Self-care for academics: a poetic invitation to reflect and resist

In newspapers and blogs, on Twitter, and in academic papers, stories of struggling academics abound. Substance abuse, depression, failed relationships, and chronic illness are the casualties of a neoliberal university sector that values quantity over quality and demands ever more for ever less. Within the academic literature a growing counter-movement has called for resistance, collective action, and slow scholarship. Much of this work, however, has focused on strategies that can be applied within academia. Little has been written about the activities that academics do outside the university; activities that have no purpose other than enjoyment, rest, and renewal; activities that represent the valuing of the self as a human being, rather than a means of production; activities that could best be defined as self-care. Using reflective practice to construct a poem comprising three voices, this paper explores those activities. This poetic representation is an effort to create time and space for the authors, and a manifesto to encourage other academics to demand and protect the time, space, and reflective practice that are essential to both personal wellbeing and quality research and education.     

The Transition Experiences of British Military Veterans

The aim of the current research was to investigate the transition experiences of British military veterans upon exiting the military and rejoining civilian society, asking the specific research question: What effect does the transition from military to civilian life have on the individual's identity? Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was employed and seven semistructured interviews were carried out with ex‐military personnel. Analysis of the data revealed three superordinate themes: (1) Several Selves: Identity; (2) Soldier and Society: Separation, and (3) Transition Time: Personal Perspective. Current findings suggest that transition from the military back to civilian life is often problematic, with identity complications, feelings of loss, and disconnection both from the military and from society in general. Individuals with a more salient military identity had more difficult transition experiences. Findings are discussed with reference to theories of identity formation, maintenance, and salience and recommendations for future research are made.     

The ‘Blueprint’ framework for career management skills: a critical exploration

This article examines the Blueprint framework for career management skills as it has been revealed across sequential implementations in the USA, Canada and Australia. It is argued that despite its lack of an empirical basis, the framework forms a useful and innovative means through which career theory, practice and policy can be connected. The framework comprises both core elements (learning areas, learning model and levels) and contextual elements (resources, community of practice, service delivery approach and policy connection). Each of these elements is explored.     

The interplay of controlled and automatic processing in the expression of spontaneously inferred traits: A PDP analysis

Inferences made about actors influence subsequent processing about those actors. Three experiments conducted in the context of spontaneous trait inference (STI) making demonstrate that such influences occur can either occur via automatic processes or via controlled processes. Results from Experiment 1 demonstrated that processing goals manipulated prior to encoding actor behavior affected the extent to which STIs automatically influenced subsequent responses but did not alter the extent to which STIs influenced those responses via controlled processes. Results from Experiment 2 showed that the extent to which STIs affected subsequent responding via the action of controlled processes were more affected by a delay between exposure to an actor behavior and the response task than the extent to which STIs affected task performance via the action of automatic processes. Finally, results from Experiment 3 showed that participants' subjective experience of awareness of their trait inferences is related to estimates of the extent to which controlled processing is involved in the production of their future responses but not to estimates of the extent to which those responses are affected by automatic processing.     

Authoritarianism and arranged marriage in Bangladesh and Korea

The relationships between authoritarianism and attitudes about arranged marriage were studied in Bangladesh and Korea. According to regression analyses (N = 417), authoritarianism was positively related to support for arranged marriages in closed-ended and open-ended responses. Authoritarianism was also negatively related to open-ended discussions about the importance of love in selecting a partner and in the importance of emotional connection in establishing a relationship. Replicating prior results from the US on women, authoritarianism was related to desires to marry individuals who were gender-typed, traditional, and with narrow interests. Despite some differences in patterns of relationships due to gender and country of origin, the findings support the general hypothesis that authoritarians are invested in maintaining the traditions of their culture.     

Why is Everyone So Anxious?: An Exploration of Stress and Anxiety in Genetic Counseling Graduate Students

Stress is an inevitable part of daily life. Studies of graduate student stress exist, but none include genetic counseling students. The present mixed-methods study investigated 225 genetic counseling students’ stress and anxiety levels using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al. 1983), frequency and intensity of stressors associated with their graduate experience, positive and challenging aspects of their experience, and their stress management advice for prospective students. Principal axis factor analysis yielded five conceptual factors underlying the stressors: Professional Uncertainty, Personal Life Events, Interpersonal Demands, Academic Demands, and Isolating Circumstances. Exploratory model fitting using regression yielded four significant predictors accounting for 19% of the variance in state anxiety: (1) trait anxiety, (2) the Interpersonal Demands factor, (3) the Isolating Circumstances factor, and (4) the interaction between the Professional Uncertainty factor and advanced student status. Content analysis of open-ended responses identified several themes. For instance, most students enjoyed what they were learning, interactions with colleagues, and affirmation of their career choice, while certain academic and professional challenges were particularly stressful (e.g., workload, time constraints, clinical rotations). Additional findings, program implications, and research recommendations are provided.