University research managers treated like 'second-class citizens'
University research management is a fast moving profession – and one that a lot of managers are keen to move out of, tired of being "treated as second-class citizens".
A global survey by the Association of Commonwealth Universities reveals that 80% had been in their current position for fewer than five years and nearly 60% felt their next job would be outside research management (around half if those retiring are excluded). This ranges from 67% of Australasian respondents to 45% in Europe.
Reasons for leaving can be financial. "The skills developed as a research manager are extremely transferable and the pay for using those skills in the private sector would be higher," said one European respondent.
But the survey also uncovered a great deal of frustration and discontent at stress levels in an increasingly complex job. An Australasian respondent put it bluntly: "Workload too heavy, management and conditions too stressful; poor-little training available; understaffed; poor/inadequate systems; change without thought or planning; staff not acknowledged or respected; senior management lack training and skills in people/systems management."
"Lack of advancement and progressive opportunities and career growth," complained one from North America. Another research manager commented from Australia: "Good research administrators are hard to come by, yet despite this fact the good ones are often treated like second-class citizens by senior management within their own units, which is a great shame.
"The workloads can be horrific, especially during major grant submission periods. This causes a lot of them to burn out and leave the profession. There is definitely not enough recognition or appreciation of the effort that goes into research administration roles in Australian universities."
Almost 400 research management staff in 24 countries around the world were surveyed, largely online. Around half of the 127 respondents who gave reasons for leaving the profession referred to issues common to any profession - a change of interests, personal and family related issues.
However, among the remaining reasons, there were some striking patterns.
· Out of 22 who very specifically referred to the lack of career progression in research management as the main reason they would leave, 15 were from the UK.
· Of 26 respondents frustrated with the way research management was organised at their institution, saying it was under-resourced in an increasingly complex environment, resulting in high stress levels, 15 were from Australia. Another significant minority response was 12 people who referred specifically to the lack of financial reward.
Overall, survey findings suggest that the profession is rapidly expanding and is fluid with significant numbers moving both into and out of the profession. It seems that an increasing demand for the research management function is not being matched by institutional structures, resulting in under-resourcing, lack of adequate training and paucity of promotion and career prospects. Institutions will need to address these issues in order to retain skilled staff to perform these increasingly important roles.
The survey reveals a highly skilled profession demanding both diverse and highly specialised knowledge and aptitudes - 94% of respondents were graduates; 65% were educated at postgraduate level; 34% had doctoral qualifications. PhD's and post-doctoral qualifications were most common amongst African respondents with around 70% holding these (as opposed to around 25% in other regions).
Despite this high level of qualification, around 60% of respondents felt they had unmet training needs, mostly because appropriate courses were not available and they did not have time to undertake training, and that their institutions needed to increase expertise in all areas from legal and marketing issues to innovation and technology transfer.
Furthermore, the "increasing demands of funders", "the need to deal effectively with an increasing range of international partners" and "the increasing complexity of contracts and legal and ethical issues" are seen as some of the most significant challenges facing the profession.
These and other areas of the survey suggest that the role is becoming increasingly complex while institutional structures to appropriately train, evaluate and reward professionals lag behind.
The importance for universities of managing their research outputs can not be overstated. At a strategic level, institutions are not only under increasing pressure to respond to the demands of society by producing - and transferring - more knowledge that is useful to their communities, but also to diversify their sources of funding while conforming to increased demands for excellence and relevance from research funders.
Researchers need to be made aware of funding opportunities, proposals need to be written and costed, contracts need to be negotiated and monitored, IP rights need to be resolved, and so on. Out of these needs has emerged a distinct profession of research managers and administrators with specialised skills who play an essential role in the research function of universities.
A full report of the survey's findings is due early next year.
· Julie Stackhouse is senior programme officer (research) at the Association of Commonwealth Universities