In this essay published in the Journal of Management Studies, I defend a ‘Joyful Scholarship’ to inspire change in academia. As scholars, our work is often measured in narrow metrics and citations; this undermines not only the mental health of researchers but also produces conformist research. By reclaiming pleasure—defined as the intrinsic satisfaction found in meaningful values—we can trigger a positive snowball effect across individual, collective, and institutional levels. I invite readers to envision a more inclusive academia fueled by the joy of discovery.
The Fabric of Joyless Scholarship and the Power to Transform
As a young scholar, I have been through it—and I am not alone. There is a burdensome feeling to joyless scholarship, where the publication of one article provides no time for enjoyment before the next task begins. Our academic environment is built on a form of professional suppression of pleasure; we confuse conformity and rigor with the urge to turn away from our needs and desires as individuals. In this system, we are conditioned to trade actual enjoyment for ‘achievement coupons’—those extrinsic validations like impact factors and h-indexes that rarely satisfy our deep intellectual hunger.
Indeed, this joyless culture can only deprive us of our deeply personal desires. Reclaiming pleasure is therefore not just an option for academia, but a spark to challenge our practices and institutions. Pleasure can trigger a positive snowball effect: it is a path to reclaiming our identity as scholars, building more inclusive collective practices, and inspiring institutional leaders to support lasting change in our academic culture.
What is Joyful Scholarship?
Drawing on my own experience as a young scholar, I define Joyful Scholarship as the pursuit of research that resonates with our unique voices and identities. More than ephemeral enjoyment or superficial ‘fun’ at work, it is the intrinsic satisfaction found in the values that make our work meaningful: it is the excitement of fieldwork, the passion in writing, and the genuine connection found in sharing results with colleagues. This pleasure is the powerhouse of academia, providing the energy required to sustain a long-term commitment to the scientific process and the courage to venture into uncharted intellectual territories. When we prioritize what we genuinely find meaningful, we break the cycle of conformist research and exhaustion. Following our ‘compass of pleasure’ allows us to reclaim our individuality and build authentic belonging with our peers.
My Call to Action
To transform academia, we must intentionally leverage pleasure as a catalyst for institutional change, beginning with our own individual agency. For young scholars, pleasure serves as an internal compass, helping us navigate amidst external pressures to find a unique and authentic voice. Moving to the collective level, we can reshape our rituals and build collective belonging. PhD programs, for instance, could integrate ‘growth goals’ that treat personal passions and a healthy work-life balance as essential engines of scientific training. Indeed, we can further cultivate ‘pockets of enjoyment’ in our daily interactions—imagine lab meetings or conferences that open not with a metric, but with a ‘surprise’ or a ‘delight’ discovered during our research process. Sharing with others what we enjoy in our work also means building more authentic connections.
At the institutional level, leadership can inspire change through pleasure. Deans could formally recognize and reward the ‘less visible’ labor that sustains our community, such as dedicated student mentorship or the slow and complex work of transdisciplinary collaboration. Finally, journal editors have a unique opportunity to let pleasure shine in articles; by introducing a ‘personal postscript’ at the end of articles, editors can allow authors to share the 200-word story behind their data. Together, these shifts in our rituals and practices can build a more inclusive environment where creativity is fueled by genuine pleasure.
Why it Matters
This shift is urgent because the current ‘hustle culture’ in academia has become unsustainable. Academia is increasingly shaped by performance pressures and metrics that treat scholars as output producers rather than real individuals; this joyless environment leads to isolation and a breakdown of collective trust. Worse, when academia fuels productivity at the cost of pleasure, it endangers the integrity of the scientific process itself. Choosing to collectively prioritize pleasure is a necessary step to ensure the sustainability of academia and the science we produce. Joyful Scholarship is not about indulging in laziness; it is about making our research more interesting, more relevant, and more inspiring.
From Joyful Scholarship to Desirable Futures
As I reflected on my journey as a young scholar, I wanted to insist that another culture for academia is possible—one rooted in collective pleasure and meaning. This essay is an invitation for scholars and institutional leaders alike to rethink how we value the intrinsic drive for research and the pleasure of discovery. Ultimately, moving from ‘joyless’ to ‘joyful’ scholarship has the potential to empower the next generation to pursue a more vibrant and inclusive scholarship—and build the desirable future we long to inspire.
