BEST AND BRIGHTEST ADVANCING MEDICAL RESEARCH
2016 MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE SECTOR SURVEY REPORT
Medical Researchers
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS AUSTRALIA Professional Scientists Australia represents several thousand professional scientists from a broad range of specialisations including health science, automotive design, biomedical science, ecology, veterinary science, neuroscience, mental health, genetics and genomics, astronomy, biochemistry, mineral processing, environmental science, defence research, synchrotron science, environmental science, immunology and water science. Professional Scientists Australia is a division of Professionals Australia (formerly the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia) which is an organisation registered under the Fair Work Act 2009 representing over 25,000 Professional Engineers, Professional Scientists, Veterinarians, Architects, Pharmacists, Information Technology Professionals, Managers, Transport Industry Professionals and Translating and Interpreting Professionals throughout Australia. Professionals Australia is the only industrial association representing exclusively the industrial and professional interests of these groups. Professional Scientists Australia has three key objectives: •
to provide a strong voice for professional scientists including researchers, pharmacists, chemists and others. This involves considering the kind of support, policies and practices at the enterprise and structural levels that will be necessary to create a sustainable research workforce capable of realising optimal levels of innovation and productivity;
•
to play a leading role in encouraging dialogue between industry, government and the higher education sector. This means advocating for investment and structural reforms, building the platforms for cooperation and change and initiating and leading projects to foster collaboration; and
•
to promote public understanding of science and the key role professional scientists play in ensuring Australia’s future. This involves influencing public policy and resource allocation decisions and promoting the value of science to decision-makers and the wider community. We seek to highlight the critical role science plays in enabling productivity and innovation, promoting economic prosperity, protecting the environment, improving human welfare and quality of life, preventing, diagnosing and treating human disease and other health conditions and protecting national security. In doing so, we raise the status of the profession and the professionals who work in it.
ABOUT THE MRI SECTOR The Medical Research Institute (MRI) sector has a core purpose of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease and other health conditions through research. The aims of individual MRIs are diverse and they each have a range of affiliations with universities and hospitals as well as commercial organisations and industry. MRIs also vary in size based on the level of funding and/or the specificity of the area of research that is undertaken. There are around 50 independent MRIs in Australia, each of which are independent legal entities with independent boards. The relationships between MRIs, hospitals, universities and industry are important for the sharing of knowledge, accessing patients and human tissue samples and translating medical research into better health outcomes. The relationship of MRIs with hospitals is particularly important to provide an interface between medical research and better health service provision. Many MRIs are based within hospitals or on hospital campuses.
Professional Scientists Australia GPO Box 1272, Melbourne, Vic. 3001 e: mri@professionalsaustralia.org.au w: www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/scientists t: 1300 273 762
Professionals Australia (2016). Best and Brightest: Advancing Medical Research (2016 Medical Research Institute Sector Survey Report).
Copyright© 2016 Professionals Australia All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopy, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Professionals Australia.
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CONTENTS FOREWORD
4
KEY FINDINGS
6
Need for long-term strategy 6 Workforce sustainability 6 Funding 6 Independence of the sector 7 Job security 7 Skills development 7 Work/life balance 7 Disadvantage for women 7 Job satisfaction 7
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES MRI SECTOR RESEARCHERS REPORTED?
8
FUNDING AS THE MAJOR ISSUE GIVING RISE TO THE PROBLEMS FACING THE SECTOR
9
General underfunding Underfunding in areas of strategic priority Funding insecurity/short-term funding The competitive grant system Inadequate funding of indirect research costs Limitations on access to ARC funding Fragmented and complex funding Multiple accountabilities, red tape and bureaucracy Lack of funding for research infrastructure Time spent seeking funding rather than doing research
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? Precarious employment Variable employment arrangements Short-term focus Lack of strategic workforce development Lack of job satisfaction Lack of work/life balance Funding and employment practices that disadvantage women Employment practices Funding practices Lack of capacity-building for the future Attrition from the sector Wasted time and effort Competitive disadvantage for MRIs
10 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 11
12 12 14 14 15 17 18 20 21 22 22 22 23 23
SUMMARY - WHY DOES IT MATTER?
24
NEXT STEPS
25
Advocacy/voice at the structural and policy levels At the workplace level
25 25
ABOUT THE SURVEY
26
Sample characteristics
26
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FOREWORD
Our report reveals that the MRI sector is currently characterised by complexity in funding arrangements, ongoing uncertainty for the researchers who work in the sector and a range of threats to the sustainability of the workforce.
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As part of the health and medical research sector, our medical research institutes (MRIs) conduct research to help with the diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention of illnesses. The vital work of maintaining and improving the health and well-being of all Australians relies fundamentally on attracting our best and brightest researchers to MRIs and then developing and supporting them to ensure we retain them in the sector. With medical research quite rightly central to the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda, and the MRI sector ideally placed to encourage greater commercial returns from research, the right policy settings will also help support an MRI sector that plays an important role in driving economic growth and improving productivity. The successful passage of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) legislation through Parliament in 2015 potentially provides a massive boost for Australia’s health and medical research sector with funding levels effectively doubling over the coming decade. Our report reveals that the MRI sector is however currently characterised by complexity in funding arrangements, ongoing uncertainty for the researchers who work in the sector and a range of threats to the sustainability of the workforce. Each of these has the potential to impact optimal health outcomes for the community and improved economic growth and productivity in the longer-term. It is our view that with proper investment, appropriate policy settings and a commitment to workforce development and planning, our MRI sector has the potential to be a world-leader in the translation of research into optimal health outcomes for all Australians and in driving innovation and improved productivity. We look forward to working with Federal and State Governments, MRIs, sector stakeholders and researchers themselves to create an environment that attracts our best and brightest, ensures a strong future for the medical research institute sector, safeguards its key role in improving the health outcomes of Australians and ensures its central role in helping realise an innovation-based economy driven by research and development.
