Positive Academia

This week is a call to foster Resourcefulness! Fostering resourcefulness leads to enhanced problem solving, creativity, adaptability, collaboration, interaction and supports the building of positive and resilient organizational cultures.

This week is a call to foster Responsibility & Accountability. Fostering responsibility and accountability leads to enhanced trust and integrity, improved performance and innovation, and strengthened organizational resilience. These benefits collectively contribute to a more positive, effective, and sustainable organizational culture.

This week is a call to prioritize our mental wellness and recognize its impact on academic excellence. Mental health refers to our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. Good mental health helps us manage stress, relate to others, and make sound decisions.

This week is a call to Speak Up. Speaking up in academia can significantly enhance our well-being by fostering positive, supportive and effective interaction in our organizational cultures.

This week is a call to foster impartiality. Being impartial requires us to cultivate an attitude and behavior that allows for fair and non-judgemental decision-making, interaction and communication with others.

This week is a call to mindfully evaluate your caffeine consumption and understand how it influences your energy levels. Are those morning cups of coffee and afternoon energy drinks actually the reason you feel so drained and unfocused?

This week is a call to be resilient. Being resilient is crucial for navigating the many challenges and setbacks in our academic lives. It allows us to bounce back from adversity, maintain our mental and emotional well-being, and supports our adaption to changing situations.

This week is a call to be courageous. Being courageous is vital because it catalyses the embracement of risk, the challenging of norms, and fosters innovation and creativity. Courage drives positive organizational cultures within which individuals voluntarily confront risks and stand up for what they believe is right. Thus, courage helps us to break free from standardised, taken-for-granted routines and fosters positive-change-making in our organizational lives.

This week is a call to be kind. Small acts of kindness play a crucial role in fostering supportive and flourishing cultures, leading to a sense of belonging and positive interactions among colleagues and students alike. Ultimately, small acts of kindness not only enhance the wellbeing of individuals but also enrich the academic community as a whole.

This week is a call to foster curiosity. Fostering curiosity supports building cultures of innovation, creativity and continuous learning. Such cultures encourage the seeking of new knowledge, exploration of new perspectives and the questioning of existing practices and behaviour, leading to improved resilience, problem-solving, creative thinking, adaptability to changes, and inclusive relationships.

This week is a call to foster respectful interaction. Fostering respectful interaction is pivotal for creating a supportive and inclusive environment within which we feel psychologically safe to communicate our ideas, collaborate with others and to resolve conflicts constructively. It also improves team dynamics and promotes a positive organizational culture characterized by trust, respect and transparency.

This week is a call to become optimistic. Optimism serves as a catalyst for positive change, enabling individual and collective envisioning and pursing of goals. Optimistic leaders inspire confidence, motivation, and a sense of purpose among their followers, thereby improving organizational culture, performance, and well-being.

This week is dedicated to using the right etiquette when addressing someone in academia. Addressing someone correctly is important because it is pivotal for building positive relationships, maintaining professionalism, and showing respect and consideration for others.

This week is dedicated to reaching out in academia. Reaching out is important and because it enables you to put things in perspective, to deal with feelings and thoughts, feeling safe and secure (Novak, 2016). 

This week is dedicated to creating positive co-authorship in academia. Co-authorship brings various benefits such as enhanced creativity, innovation, efficiency, networking opportunities, inclusivity, and the ability to work on more ambitious projects than we could do alone.

Referring to Christa Sathish’s recent Reflections on the completion of AMR’s Bridge Reviewer Program , this week is dedicated to creating positive academic reviewing culture.

The crisis in academic reviewing refers to various challenges within the peer-review process, such as reviewer disengagement due to heavy workloads and prioritising the quantity over quality of publications. The increasing volume of submissions requires more engaged reviewers who are willing to spend more time, time they do not have, on reviewing. This can affect the effectiveness and quality of our peer-review processes and ultimately lead to poor academic writing and theorizing and lower quality contributions.

The AMR Bridge Reviewer Program is an excellent example of how collective and positive actions in academia can lead to holistic, constructive, and inclusive peer-reviewing. The program provides opportunities for ECRs and PGRs and includes those who may not have easy access to review to join the academic reviewing community

#actionsinacademia #positiveacademia #proactiveacademia

Referring to Anne-Wil’s blogpost on proactivity in 2020, this week is dedicated to Being Proactive in Academia. Success in academia doesn’t happen overnight: it requires lots of hard graft, initiative, and resilience, and of course a dose of pure luck!

