Creating sustainable research careers 4 November 2015 Laurence

Creating sustainable research careers 4 November 2015 Laurence Hopkins Head of Research

What is sustainability? What is a research career?

Research career or research contract? Increase in academic staff, by contract, 2009 -10 to 2013 -14 16, 0% 90% 14, 2% 80% 14, 0% Staff growth 10, 0% 60% % with salary over £ 42, 500 50% 8, 0% 40% 6, 0% 30% 4, 0% 19% 2, 5% 2, 0% 20% 10% 0, 0% 0% Research only Teaching and research % with salary over £ 42, 500 70% 12, 0% % increase in staff 80%

Research career or research contract? Temporary researcher contracts in Italy, 2004 -2013 3500 35 – average 2871 3000 2406 2500 6. 2 – average number of research contracts 10. 4% have had between 13 and 30 temporary contracts 2000 1602 1500 1 in 3 working outside HE don’t use professional skills acquired during Ph. D and postdoc 1160 1000 466 500 6 23 126 643 53% ‘can’t imagine their professional future’ 271 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 RTD Statali RTD Non Statali Totale Source: FLC CGIL (Italian trade union for academic staff)

Research career or research contract? Academic staff in Australia by function and contract type (%), 2012 74% T&R RO 25% 12% TO 85% 9% 0% 1% 10% 3% 80% 20% 30% 40% Ongoing 50% Fixed term 60% 70% 80% Actual Casual Source: AHEIA, 2014. T&R = teaching and research. RO = research only. TO = teaching only 90% 100%

Research career or research contract? Academic staff by contract level, Germany, England USA Chart Title 100% 75% 74% Full professor Associate professor/senior lecturer 50% Junior professor/lecturer/assistant professor Assisting staff with permanent contracts Assisting staff with temporary contracts 28% 25% 17% 0% Germany 2009 England 2009 USA 2010 Source: http: //www. gew. de/Binaries/Binary 65439/Wi. Ko 10_Reinhardt_Kreckel. pdf

Research career or research contract? Degree of satisfaction with different aspects of the current academic position per current career stage (EU 27) Source: MORE 2 Higher Education Survey (2012). Based on European Framework for Research Career classification Aspects of current academic position R 1 (Ph. D) R 2 (Postdoc or equiv. ) R 3 (Associate professor or equiv. ) R 4 (Professor or equiv. ) Average Intellectual challenge 94 92 93 95 93 Job location 90 92 89 89 90 Level of responsibility 89 85 87 93 89 Reputation of employer 91 90 87 87 88 Degree of independence 89 78 87 92 87 Contribution to society 80 81 87 90 85 Dynamism 86 82 84 88 85 Social status 78 78 80 84 80 Job security 62 57 75 89 73 Mobility perspectives 70 65 59 66 64 Opportunities for advancement 66 55 60 67 62 Benefits 54 55 52 53 53 Salary 59 49 52 54 53 Average 77 74 76 81 77

Are we producing too many Ph. Ds? • European Science Foundation - The oversupply of Ph. D holders in Europe is causing ‘considerable dissatisfaction and stress’ for researchers on temporary contracts – the current situation is ‘not sustainable’ • According to Eurostat there were 747, 267 doctoral candidates in 2012 compared to just over 500, 000 in 2006 - an increase of 46% • The MORE 2 survey found that between 68% (Germany) and 83% (Croatia) of Ph. D graduates wanted a research career in academia across a selection of 12 member states. • National Academy of Sciences report (US) – reduce numbers, make graduate students aware of job market, raise starting salaries and limit postdoc service to 5 years • Interviewees in all of our six case study countries reported a large mismatch between the supply of postdocs, postdoc expectations, and the number of opportunities in higher education.

Do we focus too much on the supply side? Business sector researchers per 1, 000 labour force 9 8 7, 4 7, 63 7 6 5 4 3 2, 98 2 1, 38 1 0 All EU Source: Deloitte, 2013 US Japan China

Do we focus too much on the supply side? 400 350 Researchers (thousands, FTE) 300 Higher education sector Government sector Business enterprise sector 250 200 150 100 50 0 Cyprus Finland Germany Italy Romania UK

Recommendations from our report • Review contract arrangements for researchers (including impact on research quality) • Manage researcher expectations with better data on careers • Ensure appropriate balance between research duties and teaching/tutoring/admin for ECRs • Improve the status of research staff - formally recognise all contributions • Establish platforms for dialogue about research careers with social partners

Final thoughts • Do we want HE research (only) careers that are distinct from academic (T&R) careers? • Global issues – global solutions? European solutions? • What can we do as a sector, as organisations and as individuals to stimulate the demand side for high-level skills? • Is our approach to Ph. D education too laissez-faire or is this a strength? • Are we attracting and retaining the best and the brightest? How can we measure this?