Effective Self-Management for Early Career Researchers in the Natural and Life Sciences.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bielczyk NZ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7665085 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Early-career researchers (ECRs) make up a large portion of the academic workforce and their experiences often reflect the wider culture of the research system. Here we surveyed 658 ECRs working in Australia to better understand the needs and challenges faced by this community. Although most respondents indicated a 'love of science', many also expressed an intention to leave their research position. The responses highlight how job insecurity, workplace culture, mentorship and 'questionable research practices' are impacting the job satisfaction of ECRs and potentially compromising science in Australia. We also make recommendations for addressing some of these concerns.
| S-EPMC7800379 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Early-career researchers (ECRs) make up a large portion of the academic workforce. Yet, most leadership positions in scientific societies are held by senior scientists, and ECRs have little to no say over the decisions that will shape the future of research. This article looks at the level of influence ECRs have in 20 scientific societies based in the US and UK, and provides guidelines on how societies can successfully include ECRs in leadership roles.
| S-EPMC7511228 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to describe early career health sciences information professionals' self-reported attainment of the Medical Library Association (MLA) Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success and to investigate the various methods by which participants developed these competencies.MethodsA SurveyMonkey survey was designed to ascertain participants' demographic information and their competency attainment. "Early career" health information professionals were defined as those with less than five years of professional experience. Participants were asked to rate each of the seven competencies on a five-point Likert scale regarding their level of agreement with the statement, "I have demonstrated this competency." Participants who responded positively were then asked to indicate how they acquired the competency on a multiple-choice, multiple-answer list. Free-text fields were provided for general comments and for participants to elaborate on their answers. The survey was distributed through the MLA email discussion list and other related email discussion lists. Participation was anonymous.ResultsOne hundred eighty-seven responses were received. Out of those 187 respondents, 95 completed the entire survey. The majority of early career health sciences information professionals agreed that they had attained all 7 competencies. Of the various methods used to develop competencies, the most selected method was formal library and information studies education. Participants were least likely to report attaining competencies via mentoring, volunteering, or internships. Participants reported the highest level of confidence in having attained the "Health Sciences Information Services" competency, and the lowest level of confidence in having attained the "Research, Analysis, and Interpretation" competency.ConclusionsThese results contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding proposed changes to the MLA competencies. The results may also inform the development of educational and professional development opportunities for prospective or early career health information professionals.
| S-EPMC4915639 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Drawing on Lent and Brown (2013) recently developed Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) model of Career Self-Management (CSM), we aimed to determine the key predictors and underlying theoretical mechanisms of college athletes' career planning processes for life after sport. Ten variables were operationalized (i.e., career planning for life after sport, career decision self-efficacy, career goals, perceived career planning support from coaches, perceived career planning barriers, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness) to assess the hypothesized CSM model. A survey design was utilized on a sample of 538 NCAA Division I college athletes in the United States to test the model. The measurement and hypothesized models were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity for all measures. Several significant direct, indirect, and moderating relationships of the cognitive, contextual, and personality variables on career planning were observed. The CSM model was found to be a useful theoretical framework that explained 62.7% of the variance on career planning. The model, along with the validated measures that support it, can help both researchers and practitioners to leverage facilitating (i.e., self-efficacy, career goals, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion) and impeding (i.e., career barriers) factors of the career planning processes in their work.
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Project description:A lack of physician scientists as well as a high female dropout rate from academic medicine and basic life sciences is a concern in many countries. The current study analyzes academic career intentions within a sample of recent doctoral graduates from medicine and basic life sciences (N = 1109), focusing on research self-efficacy beliefs as explanatory variable of gender and disciplinary differences. To ensure that differences in research self-efficacy could not be attributed solely to objective scientific performance, we controlled for number of publications and dissertation grade. The results of multivariate analyses pointed to a strong and significant association between research self-efficacy and academic career intentions (ß = 0.49, p<0.001). The lower academic career intentions of medical doctoral graduates were no longer significant when controlling for research self-efficacy. Within the field of medicine, female doctoral graduates expressed lower research self-efficacy beliefs and academic career intentions. When controlling for research self-efficacy, the correlation between gender and academic career intention was no longer significant. In contrast, no gender differences were found within the basic life sciences with respect to neither academic career intentions nor research self-efficacy.
