The past decades have shaped the world of academics in ways never before imagined. The advent of the Digital Era has upped the game for scholars, bringing technology to the forefront in levels that allow for global access to information and, on the opposite spectrum, world-wide competition for grants, scholarships, and recognition.
This increased competition has forced scholars to have to rise up to the challenge of becoming innovators in their academic field. The benefits of more challenges have brought the world information and products that are unique and incredible, but it has also created an increasingly stressful environment for researchers.
Key Factors in Academic Innovation
To understand the reason behind the stress and drive researchers have to rise up amongst their competition, it’s important to recognize the key factors that go hand-in-hand with academic innovation. The top factors include:
● The organizational structure of the researcher and the opportunities they are afforded, including the procedures the must follow, the duties and expectations they are required to complete, and the way these are addressed in the institution they are working inside of as far as how much pressure they are under to complete their work to a certain level
● The amount of communication between the researcher and the superiors, including the managers, stakeholders, funders, professors, and administration in an institution
● The stakeholders who are involved in the research project and how much they are attempting to influence the design, processes, and outcome of the work
● The rules, policies, and regulations the researcher must follow in order to keep their funding, adhere to the principles and expectations of their institution, and follow the code of societal ethics and norms.
These factors work together to create a picture of how much stress the researcher is under to compete and rise above others to drive academics through innovative work.
Adding Challenge as a Fifth Factor
The four key factors previously addressed have affected academic innovation in ways that a standard researcher can feel pressured and stressed to appease. But adding in challenges from other scholars as a fifth factor spurs on innovation at the same time it increases stress and mental illnesses.
According to recent data, more than 50% of university researchers and staff claim that they are stressed because of their work. Burnout is a serious problem for scholars who feel the need to ensure they are constantly staying ahead of the competition. Striving for innovative outcomes that change society in order to obtain a Ph.D. or keep their credentials in good standing is a pressure-filled target.
Competition spurs innovation, but it also encourages researchers to work long hours, avoid their personal life problems, turn away from social engagement, and neglect their physical health. More than 40% of postgrad students admit to chronic symptoms of depression, feeling high stress, or other mental health struggles.
Competition Can Create Stability
However, when these challenges are met and a researcher makes a name for themselves as an academic innovator, there are benefits that come with it. As a legitimate scholar, researchers can enjoy the confidence of more job autonomy and their enhanced role in making decisions for their research without being micromanaged. Administrators, superiors, and stakeholders are more likely to be supportive of ideas and work, improving the researcher’s overall satisfaction with their jobs and giving them more time to spend on the research itself instead of seeking approval.
While the competition on a global scale does increase the high-pressure environment in research, it also allows for high visibility and the potential for innumerable rewards for the scholar who is able to reach innovative peaks.
Stand Out from the Crowd With Impactio
When the pressure is on and competition in your field is high, you want to do everything you can to stand out without succumbing to the mental stress. Impactio can help save you time and hassle with our all-in-one platform that takes you from research to publication seamlessly.
With Impactio, expert scholars spend more time doing the research and less time putting together their work for submission. Impactio’s easy-to-use program lets you drag and drop your work into text sections and easily create charts, graphs, and tables to display your data. Your final product becomes a professional PDF document or a web page that’s ready for open access publishing or other viewings.
The expert researchers around the world know Impactio is the way to go when you want to follow your work after it has been published. Impactio’s citation indicator program shows you a clear picture of your audience so you can decide what’s working and what isn’t to drive your next research project. From there, set up your academic profile so you can communicate with other scholars around the globe in the Impactio community.
Everything you need to do the academic side of your work is available with Impactio, so you can move on to the hands-on innovative research that you’re passionate about!