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NO JOB
SECURITY
By ANTONIA MAIOLO
A federal government report on career pathways of PhDs confirms that lack of job security is by far the worst aspect for aspiring academics.
The survey has revealed that researchers like their work but not the employment system in which they operate. Respondents said it’ s the lack of job security, uncertainty of funding and, for more senior researchers, the workload.
The Australian Council of Learned Academies( ACOLA) was commissioned to conduct the survey and eight focus groups by the federal Department of Innovation. The purpose was to identify the needs of Australian researchers and to develop solutions for improving career pathways.
Of the 1200 researchers who participated in the survey, 80 per cent said that they are“ very attracted” or“ reasonably attracted” by a career in research, but also said that uncertain job prospects was a negative issue.
A reliance on short-term contracts was said to be one of the major problems, and this was irrespective of discipline, age, gender or institution, with natural scientists most concerned.
A female psychologist in her 30s said she has had to move states to find jobs.“ I have had three jobs at three different universities across three states in two years,” she wrote.“ There is a lot of discontinuity,” adding, that this is has been a very costly process both socially and financially.
A male medical researcher also in his 30s said the job uncertainty was“ appalling”.
“ We are the most educated people in the country and we can barely provide for our family … This is extremely stressful,” the researcher said.
Key findings of the report show that the
4 | February 2013 research sector is underfunded to provide jobs for all those who would like to work there.
Toss Gascoigne, author of the ACOLA report, said:“ It seems that positions in the research sector are limited by funding constraints.”
“ The consistent rhetoric from governments of both sides is that Australia needs more highly trained people. This may be so, but there do not seem to be positions for these people in the research( or research and teaching) sector,” Gascoigne said.
He said respondents said they felt tricked or duped into taking up PhD scholarships and not properly informed about the limited number of job prospects.
Participants described the career path of an academic as“ mysterious” and said the true picture should be available before people embark on a PhD.
“ We are not doing our job explaining what happens when you enter a PhD program … There is a lot of misunderstanding about what you are getting into. A lot is based on fantasy and we are not presenting this information in a way that we need to,” a female research manager said.
Gascoigne said the chances of winning a Discovery Early Career Research Award( DECRA) or Discovery Projects grant are one in about five, and one in about eight respectively.
The report found that most early career researchers face a succession of shortterm contracts and that their chances of winning grants or fellowships are slim, and even lower if they have a limited record of publications.
Senior researchers face similar
challenges because of the equally competitive race facing them.
Gascoigne acknowledged that there are opportunities in other areas, such as teaching, government administration and industry, but questioned whether doing a PhD is the best training to give people who end up heading in another direction.
“ Encouraging some of the smartest people in Australia to undertake training which leads to a limited job market, unsatisfactory short-term contracts and much heartburn seems to be a waste of talent,” Gascoigne said.
“ These are people who should be nurtured and valued by Australia.”
He said that although their skills can be used in other industries that it is perhaps not the best training to prepare people for positions in other industries, adding that it’ s not cheap and may not be relevant.
The National Tertiary Education Union has welcomed the release of the report by ACOLA.
More investment in Australian universities and research institutions is needed to address this ever accelerating problem and stop the brain drain, said NTEU national president Jeannie Rea.
She said the findings reinforce concerns that have been highlighted by the NTEU for some time.“ Scholars finishing their PhDs are often between a rock and hard place – scrambling for short-term contracts and often competing against their old supervisor when it comes to getting grants.”
Rea said the NTEU plans to bargain and campaign on the job security issue this year. ■
Good research goes missing, page 18