As we head towards the end of 2021, we have taken some time, as an editorial team, to reflect on the past 12 months. With another year of journal club and WSPD blogs under our belt, as well as a successful second e-Conference and the introduction of netECR Collective Care, we are extremely grateful for the support of our ever-growing netECR community and the contributions that our members make to the network and to the field of suicide and self-harm research as a whole. As a community we now stand at 104 members strong, from 15 countries across the world.
With Christmas less than a week away, we were keen to know what was top of our members’ academic Christmas lists this year. Some told us of their hope of reaching personal milestones such as completing their PhDs, publishing their research, and obtaining post-doctoral funding. Others sought after specific changes in the field of suicide and self-harm research such as more meaningful involvement of patients and members of the public, putting a stop to “measuring” the quality of qualitative research by using positive concepts, and more research looking at recovery and protective factors. One member requested that Santa asked all of the journals if it would be possible to formal articles to the house style after they have been accepted for publication. Now, wouldn’t that be awesome…
But, most notably, the most common wishes on our members’ academic Christmas lists centred around hope of overcoming the challenges that are often faced by early career researchers (ECRs). Many wished for greater job security and expressed a desire for permanent contracts to be more commonplace for ECRs and one member hoped for more opportunities to get funding to support dissemination and knowledge exchange work, beyond academic publications, for ECRs. Others appealed for academia and research teams to be more diverse, inclusive, and accessible to all. For example, one member suggested a need for a mentoring programme to support ECRs from low and middle-income countries and underrepresented groups from high-income countries. Other wishes were related to supporting research well-being. There was a clear desire for more supportive research environments that respect people’s boundaries and encourage and role model work-life balance. Similarly, members expressed a wish for a shift in culture that truly supports wellbeing and does not prioritise productivity and outcomes above everything else. A plea was made for appropriate emotional support to be provided to ECRs in suicide and self-harm; one member proposed that PIs costing clinical supervision for researchers could be part of this solution. A desire for more space for reflective practice was also expressed alongside a wish for more time and to think, write, and just breathe…
Finally, a hope for the return of in-person conference to share research and ideas with others in the community was shared as well as a wish for some positive vibes in 2022. We can certainly get on board with that and hope to be able to see you all soon.
Thanks to everyone who shared their Christmas wishes for 2021 – we would love to hear more about what would be top of other people’s lists, so do tweet us at @netECR.
Thanks very much to everyone who contributed their thoughts, reflections and wishes for this blog and supported the community throughout the past year. Our team will be offline until the 10th of January. So, all that is left to say is that we wish everyone who is celebrating a happy holiday (whatever that may look like for you) and we look forward to seeing what 2022 has in store for netECR.
netecr.org 