Postdocs Organize For Changes

GRIM OUTLOOK: Postdocs need to realize that the odds of getting tenure-track academic jobs are poor, says CSPT's Catherine Gaddy. The once-predictable world of scientific postdoctoral research appears to be entering a period of transformation. Increasingly left in an employment limbo by shrinking tenure-track faculty positions at universities, science postdocs around the United States are beginning to organize and clamor for change. But for many, a nonacademic career seems unavoidable. "The current cohort is caught in a difficult time," acknowledges Catherine Gaddy, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST). "I think postdocs need information, and we're doing what we can to let them know that the odds [of obtaining a tenure-track position] are wrenching." CPST, a participating organization of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), analyzes human resource information concerning science and technology as one of its main tasks. Gaddy currently is compiling a national survey of postdocs in academia from 1993 to 1995. So far, she has determined that the number of science postdocs on the tenure track declined by 5 percent over those two years, a significant drop. Gaddy also cites a 10-year follow-up study conducted of 23 Ph.D. graduates from the 1987 class of the Houston-based M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, part of the University of Texas. The study found that 16 of the former students have permanent jobs in a variety of settings, but only 10 are in research and just five are on the tenure track at universities. Seven of the graduates are still in postdoctoral positions a decade later. In 1996, the situation for postdocs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine had reached a low, says Paula Cohen, who with Fiona Pixley is cofounder and cochairwoman of the Einstein Postdoctoral Association (EPA). "A lot of postdocs had turned down jobs at the last minute, because they didn't want to live in the Bronx," Cohen recalls. "Einstein was faced with the problem of being the poor cousin of New York institutions." The two women decided it was time or organize and revitalize Einstein for postdocs. SPEAK UP: Postdocs are less worried about workload or pay than they are about airing their concerns, maintains Paula Cohen. They compiled a list of 296 postdocs to whom they sent a survey, receiving 129 responses (44 percent). High among the respondents' complaints were insufficient mentoring, a lack of interaction with other labs, and limited teaching opportunities. Most of their suggestions for improvements had to do with increased information and interpersonal contact. "It's not the hard work or the money we're worried about," Cohen says. "It's that we want to have a say in what's going on." Many of the changes now being implemented for postdocs at Einstein (see accompanying story) are the result of the EPA's efforts, with the support of administrative funding. Cohen, who is from England, has been a postdoc in reproductive endocrinology for five years. In 1996, she turned down a faculty position at Oxford University, explaining to surprised Einstein colleagues that America is the best place to do science. "I've stayed on because I realize how nice a job I have scientifically," she says, "but I am now itching to move on. I can't imagine that other postdocs would consider this an enviable life." --S.B. Postdoctoral appointments are temporary (usually up to five years), with the primary purpose of providing continued education or experience in research, often under the supervision of a senior mentor. Funding generally comes to an institution via fellowships from government bodies or foundations, paid to the principal investigator (P.I.), who then hires the postdoc. According to the National Science Foundation, annual salaries in 1995 for postdocs one to three years after receiving their Ph.D.'s averaged $26,500 in the life sciences and $30,000 in the physical sciences. Postdocs and Career Prospects: A Status Report, compiled and published by CPST in June 1997, begins: "Increasingly, today's postdocs find themselves in 'no man's land.' Theirs is frequently an unstructured existence that is compounded by shortages in faculty positions, low salaries, little or no job security, and ever-tightening budgets." The report says there were about 26,000 science and engineering postdocs nationwide in 1995, a 32 percent increase since 1988. In a move to address the uncertainties of their position, postdocs have organized at such institutions as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Stephen Rader currently heads the Postdoctoral Scholars Association (PSA) at University of California, San Francisco, where he is just finishing his first year as a postdoc in the lab of biochemistry professor Christine Guthrie. Rader is involved in a nascent Coalition of Life Sciences Postdoctoral Associations intended to help such groups network. He also is on a UC-San Francisco (UCSF) committee to implement recommendations arising from a survey of the activities, interests, and career prospects of postdocs conducted in 1996 by PSA. Distributed to UCSF's 1,076 graduate division postdocs, the survey yielded 419 responses. Results showed that the average salary was between $21,000 and $25,600, but money didn't turn out to be the primary concern. The postdocs had a poor view of the job market, and 21 percent had prolonged their postdoctoral terms because they couldn't find other work. "At UCSF, postdocs arrive in a lab and really have no connection with anyone on campus, or know what's going on, or what resources are here," Rader says. "We've had two meetings with the dean's office so far, and they've actually been very enthusiastic about addressing some of our concerns." A career center has been established, staffed by a director with business experience who offers counseling and help with such mechanics as CV preparation and effectiveness in interviews. Databases also are being compiled of alumni with connections in academia or industry. Also, an orientation program for new postdocs will be held on campus once or twice yearly, beginning this year. A job fair is being considered. Because UCSF does not have undergraduates, teaching experience for postdocs who want to stay in academia is difficult to obtain. Teaching arrangements have existed on a casual basis between postdocs and San Francisco State University, but moves are now afoot to formalize that relationship. "A big point is convincing the faculty that it's good for them, and for the postdocs, to let the postdocs go off and teach a course for a couple of weeks," Rader says. "Postdocs: Defining Our Role, Shaping Our