VITAE RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2015,
held on September 8-9, 2015, at The Midlands Hotel, Manchester
PRE – CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
Background to conference, workshops, etc
- Structure of the higher education system with regard to the professional development of researchers
- Main drivers influencing doctoral researchers, staff etc
- European and international perspectives
- Networking
- Getting the most from Vitae membership
What do researchers want from the Conference ?
New developments in research
-Using WORD to breakdown the doctoral thesis into sub-documents
-ARC GIS
Facts & figures of higher education research
-120 research centres in the UK
-55, 000 doctoral researchers representing 5% of the student body in UK HEI; doctoral researchers are classified as students not staff in the UK, unlike in some other European countries.
-40% of doctoral researchers are part time illustrating change in the demographic of the doctoral degree.
-There are 40, 000 research staff in UK HEI
-50% of doctoral researchers do not think research careers offer attractive opportunities.
-£20m has been made available annually over the next five years to centres of doctoral training for capacity building in researcher development.
The QAA is undergoing change through peer review
The Concordat allows UK research centres to achieve the Human Resources Excellence in Research Award. 94 universities out of 240 across Europe have achieved the award, including the University of Bristol. UK HEIs have given their commitment to the Concordat, and its implementation by Vitae. See Cranfield & Beckett
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 assesses the quality of research produced by UK researchers. It is concerned with OUTPUT, IMPACT & the ENVIRONMENT in centres of doctoral training. 154 universities were assessed for excellence, equality & diversity, impact case studies and environment in research.
Implications & challenges for the development of researchers
See the UK statement of expectations for doctoral candidates
Early career researchers are challenged to publish and/or maintain their own research integrity.
Professional development planning e.g. impact, mentoring, supply & monitoring
What does it mean to be an open researcher ?
Ability to use library resources to conduct research.
Every researcher counts, and resources are made available to support supervisors engage in equality and diversity as a part of this process.
Research Development Framework
Is used in other countries outside of the UK to map provision to British HEIs and plan how to fill the gaps.
WELCOME, INTRODUCTION & CONFERENCE AIMS Janet Metcalfe, Chair & Head of Vitae
-Policy developments
-Institutional capacity
-Sustainable practice
-Value of researcher development
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
-Strategic & global context of researcher development
-Diversity in programmes provision & researcher development
-Challenging assumptions
What next for researcher development ?
-Move towards international development of Vitae with collaborative partners
-Launch of 2015 programme of activities
-Launch of Euraxess Career Development Centre
-Free access to the International Journal of Researcher Development for the month of September.
-Times Higher Awards Shortlist for Early Career Researchers support
OPENING PLENARY: STRATEGIC & GLOBAL CONTEXT FOR DEVCELOPING RESEARCHERS
Shaping the future of the HR Strategy for researchers within the European Research Area (ERA), -Irmela Brach, Policy Officer, ERA Policy & Reform Unit, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
-The ERA has been set up, a full set of conditions & principles are in place, & now the onus is on stakeholders to make them work.
-Europe is absent from the top ten institutions for research output globally.
-Legislation for greater recognition of researchers as a profession is a priority for Europe 2020 and beyond.
-A toolkit for open, transparent
-and merit based recruitment is being approved to be made available by mid September.
Targets achieved include
-recognition of Article 32 of the Charter (or Code ?) is being implemented in all countries within ERA, under Horizon 2020. E.g. Art. 32.1 obligates states to take measures to implement …
-reduction of grants by 5 - 25% to (institutions) for non compliance with the Charter.
Productivity is the new priority for governments e.g. in providing human capital. Governments are therefore
-interested in the impact of REF 2014 in career development of ECRs and PGRs.
-Cognisant of the impact of Athena Swan in changing institutional behaviour with respect to gender
N.B. the new UK government’s priority is in raising the achievement levels of boys rather than raising aspirations beyond secondary school.
