What do postdocs need to succeed? A survey of current standing and future directions for Australian researchers

Abstract

When discussing the postdoctoral period in a researcher's life, a lack of career progression often boils down to "is it you, or is it me?" Is it a reduction in the quality of candidates, or the fact that there are now too many candidates for a rapidly shrinking pool of jobs? Australia provides an ideal case study, as a large and decentralized country with a government mandate to build the STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) workforce. The goal of the present study was 1) to provide a baseline for postdoctoral experiences and career aspirations in Australia, and 2) to identify gaps in postdoctoral training. When undertaking a capacity building programme it is important to know where efforts should be focused. To better understand the demographic and career progression of Australia's current cohort of postdoctoral researchers, a national survey was undertaken from 2014-2015. More than 280 postdoctoral researchers from government, industry and academic institutions responded. Our results indicate that although postdoctoral researchers work more than the legal maximum of a 38-hour a week (on average) and have a long-term plan to stay in research, there is significant concern over the long-term viability of research careers due to job insecurity and a shortage of funding.

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

“…We found that Family/Carer responsibilities was cited by 9.6% of ECRs as a reason to exit academia. Similar to a previous Australian Postdoctoral Researcher survey 10 , the burden of Family/Carer responsibilities is heavy on both male and female ECRs, suggesting that young parents (male or female) and their families are not sufficiently accommodated by the current system. In interviews, we did identify young mothers on parental leave struggled to continue to run their laboratories, knowing that their staff depend on them, and continued to write publications while on leave out of fear of falling behind.…”

“…Quantitative data was collected from 658 respondents in an on-line survey of ECRs working in a scientific environment in universities and research institutes across Australia. The questionnaire for the survey was developed by first compiling questions, often used in a broader or international context, from research literature including questions from Australian Council of Education Research, The EMCR Forum (part of Australian Academy of Science) 34 , Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), Global Young Academy, National Science Foundation, Nature and Vitae 10,35,36 in order to cover all the themes identified in the literature as matters relating to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Some additional questions were created if no suitable question was identified elsewhere.…”

“…A previous survey of Australian postdoctoral researchers identified that greater than half (52%) took their position hoping to transition to a full-time research role in academia 10 . This survey captured feedback from a total of 284 postdoctoral researchers, of which approximately 80% were within 10 years of PhD completion (2–5 years post-PhD, 50%; 6–10 years post-PhD, 29%).…”

“…In parallel to the international so-called “ glut ” of PhD graduates 6,11 and limited access to Australian research postdoctoral and academic positions 10 , there has been the noted international rise of the reproducibility crisis 12 . Estimates indicate that in 2018 there were 33,100 peer-reviewed English language journals, contributing approximately 3 million new articles per year to the literature, at an annual growth rate of 5-6% 13 .…”

Drafting an Effective Ethical Code of Conduct for Professional Societies: A Practical Guide

“…By thinking of the good of the wider community, rather than just of personal gain, individuals create value through social enterprise. For evidence of this you need look no further than the postdoctoral training period, a stalwart of many disciplines [13]. Further, the Aristotelian approach which equally weights individuals making ethical decisions and corporations (or professional societies) making ethical decisions demonstrates the need for an individual Honor Code that's supported by the robust framework of a professional code of conduct.…”