15 January 2010
By Nick Dickens
Below is a link to an excellent article in Nature yesterday, although obviously science-focused I think it is relevant to all researchers at the post-doc level:
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2010/100114/full/nj7278-257a.html
My apologies if this isn't open access (some nature jobs articles are) - I can't tell from work because I have full access through the university.
The theme of the article is summed up by the Clash song 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' and discussing a few viewpoints they examine the question for post-docs:
"...should I stay in academia, where the competition is fierce and prospects are uncertain? Or should I venture out into the world of industry, or perhaps into a non-traditional science career, for a shot at better job security, job satisfaction and more pay?"
I am not sure that I agree with the uncertainty of academia, it does greatly depend on where your funding comes from - rather than being related to academia itself - but also, I am not sure that industry is any more stable, especially at the moment. My feelings are obvious, I am staying with a career in academia as long as I can, for me the benefits of a more relaxed working environment and being able to pursue my own interests outway any of the financial rewards that may come outside of this. I love science and my research so definitely vote 'stay'.
I'd love to hear other people's thoughts and feelings about this article.
Tennie Videler15 January 2010 at 12:39 PM
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brilliant, thanks for pointing out that article! I went for the go option after multiple postdocs.... and am enjoying it. I agree with you that the situation outside academia doesn't seem to be any more stable.
Simon Smith15 January 2010 at 06:58 PM
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Interesting article, but actually I think the passage you quote from the introduction doesn't really reflect the experience of the people described in the remainder of the piece. What they're experiencing is not really a dilemma between stability and instability. It would be bizarre to think that the popular perception had shifted so much that industry could now be seen as more secure employment than academia! I think there may be two other things going on. One seems to be a sense that you have to wait longer for promotion than in industry: you have to spend time learning the complex skills of research and teaching, or studying the intrigues of faculty hierarchies and the rules of the academic 'game'. Is there a greater impatience to get on among younger people today than in the past? Or less deference? The second thing is the odds have lengthened against following what was once the 'normal' academic career because the expansion in higher education and research has been an expansion in the number of peripheral positions (lower pay, lower status, more precarious) without a corresponding expansion in the number of places on the top rungs of the ladder. So there are bound to be more people marooned on the margins of the academic world who can see for themselves that their career prospects are pretty bleak (but I mean in terms of promotion, rather than security). Inevitably that causes frustration.
Matthew Salois15 January 2010 at 08:44 PM
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Indeed, at the moment I find the dilemma to be securing any sort of employment at all. With less than eight months left on my contract, I am in the midst of a job search. What I dislike above all else is the uncertainty - the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns.