Changing Academic Life

In this episode the tables are turned and I'm being interviewed by Nutan Limaye who hosts the ‘Life of a Researcher’ podcast.  Nutan is an Assoc. Professor at the IT University Copenhagen. We met when she was a participant in one of our residential academic leadership development courses in 2024.  

We talk about my unconventional career path starting in social work, moving into nursing and midwifery, then finding myself in computer science and human-computer interaction, and now doing more leadership and academic development work. As with many career stories, serendipity figures a lot, along with a strong people-centred red thread that weaves through all the various turns. 

Nutan also asks about how the academic leadership development courses came about, and how we facilitate learning experiences on hard topics like challenging conversations. And we talk about themes that have arisen in the podcast. Along the way we also touch on interdisciplinarity, and academic mobility and what is home. This is a slightly edited conversation from the version she released end of June 2024, shared with her permission.

I'm releasing this now as a complement to my careers article in the Feb 25 edition of Communications of the ACM

Overview

00:29 Introduction

02:41 Nutan's Introduction to the Podcast

05:09 An Unconventional Career Path

07:34 Transition to Computer Science

11:08 Shaping Interests around People-Centred Perspectives

14:21 How Research Evolved as Technology Evolved

17:14 Reflections on Changing Paths

23:12 The Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research

28:03 Supervision Serendipity

34:21 Leadership and People-Centred Academia

42:21 Designing Learning Experiences about Challenging People and Conversations

48:23 Insights from the Session

50:06 Motivation and Themes of the Changing Academic Life Podcast

55:41 Academic Mobility and the Concept of Home

01:05:13 Non-Rapid Fire Questions and Reflections

01:14:11 Outro

01:15:00 End

Related Links:

Nutan Limaye 

Life of a Researcher podcast and episode A conversation with Geraldine Fitzpatrick

Nutan’s LinkedIn profile 

My CACM article:

Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Fit for People, Fit for Purpose: Designing Tech that Matters, CACM, Feb 2025 Issue, Vol. 68No. 2, Page 7.

Other CAL Episodes mentioned:

Sarah Davies - two parts:

• On mobility, precarity and notions of excellence
• On luck, disrupting excellence, and cultures of care

Neha Kumar: On choices, authenticity and the power of the collective

Karen Stroobants: On changing research culture and reforming research assessment

Vikki Wright is the director of PhD Life Coach and offers professional coaching and training for PhD students and academics. She also hosts the PhD Life Coach podcast. Up until 2022 though Vikki was a full professor of Higher Education at the University of Birmingham in the UK, with a research background Sport and Exercise Sciences, then shifting to more of a teaching focus.

Vikki shares her interesting journey from full professor to becoming a life coach. The conversation covers her career transitions, dealing with ADHD, the importance of self-awareness, along with self-compassion, curiosity and having realistic ambitions. She also shares role-based time blocking as an approach for effective self-management. These practical tools and mindset changes can be useful for us all to help us take more control of our lives and careers. Vikki also offers insights into her programs and coaching approaches for PhD students and academics.

Overview

00:00 Intro

00:29 Episode Introduction 

03:10 Guest Introduction

03:27 Academic Journey and Career Transitions

03:56 Challenges in Research and Shift to Teaching

07:29 The Teaching Path to Full Professor...and Pandemic Reflections

11:27 Discovering Coaching and Personal Growth

17:37 Understanding ADHD and Coaching Transformation

26:35 Balancing Ambitions and Realistic Goals

30:58 Self Understanding and Being Her Own Best Boss

37:25 Recognising and Addressing Student Challenges

41:24 The Role of Self-Understanding in Supervision

45:31 Self-Compassion

49:37 Curiosity

51:35 Balancing Ambition and Realism

01:00:04 Role-Based Time Blocking

01:09:52 Final Thoughts and Resources

01:11:36 Outro

01:12.24 End

Related Links

More about Vikki’s offerings:

‘The PhD Life Coach’ podcast

‘Be your own best boss’ course

Vikki’s podcast episode on ‘How to use role based time blocking’

The PhD Lifecoach ‘The Membership’ - sign up Jan 2025

Vikki's LinkedIn page

People:

Dr Alex Conner 

Other podcasts: 

‘I have ADHD’ podcast, Kristen Carder  

The Life Coach School, Brooke Castillo

As we leave 2024 and embark on the new year, I want to share the reflective template I used for myself, playing with the LP (long play) record concept. I introduce the table structure of the personal, people, play, and projects (Ps) categories, paired with reflective components like land, love, labor, and learn (Ls) for the past year review, and look forward, let go, let grow, and let be (Ls) for the next year. I share some illustrative examples from my own reflections of 2024, including milestones, achievements, and lessons learned. And I share some of the feedback from you that helps make the work of this podcast worthwhile – thank you! I hope this encourage you too to reflect on your LP last year, celebrate your accomplishments, and be more intentional on how you approach the coming year.

