If you need help defining what success looks like for you, let’s get on a call and design your future!
Next week: Remember that success isn’t always linear
