The wave of employee departures and widespread worker discontent are not limited to start-ups and large corporations. The massive resignations also affect the university and the research community, as reported in a report published recently in the scientific journal Nature. Many mid-career scientists leave research to put their knowledge to use in industry. The hashtag #leavingacademia is also dedicated to this phenomenon. A wave of resignations which would find its origin in the significant pressure to obtain subsidies, especially during the health crisis.
Increased mid-career dissatisfaction
According to the Nature survey, carried out in 2021 among more than 1,200 researchers around the world, the phenomenon mainly affects mid-career researchers. This stage of scientific life is accompanied by challenges and uncertainties, which lead those concerned to wonder about their future. The results reveal that 37% of mid-career researchers are dissatisfied with their current position, while the percentage of dissatisfaction is 32% for early and late career researchers. 24% say they are extremely dissatisfied with their opportunities for career advancement, while the percentage is lower for early career researchers (17%) and late career researchers (19%).
The pandemic has paved the way for a mass exodus
For some researchers, the Covid-19 epidemic is the straw that broke the camel’s back. In Australia, for example, the health crisis has prevented universities from collecting income linked to the tuition of foreign students, which has represented a considerable reduction in the budget allocated to research.
As of May 2021, one in five university jobs had been cut in Australia. “We see a lot of people looking for work elsewhere, or retiring if they can afford it”says Lara McKenzie, an anthropologist who studies trends in the academic workforce at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Those who remain lose trusted colleagues and are unwilling to take on the huge workloads left behind by their comrades “deserters”. Other reasons also play in favor of the departure of the academic environment: the lack of valuation, precarious contractual positions, the reduction of retirement pensions, systemic racism and sexism, as well as structural prejudices.
These departures further threaten progress on diversity, equity and inclusiveness among academic staff, as they affect women so much.
The difficult fate of women in the world of research
The research mothers went through a particularly stressful time. Held back by childcare obligations during the outbreak, the careers of many women have suffered more than those of men. A Facebook group, called PhD Mamas and launched in 2015, grew from 1,500 members to 12,000 members in just a few years.
For Meredith Gibson, acting executive director of the Washington DC-based Association of Women in Science, inequalities in academic training contribute to the resignations of mid-career researchers. According to this association, the wave of resignations is not punctual and it could continue.