More than half of all researchers want to escape from research, even though they are “post-docs”.
This is not a wild guess, nor is it an unsubstantiated assertion, but the result of Nature’s latest postdoctoral employment report.
Fifty-one percent of respondents said they have considered leaving research because of psychological problems associated with their jobs.
The survey was conducted among more than 7,600 researchers in 93 countries and regions.
Nature’s report reveals to us how difficult it is to be a “postdoc”.
None of the workplace PUAs, sexism, and sexual harassment …… can escape.
Low pay, long hours, and extreme psychological stress …… Life and work are almost impossible to balance.
In PUA alone, 65% of postdocs experience oppressive power and discrimination of all sorts. In addition, there are various other pressures from life.
How much “unspeakable” frustration do these postdocs experience?
Postdoctoral Program by “PUA”
How have they been hurt by forcing more than half of the postdocs to abandon their research?
In the Nature questionnaire, a very detailed list of the types of inequities that postdocs felt they had been treated unfairly was provided.
Sixty-five percent of them felt that the PUA was a result of status inequality.
This is something that people in the field will understand.
There was another 40% who thought it was gender discrimination, and another 24% who thought there was racial discrimination.
Of all the postdocs who experienced unfair treatment, 57% explicitly said that it came from their research director or supervisor.
International postdocs (25%) were 4 percentage points more likely than their national counterparts to have experienced unfair treatment.
In addition, 34% of respondents who were members of ethnic minorities reported experiencing discrimination or harassment.
And among female respondents, 30 percent felt they were more likely than men to experience discrimination and harassment.
As the survey shows, many postdocs are struggling.
Work and Life, Difficult to Balance
Facing harassment and discrimination at work is already exhausting for postdocs.
However, postdocs also have to deal with the stress and uncertainty of life, which further aggravates their psychological situation.
According to the survey, only 40% of the respondents are satisfied with their work-life balance.
For the majority, it was: long hours and little time to spare.
This is especially evident in the employment contracts signed by postdocs.
Thirty-one percent of the respondents said that their contract requires at least 40 hours of work per week, but the contract is just a piece of paper.
For example, 31% said they put in at least 10 hours per week outside of their contract, while 8% said they put in more than 20 hours of extra time.
In addition, almost everyone (97%) reported working weekends and days off; as many as 49% said they had worked at least 20 days off in one of their work experiences.
That, in a nutshell, is the invisible time pressure. And, these time pressures often remain uncompensated.
Anna Coussens, an immunologist from Australia, describes a personal experience in which she was required to sign a declaration that she would be working overtime outside of her contract when she was working as a postdoctoral fellow in the UK.
In addition, she further added that postdocs tend to follow the same rules even if they do not sign such contracts. Everyone knows that you are working more hours than you are paid for.
Moreover, the stress of life is not just about balance, but also about stability.
Kathryn Cutts, a geologist from Australia, is on her fourth post-doctoral journey in Brazil.
She enjoys traveling the world on her postdoctoral journey, but says her life is in jeopardy after all these years without a stable and lasting position.
Here’s what Catherine Katz says: You’ve reached the point where you want to start a family and settle down.
But you have to have a stellar resume to get a permanent position at the university, and that’s a tremendous strain on the job.
Indeed, who wants to live the “second millennium” life of wandering indefinitely if you can’t get a satisfying position?
How serious are postdoctoral psychological problems?
Unfair treatment, anxiety about the future, and the stress of life have made this year’s Nature Postdoctoral Survey results heavier than ever.
Nearly half (49%) of the respondents were depressed or anxious about their jobs and wanted help.
Last year the figure was 36%.
Of those who wanted psychological intervention or counseling, only 23% said they did receive support.
The other 26% said they did not seek help, but wanted to do so.
The postdocs who did not seek counseling may have done so because they simply could not find the right counseling.
Only 18% of the survey respondents believed that their university or institution had customized counseling specifically for postdocs.
The rest either have no choice but to choose the regular counseling program offered by their school, or have no choice at all but to rely on personal perseverance or self-regulation.
The epidemic makes the situation even worse
In addition to the normal pressures and discrimination, this year’s epidemic has brought even more instability and has undoubtedly increased the pressure on postdocs to survive.
Earlier, Nature published the results of a survey on the impact of the epidemic on the postdoctoral community. The survey involved 7,670 postdoctoral fellows from 93 countries and regions, across 19 disciplines.
In summary, the report states that 80% of respondents believe that the epidemic has hindered their experiments; more than 32% believe that their supervisors do not provide effective job support; and finally, 61% of respondents say that the epidemic has negatively affected their career prospects.
What inconveniences have been caused by the new crown epidemic? In this regard, 80% of the respondents said that the epidemic caused them to stagnate in their experiments.
In addition, nearly 60% of the respondents said that the outbreak prevented them from communicating effectively with their supervisors or colleagues, such as discussing ideas.
In addition, more than half (54%) of the respondents said that their supervisors provided clear guidance for managing their work during the outbreak.
Still, about one-third (32%) of respondents said they did not receive guidance and support from their supervisors.
The impact of this is ultimately reflected in worries about career prospects.
In the report, 61% of respondents said the neocon epidemic had a negative impact on their careers. In China, this figure was 54%.
In fact, the original intent of a postdoctoral position, or an ideal postdoc, should be a doctoral graduate who is interested in research, finds a project group that matches his or her interests, further improves his or her skills, and finally moves to a more cutting-edge research field with an impressive resume.
In reality, however, postdocs have to face the rigid requirements of research output, the pressure of real life, and the rising threshold of teaching positions in universities.
Without a formal faculty position, they may have to bear the same or even greater pressure of research targets, as well as deal with miscellaneous matters.
The research cycle is long, and sometimes it takes years of time, enthusiasm, and energy, but with no reward, all the efforts are wasted.
The plight of the postdocs can be imagined.
The overall living environment for postdocs is not very pleasant, but the epidemic has brought about various uncertainties.
This time, it was really hard for the postdoctoral fellows.
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