The impact of the pandemic on early career researchers: what we already know from the internationally published literature

Abstract

In order to take account of the impact of the pandemic on the already changing scholarly communications and work-life of early career researchers (ECRs), the 4-year long Harbingers study was extended for another two years. As a precursor to the study (featuring interviews and a questionnaire survey), currently underway, an analytic review of the pertinent literature was undertaken and its results are presented here. The review focuses on the challenges faced by ECRs and how these compare to the ones more senior researchers have to tackle. In the examination of the literature three general questions are posed: Q1) What are the identifiable and forthcoming impacts of the pandemic-induced financial pressures felt in the Higher Education sector on ECRs’ employment and career development prospects? Q2) What are the identifiable and forthcoming pandemic-associated disruptions in the pace/focus/direction of the research undertaking? Have any disruptions been predicted to exert an impact on ECRs’ research activities, and if so, with what scholarly consequences? Q3) How is the work-life of ECRs shaping up under the virus-dictated rules of the ‘new normal’ in the research undertaking? What challenges, if any, arise from the changes in practices identified, and what might their potential consequences be for ECRs? The broad conclusion of the study is that the literature leaves little room for doubt: junior researchers are already disproportionally affected by and bear the burden of the ongoing pandemic-incurred hardships and they are likely to remain similarly impacted when more trials, still unfolding, materialise.

Opportunities to Increase Financial Well-Being by Investing in Environmental, Social and Governance with Respect to Improving Financial Literacy under COVID-19: The Case of Latvia

“…In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis demonstrated the importance of financial literacy for the world's population. Mainly researchers mention financial burden in different ways on both macro and micro levels [70][71][72][73][74][75], the impact on the purchasing power of households, consumption reaction in day-to-day decisions and demographic characteristics of a labour market, and financial status analysis [76]. The majority of studies assess tight financial status and stress related to the crisis [77,78].…”

Mentorship Practices and Research Productivity Among Early-Career Educational Psychologists in Universities

“…Whilst the literature includes several related studies, scholars in the social sciences have considered ECRs according a number of different variables, including training and support (Callagher et al, 2021;Gibson et al, 2020;Goldman et al, 2021;Husby & Modinos, 2020;Poppelaars et al, 2022;Shelton et al, 2021;Weissgerber, 2021), understanding their research culture (Bankston et al, 2020;Calitz, 2020;Christian et al, 2021;Munafò et al, 2020), attitudes and behaviors (Jamali et al, 2020;, as well as identity threats (Callagher et al, 2021;Mula et al, 2021). Others have aimed at understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on ECRs (Herman et al, 2021;Jackman et al, 2021;Johnson & Weivoda, 2021;López-Vergès et al, 2021;Termini & Traver, 2020), their open access publishing activities (Gownaris et al, 2022;Sundramoorthy, 2021), self-management (Alisic & Wiese, 2020;Bielczyk et al, 2020;Da Silva et al, 2021;Sanders et al, 2022), contribution to knowledge (Djerasimovic & Villani, 2020;Merga & Mason, 2020), challenges (Gill, 2021;Johnson & Weivoda, 2021;Richards et al, 2021;Silveyra & Grandison, 2020), and employment insecurity (McKenzie, 2021).…”

What Young Lecturers in Indonesia Perceived Covid-19 Handling Related to Their Anxiety and Continuing Study Plan: A Multiple Regression Analysis

“…First, the role that is demanded by the senior teaching staff to conduct online learning since it requires sufficient IT skills the senior lack of (Ogundele, 2019;Saripudin et al, 2021;Soysal et al, 2019). Second, there is a potential disruption to their careers due to the pandemic circumstances and the recovery process in the years ahead (Gewin, 2021;Herman et al, 2021;Lokhtina et al, 2022;Wakit & Rhain, 2021).…”