QUESTIONS:
What approaches are members of the panel taking to address low levels of BME representation? HEFCE shows undergraduate attainment is worst for black students than for their white peers.
What can we do?Different approaches are being taken to address this, e.g. being asked to increase sample size for under-represented numbers. In the UK the University of Derby provides an example of good practice in addressing disparities in BME student attainment levels. Black led institutions are partnering with research programmes to retain more Black staff over time, e.g. Baltimore College, the University of Maryland.
Exploring the experiences and careers of postdoctoral researchers in the US, - Emilda Rivers, Director of Human Resources Statistics Program (HRS), National Science Foundation, USA
Strategic directions in postgraduate research education, - Chris Millward, Director of Policy, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
TEACHING EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK
-Rewards excellence in teaching being made
-Should be supported by legislation, implement equality & diversity policies for the benefit of staff.
-Data analysis can be used to illustrate differences for minorities
PGR aspiration vs PGR expectation; e.g. on the continent European PhD students are given an employment contract whereas UK doctoral researchers are treated as students.
Doctoral researchers should be encouraged to complete activities necessary for their research
WHAT IS THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT THAT THEY ARE REFLECTING ON ?
PRES
Transferable skills vs professional development
WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR STAKEHOLDERS ?
PRES can be used for part-time students; it is meant for PhD students and should be useful for them.
A4: Critical reflection & accreditation in research degree supervision
-Dr Angela Tinwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Bolton
- Involve stakeholders including research students, supervisors, professors, etc.
- Essentially for academic members of staff
- Successful completion of the module is equivalent to one PhD student being supervised
- Pedagogy (shift in learning from 2nd to 3rd degree) of research students, should be understood through awareness of PhD supervisors, who should also be sympathetic to the shift in learningand be able to pint researchers to CPD.
- Researchers should be able to defend and define their original contribution to knowledge
Critical Reflection & Analysis
- guidance & feedback
- existing models of supervision e.g. supervision of research, student training & development; monitoring of student welfare
- See PG supervisor workshops e.g. getting through the Viva
- Key word include critically analyse & critically evaluate
- TASK FOR SUPERVISORS ( researcher leaves the room)
B10: Early career researchers & employment challenges- UK & European perspectives – Laurence Hopkins, Head of Research, Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA); Jonathan White, Bargaining & Negotiations Official, University & Colleges Union (UCU)
- 27% of research staff are in trade unions
- There are concerns that there is an oversupply of PhDs in the UK
- RESAVER
- Some European research supports national and local action despite hard barriers. E.g. in Finland PhD candidates are either grant funded students or employees. In Romania PhD students may also have employee classification as teaching assistant or research assistant.
Key challenges for Early Career Researchers
- Achieving full time contracts for memebers of trade unions in the ERA
- Workload & the balance between research & duties.
- Transitions & expectations
- Levels of awareness outside higher education
- Equity of treatment
- Short term contracts are usually regional
- THERE HAS BEEN NO PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING CAREER STABILITY FOR RESEARCHERS AS AN ASPIRATION OF THE CONCORDAT
PLENARY : Challenging Assumptions 9/09/15
Does appearance influence career opportunities – Professor Tristam Hooley, Professor of Careers Education, Head of ICeGS, University of Derby
Halo effect – people assume (physically) attractive ppl have other attractive attributes e.g. intelligence. This can take place subconsciously and
- is important for career moves
- Is diminished mainly by job relevant information
- Has been illustrated by the quantifiable impact of attractive sales people, attractive hedge fund managers, etc.
Aesthetic labour
-Employers do recruit for appearance
-effort & cost is involved in making oneself look good
-can be seen as discriminating
-is particularly an issue
Career Image
-beauty
-self presentation
-interpersonal
Matters for academics
-students make based on the attractiveness & appearance of academic staff
-more difficult for women than for men
Career Practitioners
-assert interpersonal skills are the most important & beauty least important
-in general are keen to raise issues that were likely to have impact with their clients, but not some issues such as weight.
Possible Responses
-facilitate reflection
-give advice
-challenging assumptions & getting political.
IN CONCLUSION, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES MORE !
Thinking fast & slow: Unconscious bias in research staffing - Dr Pete Jones, Shire Professional Chartered Psychologists
Five things we need to know –
- we are all biased but we should make some effort to control it.
- We all have a bias blind spot
- Our brain was designed to look for patterns to categorise ppl; we have our own wi-fi.
- Bias in attributing behaviours e.g. a foreign name along with a foreign qualification can lead to deselection in recruitment and selection.
- Bias in allocating work, e.g. we relate positive attributes to people who are like us; and less positive attributes for people unlike us.
See also 2012 slides on lab manager’s job for Implicit vs Unconscious bias levels
British social attitudes attribute bias to people in different social groups e.g. age, gender, race
See Harvard Implicit Association Test
Age –approximately 1:10 are biased
Ethnicity – approximately 1:3 are biased
Gender – approximately 1:3 are biased
1:5 express bias against women as researchers
NB. Unconscious bias e.g. against women is so strong in some parts of academia that (Dr Jones) has to use red & yellow cards, across institutions.
C7: Innovating in researcher development to support the career progression of internationally mobile researchers: UK, African & global perspectives-Alison Mitchell, Director of Development, Vitae
Recent trends highlight global convergence in impact & practice.
Issues include
-CIRCLE : retention of research staff, an initiative funded by the Commonwealth Institute & African institutions.
-Promoting the Concordat to strengthen African institutions, e.g. Principles 3 & 4, support for researchers and career development through mentoring.
See slide shows for MCDC
MCDC is a consortium of 9 organisations operating scientific research centres throughout Africa, which are funded by the Wellcome Trust & Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation began the consortium 15 years ago, and was later joined by the Wellcome Trust. MRC Ghana and MRC Tanzania are considered to be centres of excellence on the African continent.
All universities in the consortium are encouraged to engage in doctoral training, and since its inception 34 people have been trained to supervise PhDs.
The organisation focuses on the needs of individual research students and staff. E.g. baseline needs assessment have been put in place and is being monitored.
Career development planning (and planning) has been seen to be successful for MCDC & therefore is encouraged in other institutions. The need for the organisation to have a long term strategy led to the establishment of career development groups.
University of Nottingham by Dr jane Wellens
3500 PhD students with campuses in Malaysia & China. New academics in international campuses often ask for skills training; and tend to have to juggle more as the research community is much smaller. Intervention is mapped to the Research Development Framework (RDF)Three areas to focus on :
- SUPERVISOR DEVELOPMENT, e.g. making overseas PhDs understand the requirements of the UK PhD.
- INTEGRITY – in particular ethics
- LEADERSHIP – e.g. senior leadership programme.
WE NEED DIALOGUE; HOW DO WE HAVE IT ?
-Reflect on our practices
- does this inform & underpin what the university values
-Challenges for student researchers and academic staff including finding bodies to support them.
-Lecturer to professor support needed to build capacity
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Researcher development through international collaborations
- Building capacity through alumni & home institutions
- Lack of resources for events
- Career expectations
- Managed return
- Negotiated partnership
- Prepare for academic career in context
- Broader sense/scope of international career support
- CROS international researchers
- Dialogue with leadership
- Policy & politics
- Regular opportunities for interaction& collaborative programmes
- exploitation by supervisors must stop
D9 Pastoral support for PGRs : issues, solutions and peer led initiatives
See Exeter study (40% of PhDs study illhealth) & the Thesis Whisperer, Postgraduate Researcher led Blog
Barriers faced by PhD researchers; how can universities identify issues & respond ?
Loughborough University
-PhD Support Network
- Doctoral Dilemmas
- PhD Pals: tries to get people to talk about anything else besides research; and helps to promote inter-disciplinarity amongst researchers.
-PhD Support Blog: was set up by Loughborough University to deal with specifically non academic issues.