You can download the LP template here.

00:29 Episode Introduction

02:29 Introducing the LP Table Template

06:27 Reflecting on my 2024 Landings

16:10 What I Loved and What Feels Like Labour

19:13 What I Learned

23:21 Taking Time to Savour and Celebrate

25:06 Celebrating Feedback on the Podcast

31:42 Looking forward to the 2025 LP

36:44 Wrapping Up and Summary

39:48 Final Pointers

41:01 Outro

41:50 End

Related Links

Past Episodes:

Remembering Volkmar Pipek - on being curious, being you

Liam Bannon (Part 1) on a career outside the box – April 2024 

Liam Bannon (Part 2) on values & what matters – Sept 2024 

On research identity, meaningful work and funding (solo)  - Jan 2024

RW9 Progress and praise – July 2021 

Other links:

Linked In Post by Rachel Ratz-Lubashevsky on the research identity episode

HCI Group, TU Wien 

Online Academic Leadership Development course – Spring 2025, early bird deadline 2 March 2025

To explore more of my offerings: geraldinefitzpatrick.com 

Evan Peck returns to discuss his career evolution since our last conversation in 2017. The focus is on his initial choice to join a liberal arts college post-PhD, emphasizing the balance between teaching and research, how his research evolved, and on his career goals then. Evan then talks through his move to the University of Colorado Boulder, detailing his motivations and the strategic thinking behind the transition. He reflects on the impact of his work in responsible computing and data visualization and the importance he places on aligning career choices with personal values and goals. Evan also discussed the nuances of working in different academic environments and how he continues to prioritize student mentorship and educational impact.

 Overview

00:00 Intro

03:21 Welcome Back, Evan!

04:33 The Appeal of Liberal Arts Colleges

06:26 Making Academic Paths Visible

09:31 Balancing Teaching and Research

13:21 Shifting Research Interests

22:40 The Move to Colorado

24:40 Integrating Ethics in Computing and Wanting More External Impact

33:50 Reflecting on Post-Tenure Decisions

37:16 Exploring New Opportunities

40:46 The Unexpected Offer

43:34 Transitioning to a Research Institution

47:26 Adapting to a Larger Institution

53:18 Balancing Work and Family

54:30 Reflecting on Career Choices

01:00:16 Final Thoughts and Advice

01:03:05 End

Related Links:

Evan's CU Boulder web page and his personal web page and LinkedIn profile

2017 podcast episode with Evan and his blog post

Özge Subaşı is the Director of Futurewell: CoCreation and Wellbeing Group in the Media and Visual Arts Department at Koç University in Turkey. In this episode, Özge shares a journey from industrial design to interaction design, with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and justice. The work with visually impaired children and older people significantly influenced Özge's transition into human-centered design. Özge's story reflects a life of multiple relocations—whether moving schools as a child, transitioning disciplines, or navigating new countries and cultures. Özge describes “always coming from somewhere and not being in the system.”

The episode emphasizes the importance of holding true to core values, such as listening without prejudgment, fostering open communication, and caring for both the individual and the community. Özge's practical examples illustrate how these values influence research and teaching choices, as well as navigating trade-offs, particularly while completing an evaluation document. The discussion also addresses challenges with Özge's depression during the academic journey and strategies for maintaining personal wellbeing. Additionally, the episode highlights some difficulties faced by academics in Türkiye, including engaging with the international community and managing issues related to travel and visas.

Özge's commitment to personal values, to trying different ways of being an academic researcher, and to fostering an empathetic and inclusive work culture is really inspiring.

