Competition in Science: Links Between Publication Pressure, Grant Pressure and the Academic Job Market

Abstract

In the current discussions concerning the pressure for publication and to obtain grants, the questions about what publication and grant pressure actually involve and how they are linked to the academic job market, are often neglected. In this study we show that publication and grand pressure are not just external forces but internal ones as scientists apply pressure to themselves in the process of competition. Through two surveys, one of 1,133 recent PhDs at five Dutch universities and one of 225 postdoctoral researchers at two Dutch universities, we found that publication and grant pressure have to be considered in relation with competition for academic jobs. While publication and grant pressure are perceived to be too high by a majority of these early career researchers, whereas the effects of publication and grant pressure by themselves are limited.

How the publish-or-perish principle divides a science: the case of economists

“…What makes things complicated is that the various pressures are jointly felt: all tasks are positively correlated. The fact that the pressure to publish and the pressure to acquire grants are interrelated (Waaijer et al 2018) is perhaps self-evident because obtaining tenure depends having obtained grants and reviewers of grants (at the time of measurement) are always asked to look at the track The perceived high work pressure in Dutch economics departments for a number of academic positions, 2015-2016. Note Very high pressure is here defined as respondents reporting an 8 or higher on the 10-points scale of pressure in teaching, publication, acquiring funds, and administration record of applicants.…”

How the Publish-or-Perish Principle Divides a Science: The Case of Academic Economists

“…What makes things complicated is that the pressures are jointly felt: a simple correlation matrix (see appendix, Table A1) shows that the pressure for all tasks are positively related. The fact that the pressure to publish and the pressure to acquire grants is well established (Waaijer, Teelken, Wouters, & van der Weijden, 2018) and perhaps self-evident nowadays because obtaining tenure depends having obtained grants and reviewers of grants (at the time of measurement) are always asked to look at the track record of applicants. 5 Teaching and administrative duties are often left out of the equation but is a task that is inherently tied to being an academic.…”

Scholarly reputation building in the digital age: an activity-specific approach. Review article

“…Indeed, a host of studies attests to the importance accorded in academe to the acquisition of research grants as a measure of successful research performance, which, as already noted, is seen as a reputation enhancing achievement (Anderson; Slade, 2016; Auranen; Nieminen, 2010; Bloch; Graversen; Pedersen, 2014; Boyer; Cockriel, 1998; 2001; Nicholas et al, 2018; Van-Arensbergen; Van-der-Weijden; Van-den-Besselaar, 2014). So much so, that the rigorous directives of the 'publish-or-perish' mentality in academe have long been joined by the no less compelling behavioural rules of the 'get-grants-or-perish' ideology (Vannini, 2006;Waaijer et al, 2018).…”

“…If reputation is traditionally everything for a scholar, this would seem to be all the more so nowadays, when the increasingly marketised and entrepreneurial higher education system world-wide is driven by an intense rivalry among institutions forever competing for resources and recognition (Altbach;Reisberg;Rumbley, 2009;Blackmore, 2016a;Clark, 1998;Delanty, 1998;Leydesdorff, 2000;Frost;Brockmann, 2014;Gibbons et al, 1994;Nedeva;Boden;Nugroho, 2012;Waaijer et al, 2018;Winter, 2017). In fact, with universities vying with each other for students, star professors, funding and their share of the state's limited budget, prestige-affording recognition of their scholarly achievements becomes the key for winning the competition.…”