Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS) aggregate results launched

Following the success of the pilot year last year, Vitae is pleased to release the aggregate results from the first full year of the Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS). The survey reflects the Principles of the revised Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and provides essential information about the environment, culture, professional development and employment of research staff and the experiences of their managers.

A total of 48 institutions consisting of 12,594 researchers ran CEDARS between April to June 2021 and the respondents ranged from postgraduate researchers through to senior academics. 

The results show clear evidence of implementation of the Researcher Development Concordat principles. The majority of research staff report high levels of job satisfaction and aspire to an academic career, but half cannot find the time to develop their research identity or leadership capabilities. Whilst they feel that they are well managed, half of their managers report lacking confidence in dealing with poor performance. Research staff and other academics show strong interest in engaging in a wide range of training and development activities, particularly in leadership and managing others.

In response to the CEDARS results Dr Janet Metcalfe, Principal at Vitae commented:

“In its first full year CEDARS is demonstrating its value to institutions in measuring and benchmarking their progress implementing the Researcher Development Concordat principles. By responding to the views and experiences of research staff and their managers across the UK we can take steps to improve the working conditions, professional development support and research culture.”

Read the CEDARS report PowerPoint slide-set 

Further information

Sarah Nalden, Communications and Marketing Executive

T: 07708 914976 E: sarah.nalden@vitae.ac.uk

Notes to editors

About CEDARS www.vitae.ac.uk/cedars

CEDARS is run by individual institutions who agree to pool their respective data to create an aggregate UK dataset. This provides institutions with the ability to benchmark their own results against the UK data and groups of comparable institutions.

CEDARS has replaced the long-running Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS) and the Principal Investigators & Research Leaders Survey (PIRLS). It is also applicable to a wider range of academic staff, including postgraduate researchers. www.vitae.ac.uk/cedars

More about the Concordat www.vitae.ac.uk/concordat