Shifting and persosting in the face of failure: Learning from what did not work
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Pickering, Ryan M.
Date Issued
June 1, 2025
Abstract
Social justice activism demands coordinated, concentrated efforts to move the needle in a positive direction. In the author's nine years as a social justice educator, he led multiple large- and small-scale projects for social justice within higher education. In many ways, those efforts failed to create a lasting impact. In the higher education ecosystem, they also took away time from the kind of promotable work which would benefit his case for tenure and promotion. Trying - and failing - to effect institutional changes left him emotionally, psychologically, and physically exhausted. Beyond that, he suffered from feelings of loneliness, exclusion, and lack of direction. For a long time, the author blamed himself for the failure to change the institution to be a place in which he felt comfortable. He also failed to cope with these negative experiences and emotions, often seething in frustration or anger or avoiding similar situations of vulnerability or creativity. It took years for him to remember and internalize lessons of persistence and shifting appraisals in order to maintain motivation for action and survive the stressors of working within an oppressive system.
Journal
Creating a Faculty Activism Commons for Social Justice
Department
Psychology
Citation
Pickering, Ryan M., Creating a Faculty Activism Commons for Social Justice. 1st ed. 2025. "Shifting and Persosting in the Face of Failure: Learning from what did Not Work." 10.4324/9781032700069-3, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781032700069/chapters/10.4324/9781032700069-3.
Publisher
Routledge
Version of Article
Published version
DOI
10.4324/9781032700069-3
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
2025_Pickering_Shifting.pdf
Size
15.94 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d6d85ce8d9c8d417339fd94e41c7575a