erinnacland

erinnacland, 16 dni temu do academicsunite en

The "top" postdocs in Canadian are awarded 40,000 CAD/year by the government. It costs 45% of that salary to rent a 1-bedroom in Toronto.

The government announced yesterday that it's not increasing our funding.

"For over two decades, these critical contributors to research and innovation have received no funding increase from the federal government and now face significant financial challenges." - #SupportOurScience

https://www.supportourscience.ca/post/support-our-science-disappointment-with-the-lack-of-funding-for-graduate-students-and-postdoctoral
@academicchatter @academicsunite #Canada #Science

erinnacland, 16 dni temu do academicchatter en

Postdoctoral fellows are "expected to sacrifice evenings and weekends, and to neglect [their] social life and holidays, all for a career that offers no guarantees. The short-term nature of postdoc contracts prevents [...] settling down and starting a family,"

A Nature survey found that postdocs in their 30s are "more negative about job prospects, job security and work–life balance," and have more mental health challenges.

"We feel that we are falling behind in life.”

#PostDoc @academicchatter

erinnacland, 3 miesiące temu do academicsunite en

There is a concern that those with graduate degrees are leaving Canada to look for better opportunities elsewhere, contributing towards a "brain drain".

A new survey has been made to better understand the issue: If you are a current graduate student in Canada OR a graduate in the last 10 years please complete this 5-10 minute survey https://tinyurl.com/mrybapfp

If you aren't eligible, please share so this can reach those it applies to :)
#Canada #PhDLife #PhD @academicchatter @academicsunite

erinnacland, 3 miesiące temu do academicchatter en

Is academia hostile to families?

"As is the case for many parents in academia, parental leave has played a major part in the trajectories of our lives and scientific careers". In contrast to Canada, "the United States has no federally mandated paid parental leave."

Early career academics are often poorly paid and are required to relocate frequently, causing obvious major challenges for young families.

@academicchatter #AcademicChatter #Science
https://sites.google.com/view/parental-leave-in-academia
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02544-2

erinnacland, 5 miesięcy temu do academicchatter en

Why is the work of graduate students so under-valued? 💵

"Despite being called 'students' [...they] have vastly different responsibilities and academic curricula than the majority of students"

They are the engines behind research labs, making them central to the "research ecosystem + [...] the innovation process in the country."

via https://sciencepolicy.ca/posts/recognizing-the-forgotten-workers-redefining-graduate-and-postdoctoral-training/
by Tim Xue, Julia Messina-Pacheco, @gmdouglas
#Science #PhD #PhDLife #SupportOurScience @academicchatter @academicsunite

erinnacland, 6 miesięcy temu do academicchatter en

"For young life scientists hoping to land a prestigious faculty job in academia, postdoctoral research is practically a requirement. Freshly minted life science PhDs who have started families or have big loans, or are Black or female, plan to pursue postdocs at lower rates than their peers"

"For decades, postdocs were seen as a [...] reliable route into a faculty job [...] The low pay and demanding hours were rewarded in the end. But for many, a postdoc is now a dead end"

@academicchatter #PhD

erinnacland, 6 miesięcy temu do academicchatter en

Science has seen an explosion in publishing, which has pros & cons:

"the increasing cost of this growth—both financially and in terms of the increasingly onerous burden on referees—has led to a crisis that threatens the sustainability of scientific publishing as we know it. This situation is made worse by the practice of fragmenting single coherent bodies of research into as many publications as possible—the practice of scientific salami slicing."

/1 🧵
#Science #OpenScience @academicchatter

erinnacland, 6 miesięcy temu do academicchatter en

A recent analysis of History PhDs in Canada found that less than 6% completed their PhDs within the 4-year funded period.

Mean was ~7 years, but varied greatly between institutions (5.3 to 8.4). Larger programs tended to be on the longer side.

"students from [ ] smaller programs may be less likely to find tenured academic employment. But this is not a substantive difference, since very few [find] jobs, regardless of where they completed their PhD"

#AcademicChatter @academicchatter #Canada /1

erinnacland, 10 miesięcy temu do academicchatter en

Is academia facing a massive burnout crisis?

Academics are increasingly "reevaluating whether their jobs are worth the high cost to their personal well-being. They are less willing to continue in positions with oversized workloads, salaries that do not keep up with inflation, and inflexible policies."

48% of universities report that faculty turnover increased in 2022 and >70% of academics reported mental health difficulties in 2021

via https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-faculty-exiting-academia
@academicchatter #AcademicChatter