We have a tendency to explain behaviours through people's personality while underestimating environment.

Those who face disadvantage are often disbelieved by others when they describe that disadvantage.

The result is that we often blame individuals when disadvantage and systems are the problem.

Imagine two doctoral students with similar intelligence, motivation, and ambition. One progresses steadily through their PhD. The other has a child during graduate school, experiences difficulties with supervision, falls behind, and eventually develops significant mental health problems.

Years later, early colleagues will likely remember one as "promising" and the other as "difficult in character."

But what if those descriptions overlook the most important part of the story?

Psychologists have long recognised the fundamental attribution error: our tendency to explain people's behaviours by their personality while underestimating the influence of their circumstances and environment. Most of us are quick to conclude that a student is disorganised, difficult, or lacking resilience, even when their behaviour may be an understandable response to an exceptionally challenging environment. Ironically, despite teaching this principle, academia is not immune to it.

Graduate students occupy an unusual position. They are expected to produce original, high-quality research while often lacking many of the employment protections available to academic staff. Depending on the institution and their funding arrangement, becoming a parent........

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