Interacting with My Peers
Since starting the Health Sciences Research Fellowship (HSRF), I have had the chance to meet with the other fellows in the program and discuss our ongoing projects. Although all our projects fall within the health sciences (hence why we were accepted into this program), everyone comes from different research labs and are focusing on vastly different topics.
The most similar project to my own is Michelle Spratt’s project on the influence of Oligodendrocyte Meylin Glycoprotein (OMGp) on the risk of developing schizophrenia. Honestly, I could not tell you what a OMGp is or does since I haven’t take a biology class since 10th grade, but I found Michelle’s work really interesting because it takes a more neurobiological and experimental approach to studying psychosis risk while my work takes a more behavioral and ecological route. Another project that stood out to me was Sarvesh Acharya’s project on pain mechanisms in endometriosis. Both Sarvesh’s topic and methodology are completely foreign to me since I 1) have never even heard of endometriosis – which occurs when uterine-like tissue grows outside of the uterus, consequently forming lesions and triggering inflammation and pain – and 2) have only worked with human participants whereas Sarvesh works with mice subjects.
After listening to the other fellows describe their projects and being repeatedly asked to share my own, I realized how difficult it can be to communicate academic work in general and especially across disciplines. In academia, it is easy to become isolated within our respective fields and ignorant of advancements in others. These boundaries are further reinforced by niche terminology and a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration. But I think that is what makes the Health Sciences Research Fellowship so valuable: its dedication to providing undergraduate researchers with the necessary skills to communicate our work and opportunities to engage with students across various health science domains.
By the end of the fellowship, I hope to not only learn how to effectively communicate my work to a broader interdisciplinary audience but also explore new areas of health science research and potentially the intersectionality between our individual projects.
Personal Challenges in the HSRF
A particular issue I want to discuss in this blog post is the obstacles I have encountered as a social science researcher in the HSRF.
Whether it be a difference in study design (e.g., controlled laboratory experiments vs. observational studies) or methodology (e.g., cell culturing vs. self-reports), social science and STEM research tend to be differentiated from one another with STEM often being considered superior. One of the first things I noticed after starting the HSRF is that I am the only social science student in the fellowship while everyone else comes from a STEM-related field. And if I’m being honest, this was and is still incredibly intimidating.
I’m not addressing this issue to propose a solution or criticize anyone and their work – in fact, all the fellows are so fun to work with and are so passionate about their respective projects – but instead acknowledge a potential barrier for early-career social science researchers. Interdisciplinary interaction naturally opens the door for social comparison and feelings of inadequacy. However, interdisciplinary interaction also opens the door for both academic and personal growth, figuratively popping the disciplinary bubble in which we isolate ourselves.
As Dr. Brett Say (our fellowship advisor) said during our first seminar, “no one’s research is inherently more important than anyone else’s”. This saying stuck with me because I think one of the hardest parts about being a part of such an interdisciplinary fellowship is that interacting with the other fellows really challenges what I think I know about research and what I consider “important”. Of course, I think my project is an important contribution to my field and to my personal journey as a researcher. But so does every other researcher in this fellowship and in academia.
In contrast, there have been many times when I felt my research was not as good or as complex or as important as the other fellows’, which in turn made me question my place in the fellowship. But that’s the thing. Everyone, and I mean everyone, feels some level of “imposter syndrome”. It is the most universal feeling in higher education, and it will never go away.
If there is one thing I have learned in this fellowship and would like others to take away from this blog post, it is not only to respect other people’s work and journey as researchers but also to recognize the value of your own.
See you in the next one!