Understanding researcher鈥檚 experiences of failure in academia and identifying recommendations to better support research careers in higher education
Understanding researchers鈥� experiences of failure in academia
Failure or non鈥憇uccess are a common part of academic research careers. Experiences such as rejected grant applications or papers, critical peer review, or not being promoted are often treated as individual shortcomings rather than as outcomes shaped by wider research cultures and systems. This can have significant impacts on researchers鈥� wellbeing, confidence, and career trajectories.
This project explores how academic researchers experience failure across different career stages, disciplines, and backgrounds, and asks what kinds of support are most meaningful in helping researchers navigate non-success within higher education.
Background
This study builds on our earlier work, Re鈥慶ontextualising Research Failure in Academic Research Culture, which synthesised existing research on academic failure and wellbeing. That work highlighted that failure is not a single or straightforward concept, but something experienced differently depending on career stage, discipline, institutional context, and personal circumstances.
You can explore outputs from the earlier project, including interactive visual and audio resources, on our Safe to Fail pages:
Developing a Safe to Fail Research Culture
While the previous project used the findings from the literature to develop a framework of recommendations to support healthier research cultures, academics who engaged with the work felt that those recommendations did not always reflect the complexity of lived experiences of failure. In particular, there was a need to better understand how failure is shaped by structural pressures, expectations, and inequalities within academia.
About this project
The aim of this study is to develop a richer understanding of researchers鈥� lived experiences of 鈥渇ailure鈥� and non鈥憇uccess in academia, and to identify recommendations that better support research careers in higher education.
We are conducting in鈥慸epth qualitative interviews with academic researchers from across the UK, including early, mid, and late career researchers working in both STEM and SHAPE disciplines. We are also seeking to reflect diversity in researchers鈥� backgrounds and experiences.
During interviews, participants are invited to talk openly about their experiences of non鈥憇uccess, how these have affected them, what kinds of support they found helpful or unhelpful, and what they believe needs to change within universities and the wider research system.
What will this project deliver?
Findings from this study will be used to:
- Develop an updated, experience鈥慽nformed set of recommendations for supporting researchers through failure and non鈥憇uccess
- Produce a short report for higher education leaders, managers, and policy鈥憁akers
- Publish a peer鈥憆eviewed academic paper
- Create accessible blogs and visual resources for researchers
- Update existing Safe to Fail materials to reflect lived experiences of failure more closely
An online end鈥憃f鈥憇tudy event will also be held to share findings with higher education managers and policy鈥憁akers.
Why this matters
By centring researchers鈥� lived experiences, this project aims to challenge the individualisation of failure in academia and contribute to research cultures that recognise non鈥憇uccess as a normal and often productive part of academic work. In doing so, it seeks to support healthier, more inclusive, and more sustainable research careers.
Find out more or contact us to take part via our study email: