Research Online Survey (CROS) 2011 institutional results to researchers at Lancaster, along with issues ... Over 70% of
Lancaster Researchers’ Survey December 2012 Conducted on behalf of the Lancaster Researchers’ Networking Group by Lancaster UCU with assistance from: Michelle Collins, Rebecca Whittle, Emma Halliday and Philomena Bacon
This survey was carried out over the Summer of 2012 by Lancaster University Researchers’ Networking Group with the assistance of Lancaster UCU. The purpose of the survey was to gather feedback and information from staff on research contracts who were, at the date of the invitation to participate in the survey, employed at Lancaster University. The results of this survey provide detailed information on the experiences and aspirations of Lancaster researchers, together with examples of good practice from other universities which can be used to improve policies and practices here at Lancaster.
Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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1
THE RESEARCHERS’ NETWORKING GROUP AT LANCASTER
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2
CONTEXT AND DRIVERS
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3 3.1 3.2
LANCASTER RESEARCHERS’ ONLINE SURVEY (2012) Target Audience Methodology
5 5 6
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RESULTS
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4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9
Respondents Qualifications and length of service as a researcher Career to date and future aspirations Reported barriers to career progression at Lancaster Good practice (and where it takes place) at Lancaster Examples of good practice at other institutions Improvements suggested for Lancaster The probability of a researcher with a PhD being appointed to a permanent post Conclusion
Appendix 1 - List of Employing Organisations Appendix 2 - Lancaster Researchers’ Online Survey 2012 Questionnaire
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents the main findings from an online survey of researchers at Lancaster University which was conducted by representatives of the researchers’ networking group, with the assistance of Lancaster UCU, during the summer of 2012. Feedback following the presentation of the Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS) 2011 institutional results to researchers at Lancaster, along with issues raised by researchers at professional researchers’ networking sessions, helped identify additional areas in which the views and experiences of researchers at Lancaster needed to be sought. The survey builds on the CROS results by providing more detailed information on researchers’ experiences at Lancaster. It also captures specific examples of good practice from other universities in order to assist discussions at Lancaster with regard to implementing the Concordat and improving policies and practices affecting researchers here.
KEY FINDINGS Respondents Of 223 researchers employed at Lancaster University in the summer of 2012, 69 responded to the survey. This is a response rate of 30.9% and compares well with a response rate of 19.6% to the institutional CROS in 2011 The age range of respondents was between 25 and 62 with most respondents falling into the 31-35 years (39%); 36-40 years (13%) and 46-50 years (12%) categories Researchers based in all four of Lancaster University’s faculties responded to the survey The majority of researchers who responded to the survey hold a doctoral qualification (88.4%) Qualifications and employment Over 50% of respondents had been employed as researchers prior to completing their highest degree Over 50% of respondents have been employed as researchers elsewhere prior to working at Lancaster 76.8% of respondents were currently employed on a fixed-term contract and 18.8% on an openended, permanent or indefinite contract Nearly 80% of respondents have been employed on 2 or more fixed term contracts Career and future aspirations Although nearly two thirds of respondents considered themselves to be in the early stages of their career, another third of respondents did not 71% of respondents reported that they had never been promoted whilst working as a researcher at Lancaster University, with 58.8% reporting that they had never had the opportunity to discuss their case for promotion with their line manager or Principle Investigator The majority of respondents (79.7%) reported that they would like to continue working in higher education in the future Over 70% of researchers wishing to work within higher education would choose ‘research’ as their preferred career Reported barriers to career progression at Lancaster University Respondents were invited to identify any perceived or experienced barriers to career progression at Lancaster University. Their responses included: Culture and attitudes towards researchers Lack of integration into departments Poor line management and access to resources Lack of mentoring support and/or career guidance Fixed term or short term contract issues
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Poor employment practices Lack of promotion prospects Funding, time, bureaucratic or other issues Respondents were also invited to identify any local initiatives or examples of good practice that are already taking place at Lancaster. Their responses included: Some departments were more inclusive of researchers The establishment and support of representation and action-based researcher groups Listening to researchers The encouragement of partnership and collaboration Career support and access to resources and training Good line management Respondents were asked to identify ways in which Lancaster University can improve the experience and development of researchers. Their responses included: More inclusivity and less isolation within departments and the university More partnership and collaboration The provision of decent office space and access to resources Better employment contracts, more flexible job roles and bridging funding Clearer career paths and career support The introduction of a mentoring/buddy system Changes to established culture and practice around the employment and development of researchers Finally, examples of good practice from Higher Education Institutions around the UK were highlighted and included: Career pathway models at Bristol University The Study Leave Scheme for researchers at Warwick University A comprehensive Researcher Staff Career Development Skills Programme at Cardiff University Support for grant development and publications at the Universities of Leeds and Warwick CONCLUSIONS The researchers who responded to the survey are highly qualified, have