A career in science academia is... grand and prestigious.
You walk in hallowed halls, work with the best minds in white labs solving the most
complex and important problems of our day.
You do lots of research, then one day you’ll become a professor with a leather-bound seat,
oak panelled office, lots of books, lots of money and an important body of work.
Wake up guys!
Sadly, it doesn’t always happen like this.
In fact, it rarely does.
See, the complicated (and frankly crappy) path to becoming a scientist is forcing many
of the best people out of science.
And who is the first to go?
Yup, women, minorities and low socio economic groups.
Which is why science looks like this – old white dudes.
BEC But how did it get to be this way?
Isn’t science supposed to be about the search for truth, regardless of who you are and where
you come from?
Jayde Well, no.
See, most people who pursue a PhD in science do so with the intention of getting a job
in academia, specifically as a faculty member.
But in nearly all STEM related fields, you can’t get a faculty-level position at a
university without doing postdoc work.
What is post-doc work?
It’s research that you do after your doctorate, hence the name (post - doc).
Post-doc work is essentially like doing a scientific apprenticeship or as Drake would
say – starting from the bottom.
Universities who hire post-doc researchers often use them as grunts – they are the
ones actually conducting experiments, recording data and just all and all deal with the boring
and tedious parts of being a scientist.
Along with grad students (Phds) – postdocs are often the primary authors on many studies.
But post doc work is extremely low paying, considering you’ve just spent 10 years getting
a damn PhD.
Salaries are often paid as stipends, with the amount set by NIH’s National Research
Service Awards, and start at around $43,000.
Which is roughly $10,000 less than you’d make as McDonalds store manager.
But at least McDonalds store managers get benefits.
Postdocs are often contractors, hired on for one to three years at a time, which means
they don’t get benefits and their jobs aren’t secure.
Obviously the AIM is to get a more secure and well paying faculty position after a post
doc – but because universities are handing out more pHD’s then there are faculty jobs
– researchers often move around from post doc to post doc for 10 years or more.
And all these years of pipetting chemicals and data recording doesn’t provide many
real world skills that would be useful if you wanted to leave academia.
So many promising scientists are trapped in this cycle of low paying, insecure, menial
work - despite having 10 years of college and college debt behind them.
This is right around the time the’re in their late 20s or early 30s and are maybe
trying to start a family or buy a house - but they can;t because their job might mean they
have to move to a completely new city at the end of the year, at their own expense.
The Post doc system is affecting the scientists themselves.
A study from the University of California Berkley showed that almost half of science
PhD students were clinically depressed – citing factors like career prospects, living conditions,
financial confidence as sources of concern.
And, as mentioned – it also keeps the white, wealthy, male status quo in science academia
– as women (particularly women from minorities or low socioeconomic backgrounds) are often
forced to leave their post doc if they want to have a family because there’s no maternity
leave and not enough money to cover the cost of kids.
BEC Okay, so post docs are bad for early careers
scientists.
But how does the post doc program impact science itself?
Jayde For starters, the length of these terms may
not be enough for the researchers to do the most thorough research.
They need to publish in order to secure a permanent science job, and they need to and
they need to publish before their two year contract is up.
Chop chop!
Secondly, by rigging the system this way: by undervaluing hard work, the smart, entrepreneurial
minds – the ones who can solve complex real-world problems, many of these quickly discover that
the work is bad and the pay is sh*t and their future prospects are limited... and they take
their skills elsewhere, where they are better remunerated and have can advance their careers
quickly.
Ie, They leave academia to work in the commercial job market.
BEC So if we want to capture these young, passionate,
problem solving minds and keep them in the future of science, post-docs need a better
situation.
But how do we do that?
Jayde That’s where you guys come in!
What do you guys think?
How can we get a better conditions for post docs; the backbone of and future of scientific
research.
Should the government give more money to scientific research, so we can pay them better?
Or should universities be limiting the amount of post-docs they have working on a project
so that the few post docs they have can have better conditions?
Should we end the PhD or drastically change it?
Let us know in the comments below!
HI everyone!
I'm Jayde Lovell, resident science nerd at the Young Turks Network.
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