Si de por si, la academia ya pide mucho de nosotros: resisting the productivity syndrome using [chis]temonios

Abstract

This study illustrates how six BIPOC students practice self-care in their graduate programs at a PWI. Findings—reported as [chis]temonios, testimonios written in gossiping style—suggest that the participants practice self-care by attending to their bodies, immersing in their cultures via food & music, actively pursuing their communities, loved ones, & mentors, and staying true to themselves as their definition of success, a definition oftentimes not endorsed in academia. Overall, the findings suggest that the participants practice self-care by prioritizing themselves strategically and creatively within the academy. The major themes include: reclaiming time, rhetorical herencia, ancestral remembering, self-care in the academy, authenticity, capitalism in graduate school, productivity syndrome/the grinding, and platica as an alternative qualitative methodology.