Community

“A lot that goes on in that external environment of the self as the candidate that impacts upon someone’s ability to have a positive experience. A candidate may not feel valued by their supervisors, or that they’re a part of a research culture. If you’re not a part of some kind of community, then it’s very difficult to see the worth in your own work when nobody else does. There’s this to-ing and fro-ing between having that positive affirmation. Yes, this work is valued and affirmed by others. At the same time, by getting that feedback, you can then see the value yourself. So, we need, as institutions and lecturers and staff, to take responsibility for the way that we treat those who are conducting research. We need to value their contributions and to recognize that they are on a journey. And these can be very demanding journeys to try and support somebody on for supervisors as well. But researchers need to feel that they are personally valued and professionally making a contribution of value. And I don’t think we always do both or even only one of those things actually terribly well.”

(Kim Beasy)