Madam, – Prof William Reville (Science Today, February 25th) is correct in his criticisms of the US model of academic promotion. Yet he presents an unduly rosy picture of the Irish higher education system, which has its fair share of deficiencies.
Prof Reville suggests academics in Irish universities can reasonably expect to be made permanent aged about 33, assuming “three to four years accumulating postdoctoral experience”, and success in a competitive recruitment process.
This analysis fails to take account of a relatively new group of academic staff, namely contract researchers, easily the fastest growing category in third-level institutions over the past 10 years. Such researchers are not simply undertaking postdoctoral work to accumulate experience but are employed on successive fixed-term or indefinite contracts to pursue specific research projects on a full-time basis.
The Government’s policy of doubling the number of PhD graduates by 2013 has greatly increased the number of contract researchers, often doing work of great value, but operating on short-term contracts and lacking most of the benefits of other academic staff.
There is currently no viable career path for research staff and no route to permanent employment in research. Insecurity is an endemic feature of employment for the vast majority of research staff. Moreover, the moratorium on appointments to lecturing posts in higher education colleges imposed by the Government blocks the only promotional avenue available to research staff within their own area.
The efforts by the Government and funding agencies to increase the absolute number of PhDs without any real idea of what to do with them has created a burgeoning supply of well-qualified graduates who now face the bleak choices of unemployment, casual working or emigration.
The combination of bad planning and economic recession is already beginning to promote a new “brain-drain”, this time of PhD graduates to research, academic and other jobs in the European Union, Australia and the US. Official rhetoric about the “knowledge economy” has been undermined by reality.
Prof Reville is right about the shortcomings of the US system – but he might also consider some obvious flaws closer to home. – Yours, etc,
