Surveys that are being conducted by postdoctoral associations often ask “Are postdocs alright?” At the PostDoc Office, we work evidence-based, so we also are interested in these kinds of studies. While our information comes regularly from those who interact with us, we also look to research about higher education/academia. This gives us insight into questions like:
- have postdocs in Austria considered leaving academia at some point in their careers, what are reasons for this
- what are their career goals, which of these goals do they feel best prepared for
- what kind of development interests do they have
On Dec 18, 2024, 18 people came together for the event “Eating Cookies and Discussing the Lives of PostDocs”, where new study results from Austria were discussed. Kristina Kreimer and Sarah Wack have written a combined talk for the occasion, which touched on common themes in their projects:
- Kristina Kreimer contributed the results of her master’s thesis, supervised by Dr. Frithjof Nungesser in sociology. Kristina now is doing a PhD at our university and works in a project related to aging and care studies at CIRAC.
- Sarah Wack is an MA student in geography and was an employee in the research project “Gender and Geography in Austrian Academia,”, on which she closely worked with postdoc Heide K. Bruckner from 2023 to 2024
Key themes mentioned in their presentation were:
- Job insecurity, workload, and compatibility with private life
- recognition and transparency
- hierarchies and interdependences
There were some insights from the projects that were new(ish) to us:
- postdocs who are mobile experience quite different challenges to mobile PhD candidates, because of their different life-stages („you meet people who already have an established life“)
- professorship positions are less attractive to some because they are seen as not to allow to fulfil oneself in the area of research
- not only care for children needs to be recognized by employers, but also care for other family members and close personal relationships
- postdocs can experience a lack of recognition as a „full scientist“ on an interpersonal and institutional level (ex. from our later discussion: being called a „postdoctoral student“ or not being officially recognized as a „Habilitandin“)
- there is a fear of being both too specialized and overqualified for careers beyond the university
- discrimination can take subtle forms, and exclusion is widespread; it needs individual PIs who actively open up their networks and help onboarding at institutions
- the transition from being a PhD candidate to being a postdoc when working for the same team comes with challenges
Frameworks that shape research careers go from policy level, national and European, to university and faculty strategy, to department and project leadership, to the researchers themselves in their teams, to support staff. After the presentation, Vice-Rector Van Poppel asked the researchers in the room for suggestions on what to do on the University of Graz level to make it a more attractive place in their opinions.
There followed a 60-minute intensive brainstorming session, for which we are truely grateful. It's so wonderful to see how the Graz postdocs (those with long institutional experience, newcomers, internationals, and Austrians alike) care about their insitution and how willing they are to engage in improvements for all. Postdocs already shape our research culture through the way they do their research and teaching, though their work in governing & faculty boards, hiring committees, at the Betriebsrat and AKGL, and through their networks like open science initiative, motherhood & science, the writing groups, etc.
Here are some areas mentioned in the brainstorming which are especially important for their working lives:
- Transparency and access to information (roles and rules should be clear)
- Representation in governing boards (people on temporary contracts need to have a voice)
- Strong onboarding support
- Opportunities to do and evidence tasks that make one competitive for a professorship (supervision, research mobility support for parents, recognition of their status, committee leadership, etc)
- Confidential, anonymous, and external contact points for conflicts, crises, and mental health support
- Flexibility for care needs in other countries
- Well trained and supportive leadership staff
The University of Graz is currently carrying out strategic projects in the realm of leadership development, recognition and rewards (COARA/activity framework), a fair working culture (against power abuse) and other measures that make us an attractive employer for research talent, so these insights into the needs of researchers are very useful.
We will continue to contribute to a good research culture at the University of Graz by encouraging interactions that are collegial, by informing transparently and giving everyone access to knowledge about the important elements of career success, by showcasing diverse ways to thrive as a researcher in academia, by encouraging going your own way when someone comes to us for advice, by informing people where they can get involved and where decisions are made, and by always by informing university leadership about challenges and trying to make improvements where we can.
Report: Johanna Stadlbauer, Dec 19, 2024