For researchers who have achieved independence and recognition, academic careers often become less predictable rather than more stable. A collaboration between the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York examined this mid-career stage through interviews, focus groups, surveys and an audit of institutional resources, finding that established researchers must continually reassess how they balance research, teaching, leadership, management and collaboration.
Early-career researchers are familiar with the uncertainties of academic life. Even so, many expect their careers to follow a relatively familiar path: completing a PhD, moving into postdoctoral work, establishing research independence, obtaining a permanent position and eventually reaching a more stable phase of academic life.
Conversations with prominent researchers conducted as part of the White Rose Establishment Researcher Project suggest that career progression is often not linear. The project is a joint study by the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York in the UK that aims to support career development.
Research independence generally means leading and sustaining an independent research programme, and it is typically associated with the middle stages of an academic career. This period brings new challenges, including coaching other people, managing competing responsibilities and continuing to conduct research while prioritizing the tasks likely to have the greatest impact.
The researchers we interviewed rarely spoke about what it means to be “successful”. Instead, they emphasized that during periods of heightened uncertainty, academics need to regularly review and reassess how they think about their careers.
Universities invest heavily in supporting early-career researchers and develop sophisticated programmes for senior leaders. By comparison, relatively little attention has been paid to the distinctive experiences of academics between these two career stages.
Resources for mid-career scientists
Our collaboration examined how established researchers experience mid-career. Over four months, we interviewed 27 prominent researchers, held two focus groups, sent follow-up surveys to validate our findings and mapped institutional resources at the three universities.
Because there is no universally accepted definition of an established researcher, we defined established researchers as “scholars who have achieved functional independence and institutional recognition in their research capacity while continuing to develop their professional identity and navigating complex career transitions.”
This career stage is characterized by a clear research agenda; the ability to secure and manage funding; a strong record of scholarly output; recognition within the relevant research community; and the ability to make a substantial intellectual contribution to the field.
Managing complexity
Across disciplines, prominent researchers described the shared experience of juggling competing responsibilities in research, teaching, leadership, management and collaboration. Their work was rarely confined to a single role. Instead, they continuously negotiated priorities among these activities.
Analysis of the interviews showed that researchers understood this complexity in different ways. To identify recurring patterns, we outlined four personas that can help clarify different approaches to navigating established academic life.
No researcher fits perfectly into one persona. Many people identify with several of them and move between them over time. The personas are intended to show how researchers think about success, make decisions and respond to the continuing complexities of academic work.
Laboratory builder
For some prominent researchers, academic life revolves as much around people as it does around projects. As they develop research programmes, they also recruit and train staff, secure funding and create opportunities for others. Many described a significant transition from primarily conducting research themselves to coordinating collaborative teams that can bring research to fruition.
Career planning strategies for scientists
For researchers hoping to lead a group, this persona is a reminder that independence requires leadership, delegation, the development of a research culture and a balance between investing in others and maintaining personal scientific expertise.
Many researchers described the challenge of redefining success as their roles shifted from conducting their own research to enabling the research of others. The skills and achievements that brought them to this point were not necessarily the ones they needed to succeed at the next stage. Although this work is not routinely celebrated, it is fundamental to the long-term success of many research environments.
Independent scholar
Many early-career researchers believe that becoming established means leading increasingly large groups. Independent scholars, however, organize their careers around lasting intellectual contributions. Their influence comes from the ideas they develop and the scholarship they produce, which advance thinking in their disciplines. Although they may collaborate extensively, their work is defined by continuity of intellectual purpose rather than organizational expansion.
One of their biggest challenges is managing the pressures of an increasingly fragmented academic role while preserving the uninterrupted thinking time needed for continued scholarly work. Many also described the difficulty of gaining recognition for contributions that do not depend on large grants, such as editorial work, intellectual leadership and the development of scholarly communities that stimulate new debates and research directions.
Project architect
Some prominent researchers described careers centred on leading large-scale research collaborations. Whether coordinating interdisciplinary teams, cross-institutional partnerships or highly funded programmes, they connect talent, expertise and opportunities across multiple projects that do not necessarily form one coherent research programme.
Rather than building a single permanent team, these researchers create continuing collaborations that evolve as ideas, funding opportunities and partnerships emerge.
Their biggest challenge is maintaining a consistent sense of purpose while managing numerous projects, partnerships and opportunities. As a portfolio expands, deciding which opportunities to pursue and which to decline becomes an increasingly important part of professional development.
Source: www.nature.com