CHRIS WALTON
ROBYN PORTER
CEO, Professionals Australia
President, Professional Scientists Australia
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KEY FINDINGS
Need for long-term strategy •
85.4 per cent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that we need to build the workforce capacity of the health and medical research sector to respond to future challenges.
•
78.9 per cent agreed that a lack of strategic workforce analysis will impact the innovation capability of the MRI sector in the longer-term.
•
93.1 per cent said having a long-term strategy for research infrastructure would make the sector more successful.
Workforce sustainability •
63.3 per cent of respondents said that in their view the MRI sector was becoming less attractive to career researchers.
•
55.0 per cent of respondents expected to leave the sector within five years.
•
43.0 per cent of respondents said they did not feel they had a long-term career path as a researcher in the MRI sector.
•
Over half (55.1 per cent) of the respondents reported being concerned and apprehensive about future opportunities and 31 per cent were taking a wait-and-see approach about their future prospects in the sector. Only 7.6 per cent reported feeling upbeat about future opportunities within the sector.
•
Only 21.0 per cent of the research sector workforce surveyed reported being engaged as permanent full-time employees.
•
95.0 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that a funding system that has a success rate of less than 20 per cent leads to a significant proportion of the research workforce leaving their field.
Funding •
Respondents ranked funding as the area requiring the most urgent policy reform in the MRI sector.
•
93.3 per cent said the current funding system results in the sector effectively wasting significant investment in research workforce skills and development.
•
81.5 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the Australian Government should cover indirect research costs in full when funding MRI research.
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Independence of the sector •
74.4 per cent said MRIs should remain independent, working collaboratively with universities and hospitals rather than being part of a university/hospital organisational structure.
Job security •
92.4 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the precarious and contingent nature of funding seriously impacted their job security.
•
79.7 per cent said they had considered leaving the MRI sector due to a lack of job security.
•
Of those that expected to leave the sector within five years, 80.3 per cent said the need for greater job security was the key factor influencing their expectation to leave.
•
90.3 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that greater job security would encourage them to remain in their research career.
Skills development •
77.2 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that providing professional development in technology transfer/ commercialisation would help improve commercialisation opportunities.
•
71.3 per cent of respondents said the MRI sector would benefit from the improvement of relevant business and management capabilities of scientists promoted into management and leadership roles.
Work/life balance •
Over a third (39.0 per cent) said long working hours had impacted staff morale in their workplace over the last 12 months.
•
Only 53.7 per cent said they currently had a good work/life balance.
•
Only a third (33.1 per cent) of respondents said managers and senior staff modelled good work/life balance in their workplace.
•
56.4 per cent of respondents said that long working hours had contributed to greater fatigue in their workplace over the last 12 months.
Disadvantage for women •
75.5 per cent of respondents said that promotions in the workplace are generally drawn from those working full-time.
•
Over a third (33.8 per cent) said carer responsibilities had negatively impacted their career.
•
43.4 per cent of those surveyed agreed that women that have taken a career break are sidelined for promotion.
•
76.5 per cent of respondents said an emphasis on recent (rather than whole-of-career) publications acts as a barrier to advancement for female research scientists who take a career break for family responsibilities.
Job satisfaction •
Respondents ranked job satisfaction as their primary career motivation – over job security, remuneration and work/life balance. 16.2 per cent said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied in their current job.
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WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES MRI SECTOR RESEARCHERS REPORTED? To understand the issues at the structural and workplace levels in the MRI sector, in October/November 2015 Professional Scientists Australia asked those uniquely placed to understand the issues – the researchers themselves – about the sector they worked in. We conducted a survey to better understand their career experiences, the barriers they saw to optimal research outcomes and the issues and problems they faced in their day-to-day activities. So what did they tell us? Respondents reported that the MRI sector is attractive to researchers because of its focus on linking health and medical research to improved health outcomes. They said the sector’s primary strength is in working collaboratively with universities and hospitals whilst maintaining its independence, and that the most important outcome of that independence is the sector’s agility in relation to decision-making and research focus. Those surveyed told us they currently see a lack of strategic workforce planning in the MRI sector and that this is likely to impact the sustainability of the sector and research and innovation capabilities in the longer-term. They also reported what they saw as a lack of alignment between research activities and strategic research priorities in the MRI sector. Respondents ranked job satisfaction as their primary career motivation – over job security, remuneration and work/life balance. However 16.2 per cent said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied in their current job. 57.0 per cent of respondents said that long working hours had contributed to greater fatigue in their workplace over the last 12 months; 39.0 per cent said that long working hours had impacted staff morale. Over half (55.1 per cent) of the respondents reported being concerned and apprehensive about future opportunities and 31.0 per cent were taking a wait-and-see approach about their future prospects in the sector. Only 7.6 per cent reported feeling upbeat about future opportunities within the sector. 43.0 per cent said they did not feel they had a long-term career path as a researcher in the MRI sector. Most critically, respondents ranked funding as the area requiring the most urgent policy reform in the sector.
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FUNDING AS THE MAJOR ISSUE GIVING RISE TO THE PROBLEMS FACING THE SECTOR Respondents reported that the key structural issue giving rise to the problems faced by the sector is the way funding is currently structured. Of the eight areas nominated as most urgently requiring policy reform in the sector, the top three relate directly to funding. Figure 1 - Ranking of areas most urgently requiring policy reform in the health and medical research sector 6.8
Funding sources 5.5
Funding of indirect costs
5.2
Access to funding for enabling sciences
5.1
Sustainability of MRIs in sector 4.3
Research infrastructure Grants - need to shift to 5 year grants
3.7
Mechanisms to enhance translation of research into health policy or practice
3.6
Mechanisms to enhance commercialisation pathways
2.4 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Mean ranking
General underfunding, underfunding in areas of strategic priority, funding insecurity, the way the competitive grant system operates, the fragmentation and complexity of funding, duplication and red tape, more favourable funding arrangements for universities in relation to indirect costs, the lack of funding for MRIs to cover indirect research costs, the lack of funding for research infrastructure and the time spent seeking funding rather than doing research all have a serious and detrimental impact on the MRI sector.
“The current funding situation holds everyone hostage�
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General underfunding The lack of funding is leading to an overall depressed feeling in institutes. Senior researchers are wondering what they will do and students are wondering why they even started their PhD. Such an environment does not lead to best performance or enhanced creativity. We are all just getting by and we can do so much better than that.
Underfunding in areas of strategic priority MRIs are uniquely positioned in the health and medical research sector to draw research and industry together. There is currently a policy shift to a sharper focus on gaining greater commercial returns from research and building stronger commercial partnerships between industry and the research sector to encourage more effective translation of research into drugs, devices and therapies. However there appears to be an issue of underfunding in these areas of strategic priority. •
54.8 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that we need to improve commercial returns from the health and medical research sector.
•
88.0 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that access to broader sources of seed and venture capital funding would enhance commercialisation outcomes.
•
75.9 per cent said funding for proof-of-concept experiments would be a commercialisation enabler.
•
68.9 per cent agreed that funding for early stage IP protection would be a commercialisation enabler.
Funding insecurity/short-term funding •
73.3 per cent of respondents said 3-year project-level grants (rather than larger and longer grants for research teams) encourage a short-term research focus.
The competitive grant system I love conducting research - being part of a research team and seeking out the answers to a wide array of questions. But it’s hard, it’s competitive and I’m not sure I have the energy to continue in medical research due to the fact that I don’t want to be in competition with other researchers for the rest of my life. Just the thought is exhausting. Having only two major funding bodies in Australia, and their schemes being available so infrequently, means we’re all competing for the same pot of money at the same time. We need sustainable funding structures that put researchers on tenure rather than constantly worrying about seeking further competitive funding to remain employed.
Inadequate funding of indirect research costs •
81.5 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the Australian Government should cover indirect research costs in full when funding MRI research.
•
52.9 per cent said the lack of parity in funding for indirect costs of research acts as a barrier to collaboration between different parts of the sector.
“Short-term funding is toxic”
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Limitations on access to ARC funding •
72.8 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that limited access to ARC funding was an issue because the best opportunities for new frontiers in health and medical research are likely to be at the intersection of research undertaken by the medical research sector that is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the enabling sciences that are funded by the ARC.
Fragmented and complex funding Survey respondents widely expressed frustration at the fragmentation and complexity of funding and its impact on the quality of their research and job security.
I worry about funding sources/limitations/competition. My last grant gave me less than 50 per cent of the requested funds with the same aims to be completed. There’s a dependency on different fellowships and poor funding that means I spend months writing grant applications and trying to publish quality papers on a shoestring budget. Without continually building an impressive research track record, researchers lose competitiveness for future fellowship funding and fall back on the mercy of grant cycles and low job security.
Multiple accountabilities, red tape and bureaucracy There is too much bureaucracy at both the institutional and grant funder levels. There are so many bureaucratic issues, form filling and compliance issues – there is too much red tape. There are indemnity issues relating to staff employed by universities and hospitals. There’s a complexity of governance between multiple independent bodies e.g. university/hospital/pathology services/MRI. There is multiple review of projects from a governance perspective. There’s complexity of material transfer agreements, complexity of intellectual property ...
Independence of the MRI sector •
In spite of the multiple accountabilities, 74.4 per cent said MRIs should remain independent, working collaboratively with universities and hospitals rather than being part of a university/hospital organisational structure.
Lack of funding for research infrastructure •
93.1 per cent of respondents said that having a long-term strategy for research infrastructure would make the sector more successful.
•
Better funding for research infrastructure ranked third in order of importance, after funding issues and the sustainability of MRIs in Australia’s health and medical research sector.
Time spent seeking funding rather than doing research When at least one-quarter of our jobs are spent writing competitive grants and less than 20 per cent of these applications are actually being funded, it’s clear we need to cut some red tape so we can free up time for researchers to get their actual jobs done.
