“Flow” and the Life of an Academic

 

I love my career.  Being a scholar and teacher, and writing on this blog (which I have been doing now for over 15 years) are all richly fulfilling and intrinsically rewarding.  In this post I will link my work experience to the positive psychology concept of “flow”.

Academic work is laborious work, and as a career it has a great deal of uncertainty and stress associated with it.  Let me start off by detailing what some of these stresses were for me in the first few years of my career.  Doing so is a helpful way to frame the question- “Why choose this career path?”

Firstly, there was the stress of landing a tenure-track position after my PhD.  Each year there are only a very limited number of positions in one’s discipline, let alone area of specialization.  There are also a multitude of qualified applicants from around the world applying for those limited academic positions.  So the first significant career hurdle and stress every new PhD faces is landing a TT job in a very competitive job market.  This is very stressful and it can take many years to achieve.  A junior scholar must often survive by taking whatever limited employment opportunities happen to arise when they enter the job market, such as a postdoctoral position, adjunct teaching or short-term positions. These temporary positions enable one to meet the financial necessities of life while continuing to publish and gain some teaching experience.

I myself persisted in this uncertain state for 3 years post PhD.  My first job at Aberdeen University was a one year position (son #1 was born then).  My second job at Birmingham University was (initially) a 3 year position (and son #2 was born there).  When completing year 2 of that position I was fortunate to be offered a permanent position at Manchester University, at which time Birmingham countered with offering me a permanent position (but I really wanted to work with Hillel at Manchester, so I left Bham for Manchester). 

Before getting offered a permanent academic position I estimate I must have applied for around 75 academic jobs in total, and was interviewed for a dozen or so academic posts. I can recall being interviewed for positions in the following universities between the years 1999 and 2003:  Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bradford, Essex, Heythrop College (London),  Kentucky, McMaster, Manchester, Oxford, Reading, Queen’s University Belfast and Warwick.  The job interview process itself entails lots of additional stressors as one must prep for job interviews and talks and take the time to travel while also doing one's regular teaching and research.    

After (or if) one has landed a TT position, then the second major task a junior faculty faces is securing tenure over the next 5-6 years.  This means additional years of stress- writing and trying to get published- but also teaching, attending conferences, and providing service to the dept, university and discipline.  And add to this parenthood and life/career balance, and I think everyone in academia would agree that the life of an academic is not (on the whole, there may be moments when one does experience intense happiness) the hedonic happy life.  After tenure the pressures continue if one aspires to be promoted to Full Professor. 

I start by highlighting the above to help motivate my framing of what the positives of a career in higher education are, at least for me.  Given all the pressures and anxiety associated with aspiring to become an academic, why do it?  The wrong answer is that such a career promises a hedonically satisfying life (e.g. many people think professors enjoy an extended summer “off” when in reality that is the busiest time for research and writing!).  And I think it is important to know that before deciding to pursue such a career path.   

My positive answer to the “why do it?” question is two-fold.  Firstly, being a professor (much like fatherhood) provides an immense sense of purpose and meaning in my life.  By learning about the plight of humanity, and critically reflecting on the successes, failures and setbacks we have endured, my career affords me the privilege of satiating my curiosity every single day.  I am very passionate about the subject matter I cover in my courses and publications, and thus teaching and writing about these topics provides significant meaning to my life.  I see myself as a “foot soldier” in the battle to help advance knowledge, intellectual humility, cognitive flexibility and practical wisdom over the epistemic vices of dogma, intolerance, navel gazing, arrogance and tribalism.  As a participate in this battle I myself must constantly grow and learn how to refine the exercise of epistemic virtue, thus scrutinizing my own assumptions and biases.  Being a foot soldier in this battle is not easy and it is a never-ending struggle.  And yet it provides significant meaning to my life.

The second answer to the question- Why choose a career in academia?- is that such a life offers many opportunities to experience “flow”.  Flow is often described as a state of complete mental immersion.  When I am reading and writing, for example, I am fully absorbed in the activity.  The last paper I wrote was on the public health lessons to be learned from the 50^th anniversary of the war on cancer.  Writing that paper took me into fascinating intellectual spaces- ranging from learning about the infectious diseases of the early 20^th century (like polio and malaria), to the rise in obesity and physical inactivity and the successes and setbacks facing new cancer diagnostics and treatment options.  For weeks on end I was completely immersed in research, and writing and revising that paper.  The month of February 2021 is pretty much a complete blur as I did little outside of work on that paper. 

I also experience flow when teaching, at both the preparation stage and when actually meeting in-person with the class (for me the time always flies by so fast during a lecture or seminar).  I enjoy teaching so much I also volunteer teach in prison and organize a local philosophy meetup group so that I can spend my free-time conversing about philosophical questions with people that are not academics (but share my passion and curiosity for the topic).

Csikszentmihalyi (1997) represents flow in the image above- when perceived challenges and skills are above the actor’s average levels (why they are below, apathy is experienced).

I emphasize flow because I think it captures the most significant career rewards of being an academic.  The academic life is not about hedonic pleasures, but it can offer purpose, meaning and flow.

Despite all the stressors, anxiety and uncertainty academics face, the profession offers them the opportunity to experience a lifetime of flow. 

The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile”

(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)

My academic work is not the only source of flow in my life, nor does all work entail flow (grading and admin work are non-flow work for me).  Parenthood, exercise and sports, cooking! and socializing are all important contributors to my flow as well. 

My experience of the bread and butter activities of being an academic (i.e. teaching and research) is that they contribute to my flow, while also contributing stress and anxiety for me.  I wouldn’t trade this life for any other.  The academic life, while not easy, has certainly been a rich and rewarding experience for me (given my intellectually curious nature and minimally risk-averse attitude towards job security in my late 20's and early 30's). 

Cheers,

Colin