The Silent Mental Health and Well‐Being Crisis of Early Career Researchers in Aquatic Sciences

Abstract

A severe mental health crisis lurks in academia. Academics at all career stages (e.g., students, postdocs, faculty) have expressed high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative mental health outcomes due to their careers (Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). Factors including job and financial insecurity, expectations of high productivity and performance, poor work-life balance, extreme competition, toxic power dynamics, and lack of support have been shown to be the main sources of poor mental health among academics (Fig. 1; Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). Temporary postdoctoral positions exacerbate these situations and result in severe mental distress in many early career researchers (ECRs; Woolston 2020). In the aquatic sciences, ECRs and students also face mental health challenges related to remote and isolated field work campaigns, particularly on research vessels (Fig. 1; Gewin 2022). Alongside these external and systemic factors, internal stressors such as “imposter syndrome” (the internalized doubt over one's skills and accomplishments) and “productivity guilt” (the negative feeling associated with not completing tasks or working hard enough) can compound to negatively impact the mental health of academics, particularly ECRs (Fig. 1; Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). Furthermore, recent increases in anxiety and dread due to the COVID-19 pandemic are now coupled with higher-than-normal expectations of “catching up” (Gewin 2021; Nicholls et al. 2022). Despite its prevalence, poor mental health in academia is often left unmitigated as institutional and research cultures value resilience, and academics are expected to accept the high levels of stress, competition, insecurity, and rejection without complaint (Nicholls et al. 2022). It has been found that though many academics require mental health support, few seek it due to time constraints and fear of harming their reputations (Nicholls et al. 2022). However, positive well-being is a continued practice of skills that allow an individual to appropriately interact with and react to their environment (Nicholls et al. 2022). Therefore, to provide mental health support for aquatic scientists, particularly ECRs, the ASLO Early Career Committee (ECC) will launch the quarterly webinar series “Voices in Mental Health and Well-Being in Aquatic Sciences” in March, 2023. These interactive webinars will encourage discussion about mental health, well-being, and self-care across different cultures and career stages among the global aquatic science community. More information regarding the webinar series is found at the end of this article. The mental health of postdocs and other ECRs is in crisis. Funding for postdoc positions is often dependent on grant (soft) money with little institutional support. Postdocs are expected to be highly mobile, often repeatedly moving cities or countries to diversify career trajectories for scarce faculty positions. This mobility separates postdocs from their support networks and can prevent solid relationship building during temporary positions, further diminishing mental health (Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). In addition, postdocs who work abroad have the added strain of obtaining visas or residencies that can compound the already existing mental health impacts. These factors impede healthy work-life balance, and decisions regarding socialization and family planning are confronted by the insecurity of the positions. Furthermore, extreme competition for tenure-track faculty positions requires postdocs who wish to remain in academia to face high levels of stress, productivity pressure, and rejection (Woolston 2020). According to a global survey, ~ 50% of postdocs require support for depression or anxiety related to their work, but less than half of those who need it have accessed support (Woolston 2020). Since postdocs are neither students nor faculty, institutions largely do not provide specific mental health support for this group (Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). Furthermore, the professional culture of academia (i.e., resiliency, self-sufficiency, determination), is known to dissuade ECRs from seeking mental health support (Nicholls et al. 2022). Alongside the previously described challenges, postdocs and other ECRs in aquatic sciences also face mental health obstacles related to field work campaigns (Gewin 2022). For example, the physical separation from support networks can increase stress and anxiety, and disruptions to living situations (e.g., communal housing and sleeping) may be against an individual's personal or cultural values which can degrade mental health. Furthermore, obligatory field work for students and ECRs can exclude individuals with familial care responsibilities (i.e., children) or those with medical conditions which make the physical demands of field work impossible. ECRs (and students) in marine sciences are particularly plagued by poor mental health outcomes due to unsafe working conditions, long working hours, lack of pay, and abuse from those in higher positions of power experienced by these researchers during remote and isolated fieldwork on research vessels (Gewin 2022). Negative mental health outcomes are not evenly distributed among researchers. Women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), and academics from other marginalized groups experience especially severe mental health outcomes (Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). This pattern is partly because marginalized academics largely shoulder the invisible and emotional labor in their professional lives, often taking on additional commitments which can include providing mental health support to students and colleagues (Nicholls et al. 2022). The service burden (e.g., committees, administration, and cultural practice advisory roles) is higher on women and academics of color than on their colleagues, and adds to their already high workloads which further contribute to mental health pressures. Furthermore, institutional support structures are often inequitable with marginalized academics having the poorest access to required resources, despite these groups experiencing high levels of workplace discrimination, resulting in poorer mental health (Woolston 2020; Nicholls et al. 2022). Academia creates poor mental health outcomes for its members while canonizing virtues (e.g., self-sufficiency, resilience, competitiveness, determination) which prevent those members from seeking the limited and inequitable support structures that are available, with worse outcomes for marginalized groups. To combat this mental health crisis, systemic barriers to mental health support need to be removed while the culture of research careers needs to change (Gewin 2021; Nicholls et al. 2022). Further systemic changes will need to reduce the competing pressures (e.g., individual, supervisory, institutional) on ECRs that erode the necessary boundaries between their career and personal lives. As these changes are slow to be implemented or are resisted within institutions, some academics have shared mental health support strategies including organization tools, advice on setting boundaries, time management, building supportive networks, and the use of teletherapy across their personal and professional networks (Fig. 1). The ASLO ECC will provide a platform for peer support through the upcoming quarterly webinar series “Voices in Mental Health and Well-Being in Aquatic Sciences.” This series will provide information, tools, and techniques that attendees can implement to improve and maintain their mental health and well-being and learn to detect signs of deteriorating mental health in their peers, while using the webinars to build and join communities where we can support one another. Though the ASLO ECC members are not mental health professionals and cannot provide the support of trained experts, we aim to provide a safe space for peer support and open dialogue about recognizing and overcoming through support strategies the systemic factors that lead to poor mental health conditions in academia. The webinars will facilitate peer and panel discussions to address the common mental health challenges faced by aquatic scientists. If you have any comments based on this article, or if you would like to see specific topics addressed in the webinar series, please fill out the anonymous survey linked here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdH7f9QxPHvJKY_XLU2SXECFlqhGNEODwq_AH01ZGTGsnPcTw/viewform?usp=sf_link. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.