Future" is the title of a symposium to be held February 17 as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Philadelphia. The symposium will provide a forum for postdocs from around the United States to share information on their work and living conditions, their experiences in seeking permanent employment, and the functions of postdoctoral associations. Speakers will include heads of university postdoctoral associations, as well as representatives from academia and business. Contact Carol Berkower at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, (718) 430-2886. E-mail: berkower@aecom.yu.edu. Patricia Bresnahan was a cofounder of PSA. Now on her second postdoctoral fellowship, as a cell biologist at Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in San Francisco, she estimates that her salary "in the mid-30s" is approximately half that of her peers in other professions. She describes postdocs as a large pool of researchers in temporary positions on the fringes of the system, whose funding is subject to trends in science. Although she declares, "I'm very engaged in my work," she also laments, "The point of science is to become an expert on something and be able to apply it to a variety of mechanisms. And the problem with being a professional transient is that you're only allowed to be expert in that area for two or three years, then you move on to something else." Another potential problem, which Bresnahan stresses she doesn't have, is misuse of the P.I.'s power. "You are completely dependent on your adviser," she says, adding that a good reference from the P.I. is essential to a postdoc in search of a permanent job. She offers a revealing anecdote from her UCSF days of a foreign postdoc whose visa expired after the woman's application for renewal was mislaid. The postdoc's adviser reportedly told her that she couldn't be paid, but if she didn't show up for work, there would be no project when she finally did return. Bresnahan says the foreign postdoc worked for three months without pay, and only some of her lost income was reimbursed. Bresnahan has considered alternative science jobs, in business development, policy, administration, education, and communication, but says, "For one thing, I realized I would have to start all over. There was no easy transition to a middle rung. That really made me think again." Another difficulty is finding the same intellectual challenge and sense of contribution that she gets from her current work. "You realize, do we really need another widget, and do I want to sell it?" CHANGES BEGIN: Isolated and uninformed postdocs at UCSF are starting to get better treatment, reports activist Stephen Rader. GETTING WISER: Belfer Institute's Dennis Shields believes postdocs must become more worldly about the job market. Rader's point of view differs. He says institutions that provide postdoctoral fellowships usually want to help broaden the grantee's education, and he thinks this is useful for whatever career path the postdoc eventually takes. Over the past five years, MIchael Galvin, training program administrator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., interviewed numerous postdocs about their career plans. "They were very frustrated," he concludes. "There were few jobs and no grants, and they said, 'We want to compete for grant funding.'" Galvin says environmental health science has been losing talented people, partly because they cannot compete effectively for faculty positions unless they change their areas of interest. For example, a genetic toxicologist might be influenced to pursue a different research direction to fit into a molecular biology department, which Galvin suggests is fine for NIH but not good for NIEHS. The NIEHS advisory council recently approved a unique concept of competitive grants available exclusively to postdocs, helping them advance into environmental health sciences careers. Called "Transition to Independent Positions" (TIP), the concept was with the NIH Office of Extramural Research at press time, for further development and final approval. Galvin was anticipating an announcement of the program, including such details as the amounts to be awarded annually and how original research might be used as the basis for securing continued financing. "We're looking at it as a partnership from Day 1 with the universities," he says. "I call it investment protection." Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology 1200 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 390 Washington, D.C. 2005 (202) 326-7080 Fax: (202) 842-1603 http://www.aaas.org/cpst/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Mail Drop WC-03 Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709 (919) 541-3345 Fax: (919) 541-4395 http://www.niehs.nih.gov Another administrator convinced that postdocs nowadays need assistance beyond developing their research skills is Dennis Shields, director of the Belfer Institute for Advanced Postdoctoral Studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "More people are competing for less jobs in academia," he affirms, "but the job market in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries is also fiercely competitive. The old image that it was not the top people who went into industry is completely not the case." He thinks it is necessary for postdocs to be "more worldly and realistic about what the job market demands. "We're trying to raise money ourselves for our own individual fellowship program," he reveals. The goal is to fund six researchers annually. He adds that for postdocs who are due to move onward in their careers, "we are pursuing a whole new appointment structure that may address these people, who have been around a long time and are very skillful, and you feel have a lot they can pass on to others in the lab, but who are not necessarily able or want to head their own lab." Lately, Belfer Institute has been conducting workshops on such topics as grant applications and job searching. Also, a committee of faculty and postdocs now meets regularly to address quality of life issues, including health benefits, housing, and social events. During a recent postdoctoral symposium cosponsored by Belfer and the Einstein Postdoctoral Association (see accompanying story), Shields characterized the traditional role of postdocs: "They're the forgotten persons in the research enterprise." In this uncertain era for young researchers, Shields is succinct about the role of administrators and institutions: "to ensure the transition from nascent scientist to independent investigator is as smooth and joyful and productive as possible."

Postdocs Organize For Changes

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