Description

Emily chats with Dr. Mohamad Nadim Adi, who debunks the myth that it’s impossible to leave then return to academia. Nadim discusses the mental health benefits of starting his own business and volunteering for an organisation that made him feel valuable, before deciding to give academia another shot.

Nadim opened up previously, in episode 8, about perfectionism, a micromanaging Post-Doc supervisor & leaving academia for a few years.

This discussion includes:

• Debunking the myth that it’s not possible to leave then return to academia
  
• What it is about doing your own work that’s beneficial from a mental health point of view eg. Control over decision making, a unique skill set (as the people around you are no longer all researchers) etc.
  
• Navigating starting a business when confidence is low
  
• Liberation and control after the first few difficult years of starting a business
  
• Performing a successful “pilot experiment” for the business before going all in
  
• Continuing to volunteer at a research organisation to maintain a link to the “academic world.” For Nadim it was:
  • Post-Doctoral Fellows Association, University of Alberta – for representing and serving the needs of PostDocs from all faculties.
    
  • Canadian Association of PostDocs – which at the time aimed to get PostDocs considered as employees, rather than trainees. The label as trainees had implications such as unavailable parental leave, employment insurance, pension or work permits for international PostDocs.
    
• Volunteering can help address the isolation inherent to research.
  
• Taking baby steps with commitments to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
  
• Seeking support systems in the midst of difficulties may blind you to what’s available.
  
• Striving for a healthy lifestyle to avoid repeated burnout.
  
• Highlighting to younger researchers that you might not end up in academia and that’s ok.
  
• Trying to avoid always taking work home with you – focus on yourself.
  

Nadim is also available on LinkedIn

The full transcript of the podcast is available here, with many thanks to Dan Ranson

For mental health support, please contact your GP or use the appropriate support for your country at https://checkpointorg.com/global/

If you’re interested in being interviewed, we’d love to hear from you. Please submit this brief form.

You can find out more about Voices of Academia & other personal stories at@academicvoices or our website.

Recorded 14/01/2021.

Sound: Mindset and Hard Sell by Ketsa is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available through Free Music Archive.