Excellent response to new study into the true costs of fixed-term contracts

This April, C-DICE launched a new study to explore the wide-ranging impacts of researchers holding fixed-term positions, aiming to foster a supportive and dynamic research community.

Early career researchers, such as postdoctoral researchers and newly appointed academics, often find themselves on fixed-term contracts without permanent or continuous employment prospects while trying to build their research portfolios, secure funding, and develop professional networks. Research precarity impacts their career development, personal lives, mental and financial health. 

The new study seeks to understand these challenges and quantify the true costs of precarity for both researchers and the institutions that employ them. 

We had a fantastic response, with almost 400 responses – everyone of these will help advocate for better policies that foster a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable research culture and support, and support the excellent work of Cara, the Council for At Risk Academics.

C-DICE will present the initial findings at the Gender, Work and Organization conference, in Nantes, France on 20-23 July in a presentation by Sarah Barnard, Swathi Mukundan, Sharon Henson and Kathryn North entitled “The Costs of Researcher Precarity”.

A summary of the survey results will be available in late summer. Please email cdice-enquiries@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk if you would like to be on the mailing list to receive an update.

Thank you to all early career researchers who shared their experiences, and to everyone who helped promote the survey.