Overview

00:00 Intro

00:29 Episode Introduction

03:37 Introduction and Background

04:39 Early Career and Education

08:10 Transition to Interaction Design

11:50 Values and Philosophy

14:15 Challenges in Academia

18:07 Building a Collaborative Culture

26:37 Balancing Academic Expectations

34:42 Navigating Academic Trade-offs

36:04 Embracing Personal Values

38:36 Prioritizing Mental Health

42:26 Building Supportive Environments

47:00 Challenges in Academia

53:45 International Collaboration and Travel

01:02:22 Concluding Thoughts

01:04:36 End

Related Links: 

Futurewell: CoCreation and Wellbeing Group, Media and Visual Arts Department, Koç University

Özge’s LinkedIn page 

Özge on Instagram @allthefooldays (personal page on food & family) and @sozges on X

Continuing our culture theme, I revisit past podcast conversations that explore how to foster positive research environments and cultures. We hear from people such as Elizabeth Adams, Tanita Casci, Jolanta Burke, Janet Reed, Alex Taylor, Kia Hook, and Lindsay Oades, who share their experiences and insights on creating a sense of belonging and collegiality within academic settings. Their stories emphasize recognizing individual strengths, promoting transparency, celebrating achievements, and the importance of supportive management practices for bringing out the best in people. Hopefully you will take away practical ideas and inspiration, and recognise the importance of both micro-actions and collective efforts in creating supportive, transparent, and inclusive cultures.

00:00 Intro

00:29 Episode introduction - fostering good cultures

03:48 Glasgow Uni's Research Culture Awards

07:51 Jolanta Burke on positive organisations

09:53 Janet Read on flexibility and supporting people with young families

11:47 Janet Read on know your team

12:32 Janet Read on bringing out the best in people

16:14 Alex Taylor on the power of the collective

22:25 Kia Höök on Fika

25:50 Lindsay Oades on autonomy, rationales and leeting people they are valued

29:58 Wrapping up

33:18 Outro

34:05 Repeating what Lindsay said

Related Links

Past episodes used in this curated episode:

Creating better research cultures together

Tanita Casci and Elizabeth Adams on supporting, rewarding and celebrating a positive collegial research culture (from May 2021)

Jolanta Burke on burnout, harmonious passion, positive workplaces & helping others (from Nov 2017)

Janet Read on charm bracelets, finish tape & the work to be a complete academic (from May 2018)

Alex Taylor on research at the boundaries, moving from industry to academia, the labour of academia & the power of the collective (from July 2019)

Kia Höök on challenges of success & value of slowing down and re-connecting (from Feb 2017)

Lindsay Oades on academic wellbeing, connecting to strengths, meaning and purpose, and not taking the system too seriously (from Sept 2018)

And others you can search for on Changing Academic Life who also talk about culture (among many others): Sarah Davies (part 2), Mark Reed, Karen Stroobants, Elizabeth Churchill.

Continuing the theme of great research environments, I explore how to contribute to creating great research cultures with a focus on the concept of psychological safety. I contrast the prize winning example we heard about in the last episode with examples of experiences with poor research environments. This leads to a discussion of the value of psychological safety as defined by Amy Edmondson, and others for enabling creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Psychological safety is about creating conditions where people feel safe speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns and mistakes and that foster a learning culture. I discuss practical strategies for leaders through their everyday interactions for fostering such an environment and enabling innovation, collaboration and personal growth and wellbeing. And I finish up with an invitation for all of us to reflect on our role in cultivating a supportive and inclusive academic culture.

00:00 Intro

00:29 Introduction to Creating Great Research Cultures

00:52 Recap of Prize-Winning Research Environment

02:38 Understanding Psychological Safety

03:40 Examples of Poor Research Environments

10:37 Defining Psychological Safety

12:21 Historical Context of Psychological Safety

15:42 Research on Psychological Safety

21:31 Psychological safety as key factor in Google's great teams

23:03 Leadership and Psychological Safety

24:15 Role Modeling and Self-Awareness

26:46 Fostering Belonging, Inclusion and Learning

29:18 Co-Creating Research Culture through our Actions

31:20 Conclusion and Reflection

Related links:

Previous podcast episode with Line, Nicklas, and Nina on Danis Young Academy prize research environments

Amy Edmondson web page

Amy C. Edmondson and Shike Lei, Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. Vol 1:23-43, 2014. 

Amy C. Edmondson. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley. 2019.

Pat Thomson, Blog article - Felling like an imposter?

Pat Thomson, feeling like an imposter?

