Why “Success” in Science Often Feels Unsustainable - And What to Do Instead

On paper, many scientific careers look successful long before they feel sustainable.

Roles with increasing responsibility. Leadership opportunities. Permanent contracts. Recognition from peers. Progress.

And yet, behind the external markers of success, the internal experience is often very different.

Work begins to occupy more mental space than it used to. Decisions feel heavier. The boundaries between professional and personal life become less defined. Even when things are going well, there can be a persistent sense that maintaining this pace indefinitely may not be possible.

This is more common than most people realise, particularly among capable, thoughtful scientists who care deeply about their work.

It is also rarely a reflection of personal weakness.

More often, it is the result of how scientific careers are structured.

The hidden cost of progressing

Scientific careers tend to reward endurance.

From early training onwards, success is closely linked to persistence, productivity, and the ability to manage increasing complexity. Over time, responsibilities accumulate: managing projects, supervising others, navigating institutional pressures, making decisions with incomplete information.

What changes most significantly is not always the number of hours worked, but the cognitive and emotional load carried.

You may find yourself:

• Mentally replaying decisions long after the workday ends

• Holding responsibility for outcomes you cannot fully control

• Supporting others while having little structured support yourself

• Feeling that stepping back, even briefly, would have consequences

This type of load is often invisible. From the outside, everything appears to be progressing well. Internally, however, it can create a growing sense of strain.

Many people respond in the only way they know how: by pushing harder.

For a while, this works.

But effort alone cannot solve structural strain indefinitely.

Why capability is not the problem

One of the most harmful misconceptions in scientific culture is the idea that if something feels difficult to sustain, the solution is simply to become more efficient, more resilient, or more disciplined.

In reality, many of the scientists who struggle most with sustainability are the ones who are the most capable and committed.

They are trusted. They are relied upon. They take their work seriously.

What is often missing is not motivation, but design.

Scientific careers are rarely taught as systems that can be shaped intentionally. Instead, they are inherited, built gradually in response to opportunity, expectation, and external pressure.

Without realising it, people can find themselves in roles that no longer fit the life they want to live, or the person they have become.

Not because they made poor choices, but because they never had the space to make conscious ones.

Sustainable careers are built, not stumbled into

Sustainability does not happen automatically with seniority.

It requires periodically stepping back to ask questions that are easy to postpone:

• What parts of my work genuinely matter to me?

• What parts are costing more than they give back?

• What pace is actually sustainable for me, not just expected of me?

• What would I need to change to continue doing this work long-term?

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These questions are not signs of disengagement.

They are signs of stewardship, of taking responsibility not just for your output, but for your capacity to continue.

When careers are designed intentionally, rather than passively accumulated, something important shifts.

Work can remain ambitious without becoming all-consuming.

Progress becomes something that supports your life, rather than something your life must continually accommodate.

There is another way to grow

Sustainable career growth does not mean wanting less.

It means building a way of working that allows you to continue, intellectually, emotionally, and practically, without sacrificing your health, relationships, or sense of self along the way.

For many scientists, this begins not with dramatic change, but with clarity.

Understanding where you are. What is driving your current strain. And what adjustments would make the greatest difference.

Often, the most meaningful changes are not visible from the outside.

But they are deeply felt from within.

Closing reflection

If you have ever found yourself questioning whether your career, as it currently exists, is sustainable, you are not alone.

And you are not behind.

You may simply be at the point where endurance is no longer enough, and design becomes necessary.

That is not a failure.

It is a transition.