Coping with Academic Rejection

I got a request to republish my recent Twitter thread here on the blog! Voila! I’ll do a revised and expanded version in a few weeks.

I know that lots of folks are getting academic rejections this week. As a hardened reject-ee, I just wanted to pass on some advice, for what it’s worth.

1. The success or failure of other people has no relationship whatsoever to your value and worth as a person and as a scholar.
2. 90% of academic hiring and success is based on factors that are completely unknowable and unpredictable. It could be the weather, what someone had for lunch, the type of font you used in your cover letter. In other words, it has nothing to do with your abilities.
3. Academia is roughly comparable to olympic-level athletes, in the sense that we are all at the top of our game, competing for an extremely small number of jobs.
4. For my Canadians, SSHRC is particularly a problem here, since we are often being judged by non-experts who might have to get through hundreds of applications in a week. So again, not getting a SSHRC is not a reflection on the value of your research.
5. To give you an example. The first year I applied, I got recommended but not funded. The second time, I got a “not qualified to do this research.” Same exact project.  I still don’t get it.
6. Academic rejections are really hard, and can make us feel like our work is never good enough, that we are worthless, and that we are failures. Part of this is because we’re conditioned from a young age to think that our academic achievements are a reflection of our self worth. This is especially true for grad students and new grads, since we’re often the real keeners, and being recognized as academically brilliant has become part of our identity. But the truth is that you are brilliant. Your achievements do matter. Going to grad school is really hard, and getting an MA and a PhD is even harder. We tend to lose sight of this, since we are surrounded by people with letters after their names. No one and nothing can take these achievements away from you. Because holy crap, you are awesome, just as you are. Like seriously. And I think we need to tell each other this more often. But that’s a whole other Twitter thread.
7. Academia is not life. Let me repeat that. Academia is not life. And academic rejection is not the be all and end all. This is just one particularly crappy moment in an otherwise amazing and full life.
8. I hate to quote Baz Lurhmann at you, but I think this is really important: “Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, And in the end, it’s only with yourself.” (and yes I know this was written by Mary Schmich.)
9. Any and all feelings that you are having right now are legitimate. Don’t let anyone tell you to cheer up, try again next time, or any of those other stupid platitudes. This f-ing sucks. Be sad. Be mad. Punch a pillow. Spend a week in bed. Do whatever your heart is telling you to do. I like rage-running myself. That’s when I go running, and bitch on the phone to a friend about how I hate the universe.
10. Take as much time as you need to process these feelings.
11. Remember that it does get better. Human beings are remarkably resilient, and that includes you. As painful as this is now, these feelings will eventually fade. Remember that years from now, when you are a super successful awesome person (inside or outside of academia), you’ll look back and wish that you could tell yourself that it does get better. Because seriously, it does.
12. Lean on your friends and loved ones. That’s what they are there for. My personal fan club has gotten me through really tough times. Your personal fan club will help you. Because as much as academia can suck, there are some awesome and supportive people here too. Just to give you an example, I just saw .@profhistorygeek‘s tweet. One day I had a really bad evaluation that made me feel like I was the worst teacher ever. So she took me out for french fries! 😉 Clare is good people. French fries will solve most problems.
13. Since I seem to be on a Baz Lurhmann kick, it seems fitting to end with another quote: “Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.” But trust me on the french fries. 😉

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