Google’s Project Aristotle

Royal Society, Research Culture Embedding inclusive excellence: Insights on the future culture of research. (Tom Welton quote on culture p6)

What are the ingredients for creating a supportive, inclusive research culture? Nina Molin Høyland-Kroghsbo from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences , Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology at the University of Copenhagen discusses the Research Environment Prize established three years ago by the Danish Young Academy to promote and celebrate good research environments, as experienced by early career researchers in those environments.  

We are joined here by the 2024 prize winners, PhD students Line Maj Sternberg and Nicklas Stott Venzel who nominated their Research Unit in Psychology of Sport, Excellence and Health at the University of Southern Denmark. They share what makes their environment great, and how the group translates their research on what makes a great sports environment into what makes a great research environment. In particular, they talk about encouragement for taking initiative, a focus on long-term development, open communication, psychological safety, promoting mental health, and a sense of belonging, as key factors. Nina also reflects on the common themes that the awarding panel has seen across over a hundred nominations, such as belonging, collaboration, creative practices, and celebrating both successes and failures.

Overview:

00:34 Episode Introduction

03:26 Meet the guests

06:44 The Danish Young Academy and the Research Environment Prize

11:51 Line and Nicklas on applying sports research to academia

18:38 Building trust and open communication

22:34 Support for long term development and wellbeing

25:55 Psychological safety in research

26:55 Creative methods for sensitive topics

29:56 Common themes from nominated research environments

34:47 More examples of good practices

38:41 Having clear values

44:03 Learning from failures, celebrating successes

45:56 Value of good research culture for scientific integrity

49:51 Wrapping up, final thoughts

53:48 End

Related links:

SDU Prize announcement

Prize announcement by the Young Academy on LinkedIn

LinkedIn profiles for Nina and Line

In this solo episode (S6 E3) I invite us to rethink the concept of networking within academia, inspired by what the late Liam Bannon shared with us in our recent conversation and the evident relational impact he had on people. I encourage us, myself included, to view networking as being about the other person, not about us, and see it as an opportunity for forming meaningful impactful social connections. 

I offer some practical ideas for making networking about giving and helping others, based on the value of generosity, curiosity, and everyday interactions. In the end our real impact and success in academia are measured by the quality of relationships and the human connections we build, not by the titles or metrics we collect.

Overview

00:00 Introduction to Changing Academic Life

00:29 The Challenges of Networking

01:33 Rethinking Networking: Social Connections

01:48 Tribute to Liam Bannon

02:43 Personal Relations in Academic Careers

03:44 The Importance of Human Connections

10:16 Networking for Others

10:50 Practical Networking Strategies

17:17 Maintaining Connections

21:38 Conclusion and Call to Action

22:58 End

Related links:

Recent episode with Liam Bannon 

Gopinaath Kannabiran

Adam Grant, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania  

Update 22 Sept 2024: It is with deep sadness that I share Liam passed away this morning. May we honour his memory and his generosity in sharing his reflections by always reminding ourselves about what and who is really important.

Liam Bannon is a Professor Emeritus and founder and director of the Interaction Design Centre at the University of Limerick in Ireland. In April 2024 I released a conversation with Liam Bannon recorded in 2017 about his career, ending with a hint about some health issues. 

This is a follow up conversation with Liam from Sept 2024 where he shares his profound reflections on life, health, and academia, amid dealing with terminal cancer. Recorded from his hospital bed, Liam shares his journey since his 2015 stage-four lung cancer diagnosis and subsequent health challenges, including a brain tumour. Emphasising the importance of appreciating life, paying attention to how and with whom we spend it, and maintaining meaningful relationships, Liam offers invaluable insights on managing career pressures, the costs of neglecting personal connections, and the significance of staying true to one's values. Despite audio quality issues, this deeply personal and reflective conversation is a poignant reminder to reassess our priorities and strive for a life balanced between professional aspirations and personal well-being, and prioritising relationships.

Here is a pdf file of the transcript. There is also a transcript embedded with the audio that you can follow along with.

Overview:

00:29 Episode introduction

07:25 Liam’s health journey

12:11 Reflections on professional connections & relationships

21:22 Being reflective about 

25:37 Contributions & tradeoffs

31:04 Asking what do you want to do with your life

33:48 Prioritising people & relationships

38:50 Taking stock, taking holidays, being true to yourself

44:32 Wrapping up

46:16 End