21st February 2025
13:00-15:00 (CET)
Online event

Deadline: 17.02.25 at 12h CET

Guest speakers:

• Dounia Bourbain (assistant professor at School of Social Sciences at Hasselt University, Belgium | Joy in Academia)
• Zakia Essanhaji (assistant professor at Vrije University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands |Joy in Academia)
• Anne-Wil (Emerita Professor International Management at Middlesex University, London, UK | Positive Academia)
• Christa Sathish Lecturer in Management & Marketing at the University of Westminster, London, England | Positive Academia)

Event description

Pursuing a PhD and being in academia more generally is a journey marked by significant hardships and challenges. Over the past three years, the IMISCOE PhD Network Board has engaged in ongoing discussions about the mental health struggles that often accompany academic life—stress, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, and fear of failure. These issues are deeply intertwined with a culture of hyper-performance and relentless productivity, coupled with the precarious working conditions in many universities.
 
Yet, after years of talking about these challenges, we began asking ourselves a fundamental question: what is it that keeps us here? 
 
Dounia Bourbain and Zakia Essanhaji from the podcast Joy in Academia along with Anne-Wil Harzing and Christa Sathish from Positive Academia will join us to share their experiences and help us to understand better what brings joy and happiness in our PhD journeys.
 
Indeed, while the journey through academia is filled with hurdles, it also offers unique, positive experiences that bring us meaning and even joy. There’s a reason we chose this path and why many of us stay, finding purpose and fulfillment along the way. Whether it’s the camaraderie of friendships with colleagues, the freedom to explore ideas, a sense of intellectual community, the inspiration of teaching, or simply the joy of reading and writing, academia can be a deeply rewarding experience. We believe that joy is a powerful force—and if shared, it has the potential to transform academia and our journeys within it.
 
In this workshop, we invite speakers who have found joy in their academic work, each in their own way, to share their insights. Through their stories, we hope to inspire each other to recognize and cultivate moments of happiness, optimism, and passion in our academic lives. By sharing and celebrating these experiences, we can help shift the focus from the hardships alone to a more balanced perspective, making the journey through academia more rewarding for ourselves and those around us. 

Speakers bios:

Joy in Academia   

• Dounia Bourabain is assistant professor of sociology at the School of Social Sciences at Hasselt University. Her work centers on sexism and racism in academia investigating the struggles and resistance of minoritized academics in the European context.
• Zakia Essanhaji is assistant professor at Vrije University Amsterdam. She is a sociologist interested in issues of intersectional feminism, politics of knowledge production and diversity and inclusion. 

Positive Academia

• Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international  business or have made significant contributions to the AIB.
• Christa Sathish is a researcher of Organizational Culture & Change and a Lecturer in Management & Marketing at the University of Westminster. She is an all-around, transdisciplinary researcher who enjoys theoretical and empirical research using mixed-method research approaches, and digital methods. As co-founder of Positive Academia CIC (Community Interest Company) her passion is to make academia a better place for everyone.

How do I register?

Right here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtuLbGAITWm0E9AwcehK3XxQe4A7R_t2jON_5skBhWjzRE6A/viewform