| S-EPMC5598975 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Evidence suggests that women in academia are hindered by conscious and unconscious biases, and often feel excluded from formal and informal opportunities for research collaboration. In addition to ensuring fairness and helping to redress gender imbalance in the academic workforce, increasing women's access to collaboration could help scientific progress by drawing on more of the available human capital. Here, we test whether researchers tend to collaborate with same-gendered colleagues, using more stringent methods and a larger dataset than in past work. Our results reaffirm that researchers co-publish with colleagues of the same gender more often than expected by chance, and show that this 'gender homophily' is slightly stronger today than it was 10 years ago. Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence that homophily is driven mostly by senior academics, and no evidence that homophily is stronger in fields where women are in the minority. Interestingly, journals with a high impact factor for their discipline tended to have comparatively low homophily, as predicted if mixed-gender teams produce better research. We discuss some potential causes of gender homophily in science.
| S-EPMC6485756 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Migration studies emphasize the role of economic, social and cultural capital in shaping out-migration decisions. Yet, little attention is paid to the effect of capital endowment on return migration, particularly among the highly educated. This article examines the extent to which different forms of capital determine return decisions of early-career researchers (ECRs). We hypothesized that individuals from more privileged backgrounds would repatriate at higher rates, due to the benefits that their capital stock might offer them upon homeland re-integration at home. Drawing on a sample of 223 early career Israeli scholars in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines, we used logistic regressions to analyze the effects of material wealth, social ties, and family-oriented cultural capital on their return propensities. No significant differences were found between repatriating and non-repatriating scholars with respect to cultural capital. However, accumulating social and economic capital was positively correlated with the decision to repatriate as was marrying into academic families.
| S-EPMC6687145 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIt is estimated that over 46 million individuals have atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide, and the incidence and prevalence of AF are increasing globally. There is an urgent need to accelerate the academic development of scientists possessing the skills to conduct innovative, collaborative AF research.MethodsWe designed and implemented a virtual AF Strategically Focused Research Network Cross-Center Fellowship program to enhance the competencies of early-stage AF basic, clinical, and population health researchers through experiential education and mentorship. The pedagogical model involves significant cross-center collaboration to produce a curriculum focused on enhancing AF scientific competencies, fostering career/professional development, and cultivating grant writing skills. Outcomes for success involve clear expectations for fellows to produce manuscripts, presentations, and-for those at the appropriate career stage-grant applications. We evaluated the effectiveness of the fellowship model via mixed methods formative and summative surveys.ResultsIn 2 years of the fellowship, fellows generally achieved the productivity metrics sought by our pedagogical model, with outcomes for the 12 fellows including 50 AF-related manuscripts, 7 publications, 28 presentations, and 3 grant awards applications. Participant evaluations reported that the fellowship effectively met its educational objectives. All fellows reported medium to high satisfaction with the overall fellowship, webinar content and facilitation, staff communication and support, and program organization.ConclusionsThe fellowship model represents an innovative educational strategy by providing a virtual AF training and mentoring curriculum for early-career basic, clinical, and population health scientists working across multiple institutions, which is particularly valuable in the pandemic era.
| S-EPMC7674267 | biostudies-literature
Project description:[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220609.].
| S-EPMC6709885 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Many early-career researchers are involved in the peer review of manuscripts for scientific journals, typically under the guidance of or jointly with their advisor, but most of the evidence about this activity is anecdotal. Here we report the results of a literature review and a survey of researchers, with an emphasis on co-reviewing and 'ghostwriting'. The literature review identified 36 articles that addressed the involvement of early-career researchers in peer review, most of them about early-career researchers and their advisors co-reviewing manuscripts for the purposes of training: none of them addressed the topic of ghostwriting in detail. About three quarters of the respondents to the survey had co-reviewed a manuscript. Most respondents believe co-reviewing to be a beneficial (95%) and ethical (73%) form of training in peer review. About half of the respondents have ghostwritten a peer review report, despite 81% responding that ghostwriting is unethical and 82% agreeing that identifying co-reviewers to the journal is valuable. Peer review would benefit from changes in both journal policies and lab practices that encourage mentored co-review and discourage ghostwriting.
| S-EPMC6822987 | biostudies-literature