DEWIS Virtual Coffee 20 December

20 December 2021 12:30 till 13:30 | Add to my calendar

How to find your balance among the high expectations of academia, internal / external pressures, overthinking & perfectionism?

Dear Women of TU Delft,

For the upcoming Virtual Coffee we decided to tackle an issue which has been silent for too much time: stress, anxiety, burnouts due to an overwhelming and demanding system.

Among those in academia, one aspect of the problem sometimes lies in the academic power dynamic (Stanford University, 2021), the high standards and sets of expectations. The prevalence of mental health issues in academia is, at least partially, a consequence of an excessive focus on conventional success measures – hours worked, papers published, funding acquired. We believe that an essential first step to addressing mental health issues is awareness. Understanding and addressing mental health in academia is vitally important to support the wellness of future scientific researchers. The key is creating a culture of support and prevention – this is what DEWIS aims to do for the women in academia.

Therefore, we are happy to invite you to the following DEWIS Virtual Coffee Meeting.

This meeting will be a warm-up for an upcoming (probably January) dedicated workshop on the topic of Mental Health: don’t miss it!

When & Where?

Come and join us Monday 20th of December from 12.30-13.30 hrs in an online inspiring conversation to discuss and reflect together 'Work-Life Balance & Coping with Stress'. 
A great theme to unwind and reflect together before the Christmas Holidays! 

How will the Session be structured?
Let’s ‘Pause’ together
Mindfulness & Breathing Guided Exercise
Special Guest Invite 
Anne Pluymakers will share with you her personal story and a few anecdotes about ‘Burnouts, Stress & Work-Life Balance’ especially in regards to Academia. She will highlight how she experienced a different mindset and culture of Academia in Norway and how we could achieve successful outcomes without risking burnouts.
Interactive Discussion about the topic
We prepared some interactive activities on the Miro Board to identify and map together your current challenges, external pressures and internal pushers. Then we will reflect on potential ways to deal with them so that you can find ‘balance’ in challenging times. 

  • What makes you feel under pressure?
  • How are you currently coping with stress and how do you manage external pressures (proposals to write, papers to publish, teaching schedules..)?
  • What are your signals alerting you of a potential burnout? Do you listen to them?
  • How and where do you find your balance?
  • How would you like the Academia (as an institution) helping you reduce or cope with stressful moments?
    • Are there existing programs or facilities for this? 
    • What else can be done?
    • What type of help would you need?

Get Inspired & boost your resilience!
As always, we like to provide you with some meaningful materials to boost your free-time and from which you can learn and get inspired.

TED TALKS:

PODCASTS:

BOOKS (& Articles) RECOMMENDATIONS:

Hope to see you at the next DEWIS Virtual Coffee!

Team DEWIS TU Delft

JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING HERE

Share this page: