Early Career Researchers’ Experiences of Post-Maternity and Parental Leave Provision in UK Politics and International Studies Departments: A Heads of Department and Early Career Researcher Survey

Abstract

<jats:p> Supporting increasing equality and diversity in the recruitment and retention of Early Career Researchers from the widest pool of talent available is high on the agenda of universities and policy makers. Notwithstanding this, the demanding nature of academic careers has a disproportionate effect on Early Career Researchers, who may face indirect obstacles in their career development particularly following a period of maternity or parental leave. Our research seeks to expose the nexus of challenges, from job insecurity to the pressures of raising new families that Early Career Researchers face during this critical juncture in their career trajectory. Focusing on Politics and International Studies Departments in the United Kingdom, we document the institutional mechanisms that exist to support Early Career Researchers returning from maternity and parental leave through a Heads of Department and an Early Career Researcher survey to gain an understanding of needs and the impact of institutional measures. Adopting a feminist institutionalist analysis, we map gendered outcomes in the university, through formal and informal rules, which mitigate against those Early Career Researchers taking maternity and parental leave. We end by identifying specific measures which would help to ensure that the university is more supportive of Early Career Researchers taking maternity and parental leave. </jats:p>

Publishing in library and information science journals: The success of less experienced researchers

“…Wanelik et al [43]). A similar approach is recently used, although a shorter time frame is being used as the definition of early career researchers is up to 7 years after completing the PhD [44]. Furthermore, early career researchers can be defined as academic researchers up to 5 years after completing the PhD while allowing for extension where significant life factors have limited the research conducted due to, for example, illness or parental leave [45].…”

The COVID-19 Pandemic, Academia, Gender, and Beyond: A Review

“…Consequently, the initial framings and research trajectories have been shaped by the temporality of the pandemic which was largely conceived as the landmark event for the drastic changes, given its unprecedented character and recency. At the outset, several studies have acknowledged the long-standing pre-pandemic structural problems concerning the underrepresentation and 'ontological insecurity' of women, marginalised groups, and precarious faculty in academia [16][17][18][19][20] [21] (p. 753) [22] (p. 5). The literature has also identified inequalities specifically faced by women in terms of publication record, grant acquisition, and promotion [22] (p. 4).…”

“…For Rikowski [71] (pp. 18,19), this is the grounds on which teachers become 'dangerous workers' and the control of their labour through 'regulation, assessment, targeting, standards and inspection regimes within all sectors of education' becomes an 'iron necessity'.…”

Navigating the academic ladder as an early career researcher in earth and environmental sciences

“…UK Research Councils and funding bodies as well as learned societies (such as the European Geosciences Union and American Geophysical Union) tend to define an ECR in terms of length of time since completion of a doctorate, with a range extending from 3 to 10 years and the most common timescale being 5 years post‐PhD. Extenuating circumstances that lengthen this period may be given to those who have taken a career break due to illness or parental/caregiving duties (Akram & Pflaeger Young, 2021). Length of employment is a common categorization for ECR, but Laudel and Glaser (2008) consider time in employment an imprecise measure, since increasing casualization has seen a growth in casual teaching‐only appointments or short‐term research positions funded through grant money.…”