“As researchers get older they have to choose between leaving to find a stable job for the sake of family etc. or staying in the MRI sector and accepting a life of uncertainty”
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WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?
Respondents detailed how funding arrangements impact the sector at the workforce level.
Precarious employment Lack of job security •
Only a fifth of the research sector workforce (21.0%) surveyed reported being engaged as permanent full-time employees.1
•
57.4 per cent were on fixed-term employment contracts (46.1 per cent full-time and 11.3 per cent part-time).
•
54.6 per cent reported that their employment was conditional upon fixed-term grants.
•
92.4 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the precarious and contingent nature of funding seriously impacted their job security.
•
79.7 per cent of respondents said they had considered leaving the MRI sector due to a lack of job security.
•
While 79.6 per cent of respondents said that extending NHMRC grants to five years would provide greater job security for research scientists, a massive 91.0 per cent said a more fundamental change than a shift to five year grants was required to fix the way research is funded in Australia.
Figure 2 - Primary employment status of MRI researchers 3.1
0.3 0.3
4.5
Full-time employee - fixed-term employment contract 11.3
Full-time employee - permanent Higher degree research student Part-time employee - fixed-term employment contract
13.4
46.1
Other Part-time employee - permanent Self-employed
21.0
Casual
1. It is possible that the figures reported for those engaged under full-time permanent arrangements (and for self-employed individuals) are overstated due to a lack of detailed understanding of methods of engagement.
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Limited earnings growth over time Figure 3 – Trend full-time base salaries by years since completing PhD Upper Quartile Median Lower Quartile $190,000
$140,000
$90,000
$40,000 0
3
6
9
12
15
20
Table 1 - Full-time base salaries by years since completing PhD N
Lower Quartile
Median
Upper Quartile
Mean
<3
14
$76,592
$78,621
$80,000
$82,703
3-6
12
$77,500
$85,824
$92,575
$85,401
6-9
13
$85,000
$90,000
$100,000
$94,715
9-12
13
$92,000
$101,000
$110,000
$102,692
12-15
5
$100,000
$103,000
$120,000
$117,600
15-20
6
$102,000
$107,500
$175,000
$131,167
20+
5
$120,000
$120,000
$129,000
$119,800
In analysing the spread of salaries earned by researchers working in the MRI sector in relation to how long since those researchers completed their PhD, we see relatively flat progression in earnings over time. It is not until later in their careers, approaching 15 years post-doc, that we see earners in the 75th percentile break away substantially from the median, likely reflecting a select few landing tenured positions or moving into upper management roles. Given that this effect diminishes for researchers with substantially more than 15 years’ experience post-doc, it appears the window for career progression and advancement in the MRI sector may be narrow. Note: While the size of the sample on which these conclusions are drawn is limited, there appears to be a basis for further investigation into how earnings growth over time in the MRI sector compares with other sectors.
Lack of career paths and income insecurity 43.0 per cent of respondents said they did not feel they had a long-term career path as a researcher in an MRI. 32.4 per cent were unsure. Respondents’ comments confirm that the lack of, or flat, career paths are significant issues in the sector:
My husband and I are both research scientists. If we both have uncertain career paths as research scientists, how do we make plans to have a mortgage and a family without knowing if either one of us has a job from one year to the next? We need reasonable career paths for long-term post-docs. There is no point increasing funding/recruitment of PhD students if there is no future career pathway for them post-PhD. There is a lack of viable middle career positions in the research sector.
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High levels of uncertainty I love my job in theory but fear of a lack of future in the sector is very wearing. As researchers get older they will always have to choose between leaving to find a stable job for the sake of family etc. or staying in the MRI sector and accepting a life of uncertainty. You’re never sure if you have a salary or who you will be keeping on in your lab, and you have to lose good people just because of the whim of that year. Having to wait for nearly three-quarters of a year for funding outcomes means we have uncertainty for most of the year. Lack of ongoing funding creates major uncertainty in my future. I have been fortunate in being able to combine research with clinical practice, but for people without that option, research is just too uncertain to be a career.
Variable employment arrangements Complexity and inconsistency characterised the employment arrangements reported by survey respondents. 62.0 per cent of survey respondents said their institute had an employment grading structure while 34.7 per cent said they were unsure and 3.3 per cent said they had no grading structure. Respondents reported that there was no common benchmark or classification structure except in very general terms. There was a lack of clarity around the system used to classify positions pointing to a lack of consistency and fairness that would otherwise arise from the level playing field created by an agreed regulatory system of basic employment conditions and classification/salary benchmarks. When asked what system was used to classify positions within their institute, the following were indicative of most of the comments made:
No system is used Unsure – HR decides but it is very unclear HR refers to the Professionals Award Loosely based on university but we’re not a university Based on hospital award
Short-term focus Respondents reported that the way funding is currently structured results in a “short-termism” which constrains informed risk-taking and innovation, impedes optimal long-term research outcomes and acts as a barrier to collaboration, commercialisation and innovation.
We need a financial/employment environment which encourages researchers to take intellectual risks. Grant funding is controlled by older researchers to the detriment of innovation. More risky, novel and less established research should be rewarded to promote innovation. Many people are very negative about longer-term career options at MRIs – this won’t change until the funding models are fixed. There is too much emphasis on short-term and translational research outcomes (which generate good media news) rather than fundamental science that has a larger but longer-term payoff. The lack of job security causes a focus on short-term outcomes, rather than long-term projects that would ultimately be of more benefit for commercial and translational outcomes. Long-term vision not short-term gains is needed. Investing in basic science will in fact advance commercial ventures in the future. I don’t feel like medical research at present is heading in the right direction as it is too focused on short-term goals, which is making Australia less competitive in this field by the day, and there will be more staff attrition in the coming years unless there is a major change to the way that funding is allocated and the system is run on all levels. There is a short-term focus on academic publication now rather than delivering health care benefits long term.
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Lack of strategic workforce development Comments in this area focused on funding in the strategically important area of commercialisation-relevant skills and the development of leadership and management skills. Respondents’ comments suggest that professional development is not always available and where it is, it is often self-funded by researchers. Developing commercialisation-relevant skills and the management and leadership skills of those in senior and laboratory management roles were highlighted as key workforce development issues by respondents.
Availability of professional development There is no professional development. There’s no free time as we’re too busy writing grant applications. Also, there is usually no money available in our grant funds to pay for staff to seek professional development so, if we’re really interested, we need to pay for it ourselves.
Commercialisation skills •
55.8 per cent said MRIs needed a strong focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills of research staff.
•
77.2 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that providing professional development in technology transfer/commercialisation would help improve commercialisation opportunities.
•
67.7 per cent said recognising and rewarding commercialisation-relevant experience would help create a commercialisation culture.
•
63.1 per cent of respondents said MRIs needed to provide professional development activities in commercialisationrelevant areas as part of a commitment to broadening and diversifying career paths for researchers.
Leadership and management skills The need for development of leadership and management skills was regarded as being of relatively high importance. •
71.3 per cent of respondents said the MRI sector would benefit from the improvement of relevant business and management capabilities of scientists promoted into management and leadership roles.
“Worrying about funding sources/limitations/ competition affects my work/life balance. It is not the result of management policies - it is the result of funding. People who work more produce more and thus get funded”
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Priority skills development areas Respondents were asked to rate areas of skills development according to how useful the skills would be to themselves or other staff from 1 (not at all useful) to 5 (extremely useful).
Figure 4 – Rating of priority skills development areas Not at all useful (1), Slightly useful (2), Moderately useful (3), Very useful (4), Extremely useful (5) Managing people
4.3
Grant writing
4.2
Team and leadership skills
4.2
Mentoring techniques
4.1
Project management
4.0
Managing a lab
3.9
Public speaking and presentation skills
3.8 3.7
Finance for scientists Media engagement and communications Managing issues around gender equity
3.6 3.5
Presenting an investment proposal to sponsors Understanding commercialisation and IP Technology transfer/ business development
3.5 3.3 3.1
Risk management
3.0
Occupational health and safety
2.8 0.0
0.5
1.5
0.0
2.0
2.5
Mean rating
“There is way too much work. If you don’t work, you don’t get funded then you don’t have a job. Unemployment is a strong barrier to familyfriendliness”
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3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Lack of job satisfaction Respondents were asked to rank issues of importance to their career. They ranked job satisfaction as their primary career motivation – over job security, remuneration and work/life balance. While over two-thirds (67.6 per cent) said they were satisfied or very satisfied in their current role, a concerning 16.2 per cent said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
Figure 5 - Ranking of issues of importance to career 11.6
Job satisfaction 10.7
Job security Work/life balance including hours of work Salaries not keeping pace with inflation
8.5 7.6 7.1
Workplace culture
6.9
Skills development
6.6
Limited job opportunities
6.5
Workplace flexibility Limited career paths
6.4
Skills transfer/mentoring
5.6
Access to workplace services to support research
5.3
Gender and diversity issues
4.5 0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
Mean ranking
Figure 6 - Levels of job satisfaction (percentage) 60.0
50.0 47.9 40.0
30.0
20.0 19.7 16.2
10.0
12.0 4.2
0.0 Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neither Dissatisfied Very satisfied dissatisfied nor dissatisfied
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Lack of work/life balance Respondents reported that the combination of a competitive grant system requiring the writing of grant applications, job security being contingent upon receiving a research grant and a lack of financial compensation for additional hours combine to seriously impact work/life balance in the MRI sector. •
53.7 per cent of respondents said they currently had a good work/life balance.
•
42.9 per cent said the number of hours they had to work limited their capacity to achieve work/life balance.
•
Only a third (33.1 per cent) said managers and senior staff modelled good work/life balance in their workplace.
•
56.4 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that long working hours had contributed to greater fatigue in their workplace over the last 12 months.
•
39.0 per cent said long working hours had impacted staff morale in their workplace over the last 12 months.
•
81.7 per cent of respondents received no compensation for additional hours worked; 10.1 per cent took time off in lieu of payment and 2.8 per cent said that compensation was built into their base salary.
Working hours 79.4 per cent of the respondents were working hours well in excess of the standard working week of 38 hours.