a wide range of experience of working as researchers both within and beyond this institution and are committed to working as researchers within the Higher Education sector Not all researchers saw themselves as being in the early stages of their career: this should be reflected in the employment, training and support offered to researchers at Lancaster The survey highlights major concerns around career progression. Chiefly: o Most respondents are currently employed on fixed term contracts and have not been promoted whilst working at Lancaster University o The probability of obtaining a permanent contract falls with the number of fixed contracts and the number of institutional moves o From the responses obtained to the survey we estimated the probability of a male and female obtaining a permanent contract, using pooled means by gender. We found that, based on our sample, males have a 30% chance of obtaining a permanent contract after 3.2 years at an institution, whereas females have only a 4.1% chance. Inclusivity and integration, line management and the provision of support were identified as examples of both good practice and as barriers to career progression by researchers working at Lancaster University. This suggests that there may be wide variations in how researchers are treated across Lancaster University Examples of good practice that enhance researchers’ employment experiences and support their career progression within the higher education sector were identified which should be used by Lancaster University to build upon its existing provision for and responses to researchers
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1
The Researchers’ Networking Group at Lancaster
The Researchers’ Networking Group1 was set up at Lancaster in April 2012 following a University and College Union (UCU2) half-day workshop for researchers at Lancaster University. The Researchers’ Networking Group is run by researchers – for researchers. The network is actively supported and facilitated by the Lancaster UCU Branch but is open to all researchers at Lancaster. The purpose and aims of the networking group are: to provide a forum for the discussion of matters of interest or concern to staff on research contracts (open-ended/permanent/fixed term) to create momentum for positive improvements to be made at Lancaster to raise the visibility of researchers at Lancaster to enable researchers to network informally and support each other All researchers are invited to attend the networking sessions and the number of attendees is around 1520. Activities and Networking Sessions held to date Friday 12th October 2012 - Researchers' networking session held. Professor Geraint Johnes, chair of the university concordat monitoring group and Dean for Graduate Studies joined the forum to share his views on the implementation of the Concordat3 at Lancaster 25th July - 5th September 2012 - Online survey of researchers’ views, aspirations and experiences conducted at Lancaster. 28th June 2012 - Researchers' networking group meeting takes place to discuss the feedback and views expressed by researchers and senior managers at the CROS survey session on the 12th June. Key actions arising from the session include: a campaign to be launched to raise the visibility of researchers at Lancaster and an internal survey of researchers' views, aspirations and experiences to be undertaken over the summer. 12th June 2012 - A special forum for researchers was held by the university to discuss the results of the careers in research online survey (CROS). The CROS survey forms part of the monitoring and implementation of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. 27th April 2012 - Lancaster UCU Branch hosted a half-day workshop for researchers at Lancaster University which identified a number of concerns and issues being experienced by researchers. The Professional Researchers' Networking Group was formed that day with the purpose of improving the visibility and treatment of researchers at Lancaster.
1
www.lancs.ac.uk/users/ucu/campaigns/researchers.htm www.ucu.org.uk 3 www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/505181/Concordat-to-Support-the-Career-Development-of-Researchers.html 2
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Context and Drivers
2.1 The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers4 Launched in June 2008, the Concordat is an agreement between the funders and employers of researchers in the UK regarding the ways in which the careers of researchers should be supported, providing: ‘a single, unambiguous statement of the expectations and responsibilities of researchers, their managers, employers and funders’. It is based around 7 principles relating to the way that researchers are recruited, recognised and valued; the way that researchers and research careers should be supported by managers, employers and funders; researchers’ own responsibilities; diversity and equality; and the implementation and review of the Concordat. The Concordat is also the mechanism through which UK institutions can demonstrate alignment with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their recruitment. A UK-wide process, incorporating both the QAA Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, enables institutions that have published Concordat implementation plans to gain the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ badge. Lancaster University gained this award in 2011. Lancaster University has an Action Plan5 to ensure that the University fully meets its responsibilities under the Concordat. 2.2 Vitae6 Research Councils UK funds the Vitae programme, which was launched in 2008. Its vision is for the UK to be world-class in supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers. From April 2011, Vitae assumed responsibilities for the implementation of the Concordat alongside its researcher development activities. 2.3 Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS) The Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS) was originally developed in 2002 as part of a project funded by HEFCE, amongst others. CROS is now supported by Vitae. It is aimed at anonymously gathering data about working conditions, career aspirations and career development opportunities for research staff and provides a means by which progress towards meeting the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers can be monitored. Lancaster University participated in the 2009 and 2011 CROS survey. CROS is useful for monitoring trends over time and for benchmarking Lancaster’s performance against other institutions. Consequently, comparisons with the CROS 2011 data are made wherever possible throughout this report.
