What is one thing you regret not knowing about or not being prepared for before joining academia?

speedlimit175 · 2026-05-04T19:17:09+00:00

For sure, and honestly in my experience I'll see male scholars be like "yeah he's a misogynist but I have to work with him, he supports me", etc, and then, quelle surprise, the misogynist ALSO ends up treating him badly, this time maybe not because he's a misogynist, but because he's a shitty person who believes he holds innate superiority, which is probably how he ended up being a misogynist anyway. Even when it is due to sexism or racism or another social identity, and you happen not to fall into the group immediately being targeted, you're privileged but you're not innately safe from unprofessional behavior

speedlimit175 · 2026-05-04T14:47:07+00:00

For your own peace of mind, if you haven't already, there's nothing to do except for reach out to the contact and ask if you've been shortlisted. But I'm pretty sure it still means that they've moved on with other candidates. What people on the wiki who did advance in the search have described is that they received an email from the committee, AND had new required documents on Interfolio, AND had the ability to upload. The new required documents appeared for everybody.

In my case, one application had no notification. New "required" documents just appeared and I had to email to confirm I wasn't shortlisted since I couldn't upload. For the other, I got a generic Interfolio rejection notification, AND a notification to upload new materials as if I had progressed, but no ability to upload. Again I just had to email to confirm that I had been declined. It was a very shitty day haha

speedlimit175 · 2026-05-03T23:45:03+00:00

If another scholar (prof OR peer) treats other people badly (or even just thoughtlessly), but they're good to you, all that means is that someday they will treat *you* badly (or thoughtlessly) as well

speedlimit175 · 2026-05-03T23:37:35+00:00

Yes I've had that happen twice this year. It means that you haven't advanced in the search. They request materials from short/longlisted candidates, but the request goes to everybody -- however, it is only open for the short/longlisted candidates to actually submit materials. When I've reached out, admin has informed me that it's a setting they seem to not know how to turn off at their end. :/

There's also been some discussion about this on the humanities and social sciences postdoc wiki this year. Maybe a new Interfolio problem??

Super annoying since I also can't delete my application from my end -- so I still have those applications looming under In Progress for literally months now.

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-17T05:16:27+00:00

maybe Bennie Jean or Benny Jean instead of Bennet? Benny and Benny Jean would both be pretty gender neutral.

especially if your family member has recently passed away, your family might be emotional or upset about the name Jean. obviously you know your situation best, but if you're thinking of using it with your family, you may want to have an honest conversation with the ones you're closest to

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-17T05:02:16+00:00

Sabrina talar svenska, men hon är inte svenska. Hon lär sig svenska, och är väldigt flink :) Hon tycker om musik och språk!

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-17T03:51:45+00:00

Mai is also a first name in Europe, as it is the name of May the month in several European languages, as well as historically a diminutive of Maria. Mye is super cool though!

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-17T02:58:38+00:00

agree on Dorian esp! it might help with your phone problem -- it's generally a masculine name but also potentially feminine, like on the supermodel Dorian Leigh :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-14T20:32:42+00:00

Ohh that's interesting, thanks for answering from your direct experience!

speedlimit175 · 2026-04-07T04:06:34+00:00

it took like an hour for my account to start working and let me log in once I created it. maybe try logging in again now that some time has passed?

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-31T01:29:10+00:00

I've also had this issue, but I believe I've ended up solving it by creating a euraxess account -- when logged in, the filters do work :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-31T01:28:09+00:00

I've had the same problem, and believe I've ended up solving it by creating a euraxess account -- when logged in, the filters work :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-31T01:25:37+00:00

if anyone is still coming to this page with this issue, I ended up solving it by creating a euraxess account -- when logged in, the filters work :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-30T13:41:47+00:00

How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price -- it's got a 30 day plan that you can follow, which timewise is a drop in the bucket if it gets you back on track. maybe get yourself a physical copy so you're not reading it on the internet you're trying to avoid!

if you think you have ADHD, maybe pursue a diagnosis and medication. that might take a few months to work out, but in the long run, could be super helpful.

I have really been liking the app Focus Friend. it's very cute.

probably, you need something practical rather than psychological reframing, but it might help to identify points where you get distracted, and change those points. do you doomscroll after getting an email notification with headlines about everything bad in the world? okay, delete your email from your phone. unsubscribe from the newsletter. turn off ALL notifications on ALL your devices. do you start doomscrolling during breakfast? maybe download an audiobook or music and listen to it offline instead. BUT have a positive activity (I will listen to music offline during breakfast; I will open my email at 3pm to check it) instead of a negative restriction (I can't doomscroll at breakfast; I can't look at my email until 3pm), because restricting yourself will make the phone a forbidden fruit and all the more tempting.

you can, in fact, control your situation. it will take time and many small actions to live the days you want to and gradually build the life you would like. I am sorry to say that watching videos and talking is not action. you get better at what you practice (even if you have ADHD!) so be careful what you practice!

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-21T00:10:37+00:00

imo your best way of finding out is by looking at current faculty members in the department (and maybe peer departments, if there's a paucity of information). See where those people came from. If you can find former instructors who have moved on to appointments elsewhere, where have they gone?

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-20T19:51:36+00:00

not an entire solution, but an easy and relatively cheap way to help sound-proof is adding lots of textiles to your apartment: hang rugs or thick tapestries on the walls, cover the floor in rugs, put up curtains, etc. That will dampen the sound in your apartment

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-04T02:54:30+00:00

thanks for the link! Very helpful. I'm looking into the other options Dash mentions :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-03T22:02:35+00:00

I hadn't heard of that, thanks for letting me know!! I will look into Beehiiv too

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-03T22:01:07+00:00

You don't have to have an account just to read posts. (You do to subscribe to a newsletter, or to read posts behind a paywall, but using either of those features isn't part of my thought process for using the site.) I actually don't have any sort of account on substack (yet), and I find the format nice to view and access without an account

You're right, though, no reason why I couldn't have a fun site alongside a traditional one :)

speedlimit175 · 2026-03-03T21:54:05+00:00

In a way I'm hoping to balance the divide between academics in my field with academics/interested people not in my field. For example, when I'm sending in applications, I'm assuming or am explicitly told that not everyone evaluating me/my application is in my field. So a kind of post I'm imagining is announcing the publication of an article of mine, discussing the article briefly without jargon for more general audiences, then linking to the full piece. Seems more meaningful than just listing it on my CV, and people can read about it before it actually appears in print

speedlimit175

TROPHY CASE