Number of respondents
Figure 7 - Summary of hours normally worked per week 40 30 20
26
29
26
21
10 8
11
12
55-60
60-65
7
0 <35
35-40
40-45
45-50
50-55
65+
Hours per week
Note: Those engaged under part-time employment arrangements are included in these figures. 40.9 per cent of respondents reported that they would like to work fewer hours each week.
Figure 8 - Working hours preferences (percentage)
Percentage of respondents
60
52.8 40 40.9
20
6.3 0 Would like to work more hours
Would like to work about as many hours as I do now
Would like to work fewer hours
Note: Those engaged under part-time employment arrangements are also included in these figures.
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Funding arrangements and lack of work/life balance Respondents very clearly linked funding arrangements to lack of work/life balance for researchers working in the MRI sector. The following comments are indicative of many made by those surveyed:
Medical research is extremely competitive, especially when your salary is solely grant-funded; although never verbalised, there is an expectation from managers that if you don’t sacrifice your personal time towards working more, you simply won’t get funded, and I think this is a real fear of many researchers. So there really is no opportunity for work/life balance unless you’re on a more stable wage that isn’t just grant-funded. Worrying about funding sources/limitations/competition affects my work/life balance. It is not the result of management policies, it is the result of funding. People who work more produce more and thus get funded. Labs are forced to produce a certain amount of research and publications to stay afloat and obtain grants. This does not always match up to how many staff members are able to be employed to do the work. A lack of funding puts a lot of pressure on all members of the lab as they face giving up work/life balance in exchange for the possibility of funding and thereby their own job security. Now that I am no longer in the competitive grant area, I see much more clearly how my friends and colleagues are being abused by the system. It is simply not possible for full-time researchers to have a good work/life balance in the current scientific workplace where small groups rely entirely on their own output for continuing careers. It’s not the organisation but the dependency on fellowships and poor funding that make work/life balance impossible. The pressure to work more is probably driven more by the need to compete for funding than by the organisation itself. There are phases where a good work/life balance is not an option – this is always when it is grant-writing time. This will never change unless the grant system changes to become less competitive and provide more long-term security. As it is, unless researchers work loads of hours they are unlikely to maintain a competitive track record. In other industries I’ve worked in, overtime pay works as a corporate balancing mechanism to ensure staff work hours do not become excessive. This mechanism is not in place in the research sector and it is unlikely that the excessively competitive culture will change while people that work >60 hours per week are rewarded by the system.
“There is no room in the current approach for people with ‘temporary’ conditions such as raising a family, health issues, bereavement and other normal life issues”
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Funding and employment practices that disadvantage women Respondents indicated that funding and employment practices can have a differential impact on those who have primary family and carer responsibilities. Female respondents said the following factors moderately, largely or severely impacted their career advancement:
Figure 9 - Factors impacting female career advancement (percentage of female respondents) Balancing work/life
74.4
How success is measured
71.3
Unclear career objectives
62.2
Lack of job opportunities
61.7
Lack of career support
58.5
Workplace culture
55.6
Lack of access to senior roles
54.9
Lack of networks
51.2
Lack of role models
48.8
Lack of women in senior roles
48.8
Discrimination
37.8
Lack of access to training
35.4
Lack of access to flexible work arrangements
32.9 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Per cent who indicated factor impacted advancement
“As a 25 year old woman who wants to have a family, I feel close to hopeless at my future prospects in science in Australia�
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80
Employment practices Respondents reported that the following employment practices disadvantaged women in the sector.
Recruitment practices It is an open secret that some lab heads hire zero paid female scientists of child-bearing age. It is another open secret that annual contracts are terminated upon maternity leave announcement only for these positions to be replaced with students or other low paid junior staff. There have been occasions where early career female researchers have not been hired because of fear they may decide to have children.
Part-time work arrangements •
75.5 per cent of respondents said that promotions in the workplace are generally drawn from those working full-time.
It’s unfortunately still a cultural fact that more women choose to take a break or work part-time to look after young families than men. This puts them at a significant employment disadvantage. Given how difficult it is for an employer to secure a grant these days, no-one wants to employ someone to work on it part-time, especially when they’ve only got three years to produce results. As in most industries, people who work part-time are felt to be not really serious about their career.
Carer responsibilities •
90.9 per cent of respondents said it is important that at the workplace level women are offered broad choices and that family responsibilities do not limit their choices.
•
33.8 per cent of those with carer responsibilities said the responsibilities had negatively impacted their career.
While raising a family, there are challenges with remaining competitive at higher levels (especially in terms of securing external fellowships – which require long hours of work including evenings and weekends and travel). Family creates the main ‘disincentive’ for women to progress to senior academic (and therefore management) roles because it (a) causes disruption to track record etc. and (b) family causes women to reassess the value of being in a job with enormous overtime demands, low job security and high stress. Female researchers with young children are less able to travel to international or even interstate conferences and meetings which hinders their networking and capacity to present their work.
Career breaks •
43.4 per cent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that women that have taken a career break are sidelined for promotion.
Having children/taking time off to start a family means you are absent from science – which is fast-moving – most women feel immense pressure to take as little time as possible off in order to start work again – these career breaks affect research outputs.
Culture of long hours There is an unspoken expectation that work is THE priority in my life and that unpaid overtime is part and parcel of the job. It is unspoken, but expected, that I will sacrifice weekends and evenings to ensure my track record remains competitive. Most post-doc scientists I see who are successful work seven days a week.
