By Jordi Cabanas-Danés
Ah, the familiar rush of panic that invaded me when I first got asked to present my PhD results at our monthly group meeting. What results?! All I had were a bunch of failed experiments... How was I going to get good results in just a couple of weeks?!
Why was I convinced that showing my failed attempts was simply not an option? Reflecting on this now, I realize this was probably a symptom of an academic culture centered on output-oriented success, where the unspoken rule of hiding your failed attempts prevails. How redundant this is when failure is an integral part of success, perhaps even more so in the realm of scientific research and discoveries than in many other fields.
In fact, research (pun intended) has shown that optimal learning occurs when the task/knowledge in question allows for about 15.87% chances of failure.1 In other words, failing too little will hamper learning and improving. Sometimes others' failures pave our path to success, or previous generations' failures guide us. More often, our own failures from taking risks determine our chances of success. In any case, failure is a valuable teacher.
The fear of failure in academia
Why do we systematically neglect failure as part of success in academia, despite its importance for improvement? I believe that the fear of failure in academia stems from a series of unchallenged unspoken convictions. Such an environment, in which convictions are by default taken as absolute truth, will make embracing failures very scary and we’ll tend to do everything to avoid them.
Let’s think critically about the following question as an example: What makes someone a good PhD candidate? Can you really come up with an honest answer without the filter of your fears? Perhaps without the fear of failing, the answer to this question is not straightforward, as it will depend on your own goals, the expectations of others and all what uncontrollably happens during your own unique PhD trajectory. However, if we don’t confront ourselves, we’ll probably be tempted to answer something like: “a good PhD candidate is the one publishing a lot and in good journals”, “the one who works night and day”, or “the one that comes up with the best ideas (despite what the best ideas might be)”.
The cult of success: publication metrics
Next to our convictions, there are the success metrics used in the academic system. Unfortunately, more often than not, success is still measured by publications in research journals and the research impact is coupled to the impact-factor of such journals, often disregarding the real societal impact. Feeling that your career and success depend on such metrics can be very daunting and push you into a rat-race, in which you often condemn yourself for what you haven’t achieved rather than reflecting on what you have tried, and what you have learned.
Fostering a culture of learning and growth
Despite the many efforts out there to expand the success metrics beyond publications, we are and I’m afraid we’ll still be long confronted with an output-driven system. Does that mean that there’s absolutely no room for using other metrics? Of course, there is. In fact, incorporating other metrics in our daily lives can, in turn, positively impact the publication metrics because we will have a stronger sense of pride and satisfaction and perhaps this will also translate to stronger publications or ideas.
What am I talking about? For example, why not celebrate small victories instead of only celebrating output? Giving a presentation for the first time is something to celebrate, or learning a new technique, or having tried a new experiment. In the current culture, most of us don’t give ourselves any credit for that, let alone celebrating failures. Perhaps if we invested more time in celebrating, reflecting and learning from our mistakes, we wouldn’t have to worry about the publication metrics as this would merely be the output of a growth process and not the sole goal to achieve.
Do you recognize yourself in this article? The PhD advisors are here for you. Get in touch with us for a consultation (phdadvisor@amsterdamumc.nl).
- Wilson, R.C., Shenhav, A., Straccia, M.et al.The Eighty Five Percent Rule for optimal learning.Nat Commun10, 4646 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12552-4