Under construction

At a time when pain and destruction seem to be oozing from this planet, it is tempting to get into a spaceship and head for the stars. Short of that, listening to radio programmes about outer space can be a pretty good substitute.

26 November's Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 featured Dr Nicola Fox, NASA's Head of Science. I marvelled at her achievements, tenacity, honesty, and upbeat and (somewhat ironically!) down-to-earth character. NASA is an iconic institution which, in most people's minds, is full of people who feel on top of the world, reaching for the stars. We might assume they are full of calm confidence. This episode highlights how all kinds of emotions typify the (often very challenging) journey of a scientist.

I was particularly interested in Nicola's experiences as a university student. She mentioned that school was safe and supportive, while university felt very competitive and difficult emotionally. She felt one of the many people there, rather than someone unique and important; certainly, the transition felt difficult. To be fair, I feel that these days UK universities do a lot of fantastic work to provide the personalised support each student needs, with tutoring, counselling, and study skills support. Perhaps this did not exist to the same extent when Nicola was a student. But studying at university can certainly still be a challenging experience emotionally, and we need to make sure we can give effective personalised support in an age when Universities recruit more and more students.

Nicola also mentioned her supportive, inspiring, encouraging parents, as well as friends that mitigated her imposter syndrome. In her Ted-talk, she suggests she is still 'under construction'. This got me thinking about growth mindset – the belief that abilities can be developed, rather than being fixed – and about emotion and learning at university more broadly.

Situational and individual factors

As a university lecturer I often see that students struggle emotionally with different types of their university work, including essay writing, group-work, and speaking in seminars. Sometimes as educators we tell the students that 'well, yes, it's difficult, but life is difficult; the skills you are learning here will be very useful for you for your professional life'. I once said something to that effect to a student and their answer surprised me. They said they never had any problems with group-work within a professional environment, probably because the rules and consequences were clear. Yet they found group work at university very challenging: it was not guaranteed that all students in the group would contribute, and there were no clear consequences for that.

This made me realise that being a student can have additional (even artificial) complications and difficulties that are not necessarily reflected in professional life, and we need to avoid creating situations at university that are unnecessarily stressful and reduce students' confidence. I still think that the idea that university prepares you for professional life has a lot of merit; we just need to be aware that sometimes things are more complicated than that. Professional space and university are not one and the same; universities are not employers of students; they are sometimes more complicated spaces; and students need additional support as they go through a very transitional phase in life.

Changing the individual

However, even if we manage to design an ideal educational environment, there will be parts of the journey that will be very difficult for some students, as every individual is unique. Among other things, we have a lot to learn from psychologists who work on emotional regulation, i.e. managing emotions effectively and flexibly (such as my MMU colleague Dr Martin Turner). We could try to routinely measure emotional regulation strategies so that we can identify which students might need extra help in that respect, and offer emotional regulation training the same way we offer personalised support for study skills. That should help, for example, decrease excessive stress and anxiety that might have negative effects on students' life.

In the meantime, when students tell me that they struggle, I try to share my own struggles, past and present. I show them they are not alone – we all struggle, no matter where we are in our career. For example, when students discuss fears of, say, not passing a module, I share the fact that I did not get a grant recently, and discuss how I am coping with that. This is what Nicola achieved on Desert Island Discs – this very successful scientist, a leader in this iconic institution, feels like an imposter sometimes.

The programme also highlighted for me how important science communication is in putting a human face on science. Interestingly, I feel that engaging in science communication helps me with emotional regulation, development of ideas, construction, and re-construction of my professional identity. I sometimes think of my public engagement articles as public post-it notes to help me organise my ideas, thoughts, interests. I often discover things I hadn't realised before writing.

Changing the world

A student once mentioned that they struggled with the fact that formal scientific papers have no emotion, and that they must write essays and reports that are equally devoid of emotion. This lack of emotionality makes it more difficult to find the motivation to read papers and relate to the material. However, Dr Richard Stephens recently highlighted that science communication can really help understand difficult science if it includes elements of storytelling which readers can relate to on an emotional level. Perhaps this would ease the student's concern.

To me, this is a reminder of how important it could be to integrate elements of science communication in our curriculum. But science communication could do more. It can show us the human side of our science heroes; we then identify with them, and get a betteridea of what to expect in a scholarly career. And then it could help create alternative communities and even change the world for the better.

A good example of that is the wonderful podcast and associated The Psychologist article by Miche Robinson, our former MSc Conversion student (now doing a PhD in Loughborough). She interviews Music Mavericks; people who, like her, did not take the conventional route in the world of classical music. They made significant contributions to musical education, including help underprivileged children engage with music. This is how science communication can help provide a space where those with alternative views can connect with others and show us how they address difficult issues. That certainly beats internalising inequalities, giving up because they do not fit a certain mold. As a university lecturer, I am listening very carefully to the discussions that relate to how they felt when they were undergraduate and Master's students, and I will keep them in mind for my own practice.  

Other examples of the ability of science communication to change the world for the better, are Independent SAGE (which contains several brilliant psychologists) and the John Snow project. Both of these independent organisations examine the science behind Covid-19 and explain it in an engaging way. Their evidence-based public health policy has certainly influenced me to remain cautious to protect myself and others, including wearing FFP3 respirators indoors, using air purifiers, making sure indoor spaces are ventilated, and using online communication wherever possible.

Driving positive change

There was another part of Nicola's Desert Island Discs appearance I could relate to: her excitement when a NASA employee invited her to apply for a job at NASA at a conference. Recently, my application to become a member of the Psychologist and Digest Editorial Advisory Committee was successful. It really was a dream-come-true, and that's because I'm passionate about the role of scholarly communication outlets such as The Psychologist in promoting more marginalised voices in order to drive positive change.  

What I'm beginning to hear across various offerings is presenters and interviewees expressing the full spectrum of emotions and having a nuanced discussion around how to navigate and improve structures and find more inclusive creative pathways of expression and connection. Universities themselves have adopted public engagement to discuss innovative practices. That's testament to their willingness to re-construct themselves and provide more effective education and support to students. But they are big organisations, and sometimes that can make change slower and more difficult.

So thank you, Nicola, Miche and others for playing your part by being so open and honest about your amazing journeys. I think it will inspire all of us (especially students) to aim high, not be afraid to ask questions, and follow our dream even if we might feel like imposters. Let's remember, we all have our unique strengths and weaknesses, and we are all on an adventure. We are all 'under construction'.

• Dr Aspasia E. Paltoglou is a Chartered Psychologist, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. [email protected]

- Listen to Nicola Fox on Desert Island Discs