Under-representation •
77.1 per cent of respondents said that women are under-represented at the senior researcher level in the MRI sector.
•
65.8 per cent said women are under-represented in leadership and management roles.
•
65.1 per cent said women are under-represented at board level.
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Funding practices Respondents reported that the following funding practices disadvantaged women in the sector.
Funding calendar We need rolling grant cycles so women in child-bearing years can manage grant-writing during times that suit rather than only once a year. The NHMRC calendar accepts submission of project grant and fellowship applications only once per year and within the same quarter of the calendar year. This leaves researchers who take maternity leave around this time unable to submit applications to either or most likely both funding schemes which means they miss out on funding opportunities which not only limits their ability to support their research and their salaries but also negatively affects their track record.
Measures of success •
76.5 per cent of respondents said an emphasis on recent (rather than whole-of-career) publications acts as a barrier to advancement for female research scientists who take a career break for family responsibilities.
My workplace is family-friendly in terms of flexibility allowing reduced working hours, etc. However, the requirements for success are the same. For example, you still need a strong international reputation and high-impact papers to attract a research fellowship. You still need to work long hours to achieve these things. So whilst the workplace is supportive, there is a disconnect between this and what is feasible to achieve. You cannot make up for the lost publications that come from time off or from working reasonable hours due to looking after children. Taking time out of careers for children is a problem. Success is based on publication, so part-time work and career disruption are issues. Career disruption and part-time employment are not really taken into account when assessing productivity. You are only as good as your last paper or grant. If you don’t achieve according to these criteria, you are invisible or asked to leave.
Lack of capacity-building for the future •
85.4 per cent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that we need to build the workforce capacity of the health and medical research sector to respond to future challenges.
•
63.3 per cent of respondents said that in their view the MRI sector was becoming less attractive to career researchers.
Some sort of safety net managed by the MRI is crucial to improve job security. For young independent researchers not supported by program grants, missing out in one round of grants often means the end of their independent career. This is clearly unsustainable and discourages the new generation of scientists from pursuing this career path. It seems ludicrous to me that the system invests so much money in growing early-career researchers (PhD and junior post-docs) without having a sustainable mechanism in place to ensure that the investment in capacity-building pays rewards for 20 to 30 years instead of three to five.
Attrition from the sector •
55.0 per cent of respondents expected to leave the sector within five years.
•
80.3 per cent said the need for greater job security was the key factor influencing their expectation to leave.
•
95 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that a funding system that has a success rate of less than 20 per cent leads to a significant proportion of the research workforce leaving their field.
•
95.6 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that a funding system that has a success rate of less than 20 per cent creates a research workforce comprised of many disappointed researchers.
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“It is extremely difficult, very unstable and if you don’t love it, you should do something else”
•
93.3 per cent said the current funding system results in the sector effectively wasting significant investment in research workforce skills and development.
•
90.3 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that greater job security would encourage them to remain in their research career.
•
86.7 per cent of respondents said the attrition of female researchers from the MRI sector represents the loss of an important source of talent.
People are leaving research because there’s not much research going on, and who wants to spend a quarter of their working life writing grant applications?
Wasted time and effort Respondents reported that bureaucracy and red tape created by multiple accountabilities can lead to frustration and wasted time and effort.
We need to reduce duplication of work – e.g. you apply for a grant, it gets funded, you apply for ethics (same information), you apply for governance (same information), you complete progress reports to NHMRC, to ethics, to governance, to boards. With less duplication everyone’s job would be easier! There are additional bureaucracies associated with straddling both the university and hospital systems.
Competitive disadvantage for MRIs Differential access to ARC funding MRIs cannot directly apply for funding in the enabling sciences such as mathematics, bioinformatics, engineering and genetics through the ARC or the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Programme. This is a critical issue because the best opportunities for new frontiers in health and medical research are most likely to be at the intersection of research undertaken by the medical research sector which are funded via the ARC. MRIs also do not receive full funding for the indirect costs of research. These factors combine to limit optimal research outputs and create a competitive disadvantage for the MRI sector. •
72.7 per cent of respondents said researchers at MRIs were at a competitive disadvantage because they cannot directly apply for funding in the enabling sciences such as mathematics, bioinformatics, engineering and genetics through the ARC.
•
68.9 per cent agreed that researchers at MRIs are at a competitive disadvantage because they cannot directly apply for funding through the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Programme which includes Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals as one of five priority areas.
•
75.7 per cent said the current funding arrangements create a competitive disadvantage for MRIs in relation to indirect research costs.
•
Grants for research undertaken in MRIs are often administered by universities in order to access Research Block Grant income to cover the indirect costs of research. Universities in turn claim the research output in these cases. The survey found that 55.8 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the administration of grants for MRIs by universities leads to underreporting of research outputs of MRIs.
Lack of access to institutional funding Current funding arrangements also create a competitive disadvantage for the MRI sector because funding is delivered in small packages for salary, project and program funding with limited institutional funding. Unlike universities which are able to divert student fees to research activities, MRIs have limited capacity to tie together funding from disparate sources and in turn deploy them in a strategic way.
Fantastic research is being shelved because the focus is on funding and obtaining funding rather than strategic investment and strategic research goals.
