1. Research careers inside and outside the university
UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership
Research careers inside and outside the university
Professor Andy Tolmie
UBEL DTP Director

2. Workshop schedule 1.35 to 1.50 Introduction on careers ‘thinking’
1.50 to 2.15 Group discussion on options, steps and necessary information
2.15 to 3.15
- Chiara Manzoni, NIESR, on non-university careers
- Andy Tolmie on university careers
- Q&A
3.15 to 3.30 Break
3.30 to 4.30 Group work on job criteria
4.30 to 5.00 Final plenary

3. UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership
Postdoctoral employment: The shift from a ‘career for life’ to a ‘lifetime of careers’
Dr Richard Freeman
UBEL DTP Deputy Director

4. Steady increase in UK PhD awards post-WWII became more dramatic post No marked increase in academic posts (especially permanent, full-time posts)

5. The product that the PhD researcher creates is not the thesis
(vital though that is to their subject area through the creation of original knowledge)
no, the product of their study is the development of themselves.
Sir Gareth Roberts 2002
Shift away from a focus on developing research to developing researchers – and recognising that a PhD graduate has a powerful skill set

6. Broughty Castle, January 2018
Broughty Castle, January Lovely view, but the reason Richard Freeman was there is that his partner has a permanent, full-time job at University of Dundee. Last week, a professorial colleague at another institution spent almost an hour on the ‘phone with Richard discussing how to manage a long-distance relationship as he is moving to another university in Scotland.

7. Shifting academic landscape
[T]he social contract of academia has been broken. This social contract was that we would endure lengthy training, precarious careers with relatively low wages and long hours, in exchange of long-term security, especially in our old age in the form of a decent pension.
Pensions dispute has brought a set of related issues to the fore, as highlighted in this blogpost. Summarised as ‘the neoliberal university’, there is a ‘battle’ for the soul of the university – and a concern for the nature of employment within the university.

8. Financial Times
Lecturers have accepted relatively low pay and pretty poor working conditions in exchange for significant autonomy and relatively secure jobs and pensions. But, over the past decade, without negotiation, every aspect of that deal has been eroded. Autonomy has given way to increased teaching responsibilities, larger classes, more time spent grading and heavier management duties. Job security has been reduced by eliminating departments and cutting research funding. Pensions are failing to deliver on their promise.
11 March 2018
It’s not just moaning academics!

9. UCL Institute of Education William Locke Richard Freeman Anthea Rose ESRC Frances Burstow Christina Rowley
ESRC commissioned a study from IOE to examine the needs and experiences of early-career social scientists

10. Key key findings Experiences and career trajectories:
More likely (51%) to be on a permanent contract compared to A&H (31%) (Renfrew & Green, 2014)
Striking in comments and interviews that many felt they had taken a unique and ‘non-traditional’ route to where they are now – in stark contrast to notional linear route
From the self-selecting responses of just over 1,000 early-career social scientists, we found a variety of interesting results. First one listed here is that things are still better compared to Arts & Humanities! The other finding of relevance today, is how the notional linear route is no more (if it ever really existed) – see next slide

11. Conclusion
…we should avoid thinking of early career researchers as a homogenous group pursuing a traditional linear path from undergraduate and masters study through postgraduate research, a post-doctoral position and into full-time permanent employment as a lecturer in higher education. Indeed, the inability to follow a linear path into academia seemed to be the source of considerable disappointment and frustration among participants

12. Many opportunities outside academia as shown by this Vitae study
Many opportunities outside academia as shown by this Vitae study. Today, we’re focusing on research careers inside and outside the university

13. Thinking about careers
‘Traditional’ linear career progression no more
Important to develop and be able to evidence a variety of skills to support a variety of roles
Your career path will be determined by your performance and luck

14. This might sound scary, but it shouldn’t be. See next slide…

15. What do research staff do next? Vitae report 2016
Former research staff are employed in a wide range of occupations, many still supporting the research system through funders, policymakers, institutional research offices, public engagement, knowledge exchange and publishing
Around three-quarters leave academia looking for better long- term employment prospects, better job security and not having to work on fixed term contracts. Women are significantly more likely to be looking for better work-life balance than men
In making the transition many researchers find the loss of academic identity and ‘giving up’ a long-held ambition to be an academic challenging
Job satisfaction is high: over four-fifths are satisfied with their current job
78% of respondents aspired to an academic career when they were research staff: only 18% would go back.   
Vitae study investigated researchers who had moved outside academia [sic]

16. The employment situation is constantly changing, which means that advice from (especially) supervisors based on their own experience is problematic. Every person has their own career pathway and extracting lessons from those isn’t straightforward

17. So, having a plan isn’t a good strategy
So, having a plan isn’t a good strategy. You need a ‘Plan A’, ‘Plan B’, ‘Plan C’…. Maybe an alphabet with more than 26 characters…

18. But uncertainty can be liberating and it’s important to recognise that PhD graduates – whatever they do – are a happy bunch (90%+ satisfied across the disciplines).