Researchers’ career pathways and mobility patterns

Funded by the European Commission, the study will support the development of a common approach across the European Union to create attractive job characteristics in public research institutions.

A consortium of international organisations led by IDEA Consult was commissioned to carry out the study in 40 European countries as well as in USA, Canada, Japan, China, India, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Brazil and Russia. ACER led Australia’s involvement in the study.

The first aspect of ACER’s work involved collection of a general set of country specific data on career paths, working conditions and remuneration of researchers. Captured detail included salary ranges at different career stages, length of contract, main sectors of employment and mobility between them, and the composition of the workload (teaching versus research), as well as additional benefit packages such as options for pursuing ‘double’ careers.

The data will provide a description of the career structures and general characteristics of the academic system that influence the choice for an academic career, such as non-monetary benefits, career requirements and career prospects, barriers to career advancement, job security, duties, sabbaticals and holiday arrangements, and the freedom to engage in research.

The second task aimed to address the issue of limited comparability of remuneration data within and across research positions in different countries due to different levels of career achievement required to obtain a position. It involved gathering information on remuneration packages within universities and other research-performing organisations, for standardised researcher profiles in three different scientific disciplines at two levels of professional experience.

The remuneration and working conditions study forms part of the larger Mobility Patterns and Career Paths of Researchers project, or ‘MORE’. Launched in 2009, MORE sought to improve knowledge of mobility patterns and career paths of EU researchers and engineers in Europe, as well as of European researchers in the US.

The current project, MORE2, commenced in November 2011. It aims to provide internationally comparable data, indicators and analysis in order to support further evidence-based policy development on the research profession.

Remuneration and working conditions data collection was carried out between May and June 2012. Reporting is currently underway and will provide an analysis of the factors and conditions that influence the choice of working location of leading academics, researchers and innovators. Once complete, it will deepen understanding of how researchers in different stages of their career can be induced to work at research institutions.