“I love research, I’m good at it, I’m passionate about it but I am worth more than this industry gives me”
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SUMMARY WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The survey found that the MRI sector is currently characterised by: •
funding arrangements that put the sector at a competitive disadvantage, have serious long-term implications for the viability of the research workforce and operate as a disincentive to attracting and retaining best and brightest researchers;
•
a short-term focus rather than providing a proper basis for innovation, agility, responsiveness and optimal long-term research outcomes;
•
a lack of strategic workforce planning which threatens the development of a highly-skilled and committed workforce;
•
significant systemic barriers to the full participation and engagement of women in the sector;
•
potentially serious attrition from the sector and a lack of capacity-building for the future;
•
impediments to realising optimal commercialisation outcomes; and
•
waste in the form of duplication, red tape and bureaucracy.
We call on Government and sector stakeholders to work together to introduce funding arrangements, policy measures and employment practices which will address the serious and significant issues that exist at the structural and workplace levels highlighted by respondents in this survey.
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NEXT STEPS The MRI sector is vital to Australia’s future. Listening to the voices of medical researchers will be fundamental to understanding and advancing the sector. Many of the issues raised by researchers in the survey are symptoms of the broader MRI sector issues. It is therefore our intention to work constructively with government and sector stakeholders to address the issues at both the policy/structural level and at the workplace level. Only by working collaboratively with stakeholders and the researchers themselves will we be able to address the issues highlighted by this report, optimise health outcomes for the community and maximise the potential contribution of the sector to realising a science and research-based innovation economy.
Advocacy/voice at the structural and policy levels We will work with the MRI sector and government to address: 1. the serious issues and inequities which characterise the sector’s funding arrangements in relation to indirect research costs, access to ARC funding and lack of institutional funding; 2. workforce development issues including attrition from the sector, attracting the next generation of researchers to build capacity, the under-representation of women at senior levels, better aligning research with science and research priorities and the need for strategically-driven remuneration, development and reward systems.
At the workplace level If we’re to maintain the MRI sector’s agility, there will be no “one size fits all” solution. There are sector-wide issues that need to be addressed but each MRI will have a unique response to those issues that takes account of the needs of the employer and employees and the specific research focus of the MRI. How each MRI responds will necessarily be as diverse as the sector and must address the key issues highlighted in the report including precarious employment, lack of career advancement structure, the proportion of time spent on non-research activities, disadvantage for women, the need for strategically-driven professional development and reducing red tape and bureaucracy all of which have potential solutions at the workplace level. We will focus on: 1. Career advancement and reward systems – building remuneration systems and career paths that enhance researcher engagement, contribute to job satisfaction, encourage team effort, create career paths, acknowledge the need for work/ life balance, provide development opportunities, incentivise commercialisation, collaboration and external engagement and help ensure a committed, flexible and agile workforce; 2. Job security – mindful of the nexus between the nature of funding and methods of engagement, determining how it might be possible to address the issue of lack of job security for staff; 3. Skills development - investing in the leadership and management skills of staff, and - recognising the importance of commercialisation and business development skills to support increased translation of research to impact; and 4. Gender equity – addressing the practices/systemic barriers which operate to disadvantage women in the sector – recruitment practices, promotion/advancement practices, how MRIs accommodate carer responsibilities and career breaks, organisational culture including long working hours and measures of success which disadvantage those with carer responsibilities. A commitment from stakeholders – including researchers themselves - to actively engaging at the policy/structural level and at the level of the workplace will ensure a stronger and more sustainable future for MRIs and better support the vital work undertaken in the sector.
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ABOUT THE SURVEY In October/November 2015 Professionals Australia conducted a survey of MRI sector researchers asking them about the sector and their experiences in the workforce. The 68-question survey was circulated electronically and 314 individuals responded. For the majority of questions participants could choose whether or not to provide answers so all analyses are conducted only for those who provided a response to the item of interest. As always with small sample size, the conclusions which can be drawn from the data are limited but the aim of this report is to highlight the issues of concern raised by researchers with a view to undertaking further investigation.
Sample characteristics Figure 10 – Highest qualification breakdown of sample (percentage) 2.3
Doctorate/PhD 20.7
Masters Degree Graduate Diploma Bachelor Degree (inc. Hons)
3.0
Diploma
61.6 10.8
Of those who had completed a doctorate, the percentage of years since completion was as follows:
Figure 11 - Years since completing Doctorate/PhD (percentage) 45 40 35
38.2
30 25
27.1
20 15 15.3 10 5
6.5
0 <5
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5 to less than 10
10 to less than 15
15 to less than 20
4.1
2.9
20 to less than 25
25 to less than 30
5.9 30+
Figure 12 - Gender breakdown of sample (percentage) Females Males
42.8
57.2
Figure 13 - Sample by age range (percentage) 25
22.0 20
20.6
15 14.5 13.1 10 9.2
5
5.7
5.3
4.6
5.0
55 to less than 60
60+
0 <25
25 to less than 30
30 to less than 35
35 to less than 40
40 to less than 45
45 to less than 50
50 to less than 55
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PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS AUSTRALIA GPO Box 1272, Melbourne, Vic. 3001 e: mri@professionalsaustralia.org.au w: www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/scientists/ t: 1300 273 762
Medical Researchers
WWW.PROFESSIONALSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU