Survey of Australian STEMM Early Career Researchers: job insecurity and questionable research practices are major structural concerns

Christian, Katherine; Johnstone, Carolyn; Larkins, Jo-ann; Wright, Wendy; Doran, Michael

doi:10.1101/2020.02.19.955328

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Short-term contracts and consequential uncertainty about future employment, long-working hours with no compensation for overtime, and high dependence on government schemes with low success rates are driving CVD researchers away from the cardiovascular research sector, with >90% saying they would leave the sector if their position could not be funded in the next few years. These numbers appear significantly worse for CVD researchers compared to Australian researchers in general [ 13 ] and medical researchers overall [ 14 ]. These findings indicate that strategies to address the lack of job security and gender issues, including an injection of funding into CVD research sector in Australia, are urgently required.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of Strategic Funding and Long-Term Job Security Threaten to Have Profound Effects on Cardiovascular Researcher Retention in Australia

Climie

Calkin

et al. 2020

Heart, Lung and Circulation

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Background Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Australia. Investment in research solutions has been demonstrated to yield health and a 9.8-fold return economic benefit. The sector, however, is severely challenged with success rates of traditional peer-reviewed funding in decline. Here, we aimed to understand the perceived challenges faced by the cardiovascular workforce in Australia prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of Strategic Funding and Long-Term Job Security Threaten to Have Profound Effects on Cardiovascular Researcher Retention in Australia

Climie

Calkin

et al. 2020

Heart, Lung and Circulation

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“…The pressure to obtain funding and the general feeling of job insecurity plays a huge role in the first years as a young professor when we are trying to solidify our professional identity. Indeed, these are the two main reasons why new faculty, especially UR researchers, are quitting academia along with role overload, inequitable hiring practices, and harassment (Christian et al, 2020;Gewin, 2022).…”

Section: Final Thoughts: the Importance Of Continuous Mentorship Over...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentor-mentee relationships in academia: insights toward a fulfilling career

Tenorio‐Lopes

2023

Front. Educ.

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Over my academic journey, I had the privilege of learning from several insightful professionals in the field of Physiology and Neurosciences. During my graduate and postdoctoral training at seven universities in Brazil, the US and Canada, my mentors were able to stimulate my curiosity and motivation and made me very enthusiastic about science, teaching and especially mentoring. Despite the hurdles that researchers confront daily, having a supportive mentor in a diverse and inclusive workplace influenced my decision to pursue a career in academia. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of graduate students and aspiring scientists, this is not the case. Engaging with colleagues from different fields and cultural backgrounds taught me how students and trainees always expected more from their mentors, on multiple levels. Many studies have shown that high levels of attrition across STEM disciplines, as well as an increased time-to-degree completion, are indicative of this scenario. In this perspective article, I outline the findings of the ad hoc research mentorship method, as well as my self-reflections on how we could conquer the major problems correlated with a research mentor-mentee relationship. I specifically illustrate how communication, time, and environment constitute interrelated components that can be managed effectively to produce short and long-term results toward an optimal and fruitful partnership. Finally, I highlighted institutions’ critical role in implementing effective mentorship practices, procedures and policies that support mentors and students. These discussions on the importance of appropriate mentorship can assist all levels of mentors in creating a pleasurable pathway for knowledge transmission and contribute to ensuring that a more equal, diverse, and inclusive population of young scientists has the opportunity to excel in their professions.

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“…This article documents the emancipatory capacity of collaborative ethnography through an examination our experiences as female ECAs. In the Australian context, ECAs are defined as academics who have been awarded their PhD in the past 5 years (Bosanquet et al, 2015; Christian et al, 2021). As at the point of writing, this definition applied to all authors.…”

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confidence: 99%

Creating safety: Group reflections on surviving as a female, social work early career academic in the neoliberal academy

Newcomb

Saxton

Lovric

et al. 2022

Qualitative Social Work

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Female social work early career academics (ECAs) face many challenges within a neoliberal university context. The tension between balancing the social justice mission of the profession against the consumer model of higher education is conflicting and contributes to feelings of isolation and alienation. This article documents a group of female ECAs experiences by drawing on critical, post-modern and feminist knowledge traditions. The qualitative methodology used was collective autoethnography and critical reflection where the group documented and collectively analysed individual experiences of teaching social work education as female ECAs. The purpose of collating these experiences was to explore the emancipatory capacity of female agency as well as embodying what it is to be a female ECA. Vignettes were thematically examined in a three-part process including (1) reading and reviewing data; (2) categorising and group data and (3) finding themes and connecting these to the original data ( Chang et al., 2016 ). Analysis of the vignettes highlighted the tensions of working as female social justice educators within a neoliberal university causing feelings of oppression and discomfort. In finding one another, sharing and writing stories as well as a collective response this challenged the masculinist model which has been the norm within neoliberal universities. Female led support strategies coupled with the utilisation of feminist methodologies contributes to the emergence of a new, feminist and collectively safer academic culture.

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Survey of Australian STEMM Early Career Researchers: job insecurity and questionable research practices are major structural concerns

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

Lack of Strategic Funding and Long-Term Job Security Threaten to Have Profound Effects on Cardiovascular Researcher Retention in Australia

Lack of Strategic Funding and Long-Term Job Security Threaten to Have Profound Effects on Cardiovascular Researcher Retention in Australia

Mentor-mentee relationships in academia: insights toward a fulfilling career

Creating safety: Group reflections on surviving as a female, social work early career academic in the neoliberal academy

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