Navigating the academic ladder as an early career researcher in earth and environmental sciences

TY - JOUR

T1 - Navigating the academic ladder as an early career researcher in earth and environmental sciences

AU - Alderson, Danielle

AU - Clarke, Lucy

AU - Schillereff, Daniel

AU - Shuttleworth, Emma

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Editors of the Special Issue for their efforts compiling a set of valuable publications and for the opportunity to contribute our own submission. We express our gratitude to each of our survey respondents and we acknowledge the Social Responsibility Team at the University of Manchester for funding the honorariums associated with our survey responses; these were used to provide educational support for disadvantaged children overseas through Oxfam UK. We thank the two anonymous authors for their insightful comments during the review process. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - There is growing concern in Higher Education around job security, work–life balance and inequalities, and early career researchers (ECRs) must make difficult trade-offs and life choices. Literature confirms that women navigating academia face additional challenges compared to their male counterparts. Few studies connected contractual circumstances, employment priorities and their impacts on the life choices of individual academics. We report results from a survey exploring the experiences of 37 ECRs who completed PhDs in the United Kingdom (UK) navigating the academic ladder in geomorphology and earth/environmental science, and contextualize these findings by drawing on personal experiences and wider literature. We find evidence of multi-directional pressures that have materially negative effects on individuals' life choices, including concern that academic employment is a barrier to living where and with whom one may want to. The level of precarity amongst survey respondents is stark in terms of number of years they have held fixed-term contracts (maximum 10 years), the number of individual contracts held (maximum 14) and number of different institutions worked at (maximum six). Women respondents were less prepared to be employed on precarious contracts and put more emphasis on job security when applying for academic posts, with men being generally more satisfied by financial aspects of university employment; which will amplify the leaky pipeline and gender gaps at more senior levels. We also find that perceived institutional prestige was a surprisingly low priority for the majority of respondents, and there were notable divergences between career advice given by more senior colleagues and the priorities of ECRs seeking guidance. We put forward a set of key considerations: improving policies on parental leave and flexible working; formalizing and improving mentorship; more considerate recruitment procedures; reducing contract precarity; and, transparency on pay and promotion. We believe these are within the scope of action by departments, laboratories and research groups.

AB - There is growing concern in Higher Education around job security, work–life balance and inequalities, and early career researchers (ECRs) must make difficult trade-offs and life choices. Literature confirms that women navigating academia face additional challenges compared to their male counterparts. Few studies connected contractual circumstances, employment priorities and their impacts on the life choices of individual academics. We report results from a survey exploring the experiences of 37 ECRs who completed PhDs in the United Kingdom (UK) navigating the academic ladder in geomorphology and earth/environmental science, and contextualize these findings by drawing on personal experiences and wider literature. We find evidence of multi-directional pressures that have materially negative effects on individuals' life choices, including concern that academic employment is a barrier to living where and with whom one may want to. The level of precarity amongst survey respondents is stark in terms of number of years they have held fixed-term contracts (maximum 10 years), the number of individual contracts held (maximum 14) and number of different institutions worked at (maximum six). Women respondents were less prepared to be employed on precarious contracts and put more emphasis on job security when applying for academic posts, with men being generally more satisfied by financial aspects of university employment; which will amplify the leaky pipeline and gender gaps at more senior levels. We also find that perceived institutional prestige was a surprisingly low priority for the majority of respondents, and there were notable divergences between career advice given by more senior colleagues and the priorities of ECRs seeking guidance. We put forward a set of key considerations: improving policies on parental leave and flexible working; formalizing and improving mentorship; more considerate recruitment procedures; reducing contract precarity; and, transparency on pay and promotion. We believe these are within the scope of action by departments, laboratories and research groups.

KW - academia

KW - academic progression

KW - early career

KW - geomorphology

KW - women

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141422128&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/esp.5497

DO - 10.1002/esp.5497

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85141422128

SN - 0197-9337

VL - 48

SP - 475

EP - 486

JO - EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

JF - EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

IS - 2

ER -