Every career is different and so are everyone’s life circumstances. So, measure your “success” based on your own goals, values, and circumstances, not on “internalised external goals” derived from a mythical person such as the “world’s most successful academic”.

Realise though that much of your academic career can only be shaped by one person: you!

This week is dedicated to humour in academia. “When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the doctor ordered” (Mayo Clinic, 2024) and there are various benefits (such as stress relief, fostering social bonds, or improved immune system) So, let’s make our daily struggles (e.g., stress, long working hours) and heavy burden of responsibilities easier by cultivating humour in our daily lives and academic cultures.

Everyone loves a freebie. Everyone loves a present.

Academics are no different. But most of them prefer a very specific freebie: books!

So, if you are a senior and/or well-resourced academic, why not make a difference this week by being a book fairy? There are at least three ways you can be a book fairy.

“You are unique, resilient, and constantly growing. Embrace who you are, and let yourself feel proud of all that you have accomplished and all that you will achieve in the future” Tanvi Vyas

We believe that everyone should celebrate themselves as often as they can, no matter how big or small the achievement. The need to perform at high levels requires resilience and focus.

We warmly invite you to join other Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and Early Careers Researchers (ECRs) in this onsite event at the University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, London.

This event is designed to foster debates and conversations that support your Postgraduate or Early Career Research journeys. The aim is to facilitate creative approaches to research and collaborative learning, helping us understand how to build positive relationships and co-produce knowledge that address challenges in the complex research, teaching, and organisational cultures that we navigate. Additionally, this event will be a great opportunity to find and develop collaborative relationships and micro-support systems within the Positive Academia Network for PGRs and ECRs. By participating, you will pioneer a unique global support network designed to make positive differences to universities worldwide.

This month’s edition is dedicated to Creativity in Academia.

This month’s topic is dedicated to -We Are All Different-

This month’s topic is dedicated to “Happiness is a good flow of life” – Zeno

This month’s topic is dedicated to “Happiness is a good flow of life” – Zeno

At Positive Academia, we understand the importance of taking care of your well-being as a PhD student. Pursuing a doctorate can be challenging, but with our dedicated support program, we are here to help you navigate through the ups and downs of your academic journey. Our PhD Wellness initiative offers a range of resources and workshops tailored specifically to support your physical and mental well-being. From stress management techniques to strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance, we’ve got you covered. Join our network of like-minded researchers and let us empower you to thrive in your PhD studies. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated with the latest news and events. Together, let’s create a positive and nurturing academic environment for all.

At Positive Academia, we believe that the wellbeing of academics is of utmost importance. We understand the challenges and pressures that come with pursuing a career in academia, and we are committed to creating a positive and nurturing environment for all. Our mission is to support junior and senior academics by providing resources, workshops, and a supportive community. From our dedicated PGR Support program to our PhD Wellness initiative, we aim to empower researchers to thrive in their academic journey. Join our network and let us help you make a positive difference in and for your university. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated with the latest news and events. Together, let’s build a positive academia where wellbeing truly matters.

At Positive Academia, we understand the importance of taking care of your well-being as an educator. Teaching can be demanding, but we believe that prioritizing your own well-being is essential for creating a positive and nurturing learning environment. Our Well-Being Activities for Teaching offers a range of resources, strategies, and workshops designed to support your physical and mental well-being. From mindfulness exercises to stress management techniques, we provide you with the tools you need to thrive in your teaching journey. Join our network and let us empower you to create a balanced and fulfilling teaching experience. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated with the latest news and events. Together, let’s build a positive academia where well-being matters.

Are you ready to unlock the power of interconnected learning? At Positive Academia, we believe that learning is more than just acquiring knowledge in isolation. My Interconnected Learning Guide is your roadmap to a vibrant and collaborative learning experience. Discover innovative teaching practices, and engage with diverse perspectives. Join us in shaping the future of education and embrace the endless possibilities of interconnected learning. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated with the latest trends and insights. Let’s create a positive and inclusive academia together!

It was field trip time for our Master level students of the Multi Platforms Communication Module (2023-2024)! Together with Asher Rospigliosi Pallavicini, we visited the National Computing Museum at Bletchley Park. Many thanks go to Dr. Richard Berry (Head of the School of Management and Marketing) who agreed to fund the trip and Josh Scott from the Wellbeing Support Team who assisted me with all the administrative tasks! You made this enriching experience possible, and it would not have happened without you 😊! Many thanks also go to Aisha Dhama who assisted and supported me with various tasks during the trip. I am very grateful for your help, and it made a very positive impact on my own experience 😊