Mapping career patterns in research: A sequence analysis of career histories of ERC applicants

Abstract

Despite the need to map research careers, the empirical evidence on career patterns of researchers is limited. We also do not know whether career patterns of researchers can be considered conventional in terms of steady progress or international mobility, nor do we know if career patterns differ between men and women in research as is commonly assumed. We use sequence analysis to identify career patterns of researchers across positions and institutions, based on full career histories of applicants to the European Research Council frontier research grant schemes. We distinguish five career patterns for early and established men and women researchers. With multinomial logit analyses, we estimate the relative likelihood of researchers with certain characteristics in each pattern. We find grantees among all patterns, and limited evidence of gender differences. Our findings on career patterns in research inform further studies and policy making on career development, research funding, and gender equality. Data on the career paths of young researchers would help [.. .]. There is a pressing need for greater transparency about the likelihood of PhD students and postdocs following an academic career to the higher levels. [.. .]. vn[1].

Navigating treacherous waters. Exploring the dual career experiences of European Research Council applicants

“…We conducted retrospective online surveys with samples of StG and AdG applicants in three disciplinary domains of Life Sciences (LS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), and Social Sciences and Humanities (SH) (see Vinkenburg et al 2020 for more details). A personalized email invitation with a link to the online survey was circulated to those StG applicants (the 2012 application cohort) and AdG applicants (who applied between 2007 and 2012) who had given consent to the ERC for the use of their data for research (33 percent of StG applicants, n= 1,588; 39 percent of AdG applicants, n=4,088).…”

“…Career gaps between men and women emerge, with mothers likely to progress more slowly, to hold less prestigious jobs than men, or to leave science altogether (e.g., Baker 2010;Buber et al 2011;European Commission 2021;Joecks et al 2014;Xie/Shauman 2003). Among the selective group that stays in science, career similarities between men and women are often stronger than the differences (Joecks et al 2014; Jungbauer-Gans/Gross 2013; Vinkenburg et al 2020).…”

“…In this context, we describe the dual-career situation of the ERC applicants at the time of application and examine their reflections on their lived experiences up to that point as a potential area of conflict that has to be navigated between career norms and family requirements. The goal of the original project in which the data was collected was to explore gendered career paths in science (Vinkenburg et al 2020), and in doing so, dual careers emerged as a highly salient theme for ERC applicants. Dual-career couples are often distinguished from dual-earner couples, assuming that coordinating work and family spheres is easier 1.…”

Identification of Potential Young Talented Individuals in the Natural and Life Sciences: A Bibliometric Approach

“…In recent years, many studies dealt with career paths of scientists. For Vinkenburg, Connolly, Fuchs, Herschberg, and Schels (2020), one important reason for investigations of career paths are policy efforts with the aim of stimulating career mobility and enhancing career development. Another important reason for investigating career paths is the interest in factors which might be characteristic for successful careers in science (Bornmann & Williams, 2017).…”