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Lancaster Researchers’ Online Survey (2012)
3.1 Target audience The survey was targeted at research staff employed at Lancaster University as defined in the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers: ‘Researchers are broadly defined as individuals whose primary responsibility is to conduct research and who are employed for this purpose. It is recognised that this broad category of staffing covers a wide range of staff with different disciplinary backgrounds, levels of training, experience and responsibility, types of contract (fixed or open-ended, full- or part-time), and different career expectations and intentions.’
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www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/505181/Concordat-to-Support-the-Career-Development-of-Researchers.html www.lancs.ac.uk/hr/development/files/Lancaster_University_concordat_Actionplan_2011_v2.pdf 6 www.vitae.ac.uk/ 5
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3.2 Methodology The survey was hosted on the BOS (Bristol Online Surveys) platform, which provides a secure web environment for the design, delivery, administration and analysis of online surveys. The survey schedule is reproduced in full in Appendix 2. All researchers who were known to be employed at Lancaster University (223) were invited to participate in the online survey which was launched on 25th July 2012 and closed on 5th September 2012. At the point of survey closure, 69 responses had been received which represented an overall response rate of 30.9%. CROS COMPARISON: The 30.9% response rate compared favourably to the institutional CROS 2009 response rate of 27.1% and the CROS 2011 response rate of 19.6%
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Results
4.1
Respondents Researchers’ Online Survey 2012
Lancaster CROS 2011
Lancaster CROS 2009
Male:
55.1%
44.2%
40.0%
Female:
44.9%
55.8%
60.0%
Response Rate:
30.9%
19.6%
27.1%
Q2. What is your host department at Lancaster University?
Department
Surveys Completed
% of Returns x Researchers in Dept
Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC)
21
53%
Physics
13
24%
Health Research (DHR)
12
55%
School of Computing and Communications
5
14%
Sociology
3
23%
Mathematics & Statistics
3
33%
Applied Social Science
2
67%
History
2
50%
Engineering
2
22%
Economics
2
100%
Institute for Contemporary Arts
1
50%
Politics, Philosophy & Religion
1
100%
Lancaster Medical school
1
33%
Accounting and Finance
1
33%
Total
69
Responses were received from researchers across all four faculties at Lancaster. Percentage response rates are clearly skewed by the small numbers of researchers in certain departments. However, amongst the larger departments, it is noticeable that response rates seem to be highest for LEC and DHR – both departments which have well supported researcher groups. The existence of such departmental groups may thus encourage researchers to get more involved in local and institutional policy issues affecting researchers.
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Q3. What age are you?
CROS 2011
25 and under
1% [1:25]
3.7%
26-30
10% [7: 26-30]
14.8%
31-35
39% [27: 31-35]
27.8%
36-40
13% [9: 36-40]
20.4%
41-45
9% [6: 41-45]
11.1%
46-50
12% [8: 46-50]
11.1%
51-55
10% [7: 51-55]
7.4%
56-60
4% [3: 56-60]
3.7%
61 or older Average Age: 39-40 Age Range: 25-62 Most Common Age Range of Respondents: 31-35
1% [1: 61+]
0%
CROS Comparison: The results show a high degree of similarity, with the 31-35 year age group being the most common across both surveys.
4.2
Qualifications and length of service as a researcher
Q4. What is the highest qualification that you hold?
Undergraduate degree:
1.4%
1
Taught postgraduate qualification:
2.9%
2
Research masters:
4.3%
3
Doctorate:
88.4%
61
Other
2.9%
2
The majority of respondents hold a doctoral qualification. Q6/Q8. How many years have you been employed as a researcher: pre and post highest degree?
Service Pre Highest Degree
Service Post Highest degree
None:
47.8% (33)
1.4% (1)
