Analysis of Requirements for Academic Staff at Higher Education Institutions

The purpose of this study is to analyse the modern requirements for the teaching staff. The article examines the regulatory requirements for various positions of the teaching staff, analyses 338 vacancies of Russian universities on one of the largest job search sites and the most relevant domestic and foreign research on this topic. The methodological basis of the study is the results of monitoring and analysis of regulatory requirements for the teaching staff and current research on the designated topic, as well as the results of content analysis of current vacancies for 35 qualification and competency requirements, depending on the position on the search site work “hh.ru”. As a result of the study, the author was able to identify the most relevant requirements of various stakeholders to the teaching staff. The results of the study can be used by university leaders to improve activities related to assessing the quality of employees, by candidates for faculty positions in order to identify individual points of growth, and can also serve as a basis for further research in this area.

A Life in History: Making the Team

This article traces the author’s path from early life in the United Kingdom to graduate school in Newfoundland and New Brunswick and then to a series of faculty positions – ultimately, at Saint Mary’s University. Early work in the seventeenth-century history of northern New England gave way to a more broadly comparative approach to this era and, eventually, to an effort to coordinate imperial, colonial, and Indigenous history in northeastern North America. A variety of career uncertainties and evolutions also led to involvement in the history of higher education, the history of Atlantic Canada, and the history of sport. Through it all, collaborative work developed as a recurrent approach, with Atlantic Canada themes frequently underpinning responses to a variety of historiographies.

Insights and Perspectives from the PhD to Employee Forum

Data shows that PhD graduates pursue diverse careers. Recent data from Canadian universities report that fewer than 35% of health-science PhD graduates are employed in research intensive, or tenure-stream, faculty positions up to seven years after graduation. Perhaps surprisingly, this is higher than previous estimates, which indicate that up to 80% of basic biomedical PhDs are employed outside of tenure-track positions within 6-10 years of obtaining their degree. The “From PhD to Employee Forum” was born out of a pressing need to identify specific solutions to manage the challenge of effectively engaging trainees in career development during their doctoral degree. To address this challenge, we sought to bring together career development experts to collect insights regarding the approaches of different institutions to address the career planning needs of life science trainees. Here we summarize key presentations at the forum, review what we see as some of the key challenges in the career preparation of life scientists and summarize three key insights raised in the forum.

Behind the Laboratory Doors

This chapter compares Esther Lederberg’s role with that of other notable women scientists whose achievements exhibited creative laboratory skills. Esther’s career peaked in 1956 when the Society of Illinois Bacteriologists jointly bestowed the Pasteur Medal on the Lederberg couple. Usually, Joshua Lederberg was the public face of their research program. Esther’s place was behind the laboratory doors where she managed the lab and performed the experiments. For over a hundred years, this was the typical arrangement for women and their male associates. Prestigious faculty positions and accolades were unattainable for so many women in science. For Esther and many of her female colleagues, the thrill of discovery was enough reward. Esther valued the camaraderie of the brilliant personalities that made up the circle of pioneering researchers. Stanley Falkow called her a kind of Boswell of bacterial genetics. Her extensive photographic collection is a who’s who of molecular biology, many as their younger selves.

Postdoctoral research training and the attainment of faculty careers in social science and STEM fields in the United States

Purpose While postdoctoral research (postdoc) training is a common step toward academic careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, the role of postdoc training in social sciences is less clear. An increasing number of social science PhDs are pursuing postdocs. This paper aims to identify factors associated with participation in postdoc training and examines the relationship between postdoc training and subsequent career outcomes, including attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and early career salaries. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients, this study applies propensity score matching, regression and decomposition analyses to identify the role of postdoc training on the employment outcomes of PhDs in the social science and STEM fields. Findings Results from the regression analyses indicate that participation in postdoc training is associated with greater PhD research experience, higher departmental research ranking and departmental job placement norms. When the postdocs and non-postdocs groups are balanced on observable characteristics, postdoc training is associated with a higher likelihood of attaining tenure-track faculty positions 7 to 9 years after PhD completion. The salaries of social science tenure-track faculty with postdoc experience eventually surpass the salaries of non-postdoc PhDs, primarily via placement at institutions that offer relatively higher salaries. This pattern, however, does not apply to STEM PhDs. Originality/value This study leverages comprehensive, nationally representative data to investigate the role of postdoc training in the career outcomes of social sciences PhDs, in comparison to STEM PhDs. Research findings suggest that for social sciences PhDs interested in academic careers, postdoc training can contribute to the attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and toward earning relatively higher salaries over time. Research findings provide prospective and current PhDs with information helpful in career planning and decision-making. Academic institutions, administrators, faculty and stakeholders can apply these research findings toward developing programs and interventions to provide doctoral students with career guidance and greater career transparency.

Ensuring Equity: Graduate Education as a Site of Strategic Intervention in Disciplinary Cultures

Despite targeted recruitment efforts, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) remain severely underrepresented in STEM graduate programs in the United States. As a result, the pool of scientists eligible to hold faculty positions remains overwhelmingly white. Increasing recruitment without addressing the underlying aspects of disciplinary cultures that reproduce systems of oppression is insufficient and short-sighted. Graduate programs socialize the next generation of scholars into disciplinary cultures by implicitly and explicitly communicating racialized and gendered ideas about what it means to be a good scientist. As a result, graduate education offers a critical opportunity to disrupt and transform science by interrogating disciplinary norms and values that guide decision-making, expanding definitions of scientific excellence, and providing scientists with holistic mentorship and varied forms of social support. Graduate programs must be intentionally retooled to support the persistence and well-being of BIPOC graduate students in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.