Madam, – Dr Sarah Harney’s experience as a post-doctoral researcher (August 17th) will be familiar to the many researchers in the higher education sector. Because of this, these same researchers will have found Stephen Duff’s comparison of the career path of a science researcher with that of a medical doctor (August 19th) all the more galling.
The most glaring difference between a career in science and in medicine is that in medicine there are clearly established career paths, with progression to consultant level only one of the career opportunities available. Most science PhDs cannot hope for a career in research; not because they choose another career or are not good enough, but because the vast majority of post-doctoral researchers will not secure a position as a lecturer in a higher education institute, and there are few research career opportunities outside of this traditional lecturing model.
Imagine the outcry if the country’s medical schools were turning out qualified medical doctors, at huge expense to the taxpayer, but only 20 per cent of them could find a career in medicine. This is the situation for science PhD graduates who, after several years working as a post-doctoral researcher, are forced to leave research because of lack of job security, appropriate financial remuneration or career opportunities.
It is obvious to anyone on the ground in the research community that we are no further along in achieving sustainable and rewarding career paths as we near the midpoint of the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) 2006-2013. This strategy recognised that for researchers “little opportunity exists for systematic career development within the [Higher Education] sector” and called for the “development of more visible career paths [that] will make science more attractive and has the potential to give Ireland a competitive advantage in the international market for top researchers”.
Despite the lack of research careers, the SSTI’s commitment to effectively double the number of PhD graduates by 2013 is continuing apace. Is it little wonder that science is not perceived to be an attractive career option? – Yours, etc,