Embodying well-being in research: key principles and praxis.

Abstract

Research increasingly points to well-being as a public priority, integral to the health of individuals and communities. In response to pressing societal challenges, many researchers seek to produce scientific knowledge that advances understanding and cultivation of well-being. Academic culture rightly uplifts the products of well-being research-the knowledge that improves people's lives. However, relatively less attention is paid to fostering well-being in the process of conducting such research. Indeed, recent research indicating high rates of anxiety and depression (20%-50%) amongst graduate students and postdocs, suggest a troubling paradox: that the prioritization of well-being research outcomes may come at the expense of researchers' own wellbeing. Early-career scholars, who assume substantial demands within the scientific enterprise, are especially impacted by this tradeoff. Yet, they are uniquely positioned to re-envision a praxis for research that embeds well-being in both its products and processes. Developed by an interdisciplinary coalition of early-career scholars, this perspective paper identifies key barriers to fostering well-being in research, and in turn, proposes four guiding principles and corresponding practices: 1) cultivate belonging, 2) center communities, 3) question cultural systems, and 4) embody cultural change. In turn, these principles aim to advance the societal impact of well-being research through community-based, participatory approaches that promote solidarity between researchers and communities historically excluded from the research enterprise.