Supporting postdocs through the cost of competition in research

In an August 2022 virtual session on the underpinnings of the cost of competition in research, we discussed the challenges of postdocs and supporting their needs. Attendees shared what they are tackling at their institutions, and also heard about what others are experiencing across higher education. Explore the takeaways below.

Review the Key Takeaways

Economic pressures drive difficulties in postdoc recruitment and retention

When asked to rank which market pressures most impacted their university’s ability to recruit and retain postdocs, participants ranked economic pressures well above population, international, and higher education industry pressures.

This is a shift from the same survey two years ago where participants ranked international pressures and declining demographics as the greatest detractors to postdoc engagement. The lingering effects of the pandemic, combined with rising inflation and fears of a recession contribute to economic pressures overtaking the other two, with a belief that international and population pressures have not improved, just that economic pressures have worsened in the last two years.

Postdocs increasingly seek higher salaries and more benefits

While postdoc pay has risen in terms of total dollars, when adjusted for inflation overall pay remains lower than it was 10 years ago. Participants report that, beyond the mounting economic pressures, the average postdoc is older than before and looking for greater stability and support for themselves (and increasingly their families).

The growing economic pressures have also decreased the total number of candidates pursuing postdocs, thus increasing the competition to hire them between institutions. This also partially accounts for the growing demand for benefits, prompting institutions to evaluate and potentially change how postdocs are classified to improve benefits packages. Additional information on how postdocs are classified and what benefits are most common can be found through the National Postdoc Association’s reporting on this topic.

Recruitment challenges further complicate DEI hiring initiatives and the effort to increase diverse early-career faculty candidate pools

Universities and industries seeking to recruit a more diverse set of doctorate-educated candidates often cite postdoc experience as one of the missing components in the current talent pipeline. Beyond DEI, postdoc recruitment and retention also allow institutions to create stronger internal talent pipelines for assistant professorship positions. EAB covered several promising avenues for achieving this in our brief Instilling Equity and Inclusion in Departmental Practices.

Aligning postdoc recruitment efforts with other academic hiring can create a more structured process, but may also slow the process

Recruiting postdocs in this hypercompetitive period of economic anxiety means institutions must use every resource at their disposal to lure the best candidates. As postdoc hiring oversight shifts from individual academic departments to either college or university-level centralized hiring processes, participants report more consistent candidate updates and easier onboarding.

The biggest drawback to using more centralized processes is a slower turnaround time—applications take longer to process, interviews are set up more slowly, and generally the offer process takes longer. That said, a centralized hiring process can improve the experience for candidates and is especially useful when trying to appeal to a broader pool of candidates. EAB has a short write-up on the Elements of Inclusive Job Ads worth reviewing.

Another example of expanded recruitment efforts is universities uniting their initiatives to attract postdocs to multiple regional institutions—three major research universities in Chicago are joining forces to run a Postdoc Recruitment Initiative that serves as a good model.

Universities are investing more into postdoc support and retention services than ever before

These services mirror resources offered to graduate and doctoral students, like networking and community-building opportunities. An increasing focus for postdoc support is around career readiness—this requires both preparing them for academic and non-academic opportunities. Helping postdocs establish professional networks is essential to both career pursuits, and institutions are investing in greater conference funding and local community building to ensure postdocs make connections with regional employers.