How can ECRs progress through their academic career? Success factors, concerns and suggestions for reform

Abstract

Women are more likely than men to leave academia at the early and mid-career stages, with significant implications for individual researchers’ careers and the progress of science. We conducted a global survey of early career researchers (ECRs) from the environmental, biological and ecological sciences to identify common factors affecting their career progression, with a focus on barriers to women’s advancement. Data from 203 worldwide respondents, 150 of them women, showed that job insecurity driven by short term contracts and the need to relocate for postdoctoral appointments threatens their long term future in science, with contingent academics most likely to report that they are unlikely to have a long-term career in science. Family and institutional supports were key supportive factors influencing academic progression. The transition to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the potential for academia to provide flexible working options that can better support women ECRs to maintain an academic career.

Introduction

Methods

We adopted a mixed-methods strategy to assess the complex challenges that ECRs face in progressing through the first few years of academic careers in the biological, ecological and environmental sciences. We surveyed (X number of) Early Career Researchers using a globally-distributed questionnaire, hosted on the Qualtrics survey platform.