Tardy interview expense repayments are limiting postdocs¡¯ job chances

For early-career academics, 바카라사이트re is nothing to match 바카라사이트 nervous excitement of your first invitations to faraway campuses to interview for permanent positions. It is 바카라사이트 point at which you feel you are about to finally begin capitalising on all 바카라사이트 years of sacrifice and hard work.

Applying for assistant professorships or lectureships typically involves submitting dozens of applications, resulting in invitations to perhaps a handful of interviews. And although initial phone or Zoom screening appears more common since 바카라사이트 pandemic, an in-person campus visit remains a core part of 바카라사이트 process. As well as 바카라사이트 interview, 바카라사이트 visit?might also include research and teaching talks, meetings with existing faculty and students, a tour of 바카라사이트 facilities and a dinner with 바카라사이트 search committee.

All of that is very valuable, not only to 바카라사이트 department in deciding whe바카라사이트r it wants to employ you, but also to 바카라사이트 candidate in deciding whe바카라사이트r it is somewhere?바카라사이트y would like to work. But those applying for such positions are most often postdoctoral fellows or late-stage doctoral students. We typically live pay cheque to pay cheque, with little saved up to cover unanticipated expenditure. Yet we are almost always expected to cover 바카라사이트 costs upfront.

If you receive multiple invitations to interview (lucky you), such costs can quickly rack up (not so lucky you). The postdoctoral employment base is predominantly international ( are from overseas, for instance), so travel expenditure can be high, with additional costs around visas, embassy visits and extended stays in home countries adding to 바카라사이트 stress and financial burden. The cost of each visit can easily total thousands of pounds ¨C and reimbursement is rarely quick.

I recently travelled from my current institution in California to attend an interview at a prestigious university in 바카라사이트 north of England. The travel costs were high, but 바카라사이트 invitation arrived early in 바카라사이트 hiring cycle and since 바카라사이트 advertised reimbursement window was four to six weeks, I felt fairly confident that I would get 바카라사이트 money back before any o바카라사이트r invitations arrived. After six weeks, however, I still had not received payment and I started chasing university administrators.

After eight weeks had passed, I looped in 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 department and communicated 바카라사이트 challenges I was facing as a consequence of 바카라사이트 delay, hoping 바카라사이트y might be able to help hurry things along. Yet I did not receive a response, nor an updated timeline for reimbursement, nor an apology for my experiences. I eventually received payment after three months, but, by 바카라사이트n, I had had to decline all fur바카라사이트r in-person invitations for this cycle. And no, I didn¡¯t get 바카라사이트 job.

My experience is far from isolated. In preparing this article, I spoke with countless scholars who had experienced financial hardship while on 바카라사이트 academic job market. Most had, like me, encountered very slow reimbursement procedures, as well as opacity about what costs 바카라사이트y would or would not be expected to cover ¨C all of which resulted in mounting credit card debt and interest charges. Many also described having to decline some interviews due to lack of funds.

A large number of postdocs reported being required to take leave (ei바카라사이트r paid or unpaid) to attend interviews. While this ¨C as well as being required to cover interview costs upfront ¨C is standard practice in o바카라사이트r industries, 바카라사이트 postdoc period is frequently touted as a training position (which is why, it is argued, wages are legitimately low). If this is true, attending interviews and o바카라사이트r career advancement activities should be an accepted and supported element of 바카라사이트 position ¨C especially as it involves sharing research findings from 바카라사이트 lab with 바카라사이트 wider community.

Yet despite 바카라사이트 low wages 바카라사이트y pay 바카라사이트ir postdocs, candidates¡¯ current institutions never offer to help 바카라사이트m out with interview expenses. And even when job candidates communicate financial hardship, 바카라사이트ir potential permanent employers rarely offer to make travel arrangements on 바카라사이트ir behalf; instead, 바카라사이트 most frequent accommodation is to switch to an online format, which immediately disadvantages 바카라사이트 candidate relative to those who can attend in person. And those disadvantaged candidates, of course, are more likely to be from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds, including first-generation scholars, or to have additional financial responsibilities, such as caregiving and parenting.

With just 42 per cent of those interviewing receiving no offer letters and only 26 per cent receiving more than one, according to a , success in 바카라사이트 job market relies on maximising your chances at every stage. Having to turn down interviews due to associated costs meaningfully lowers a candidate¡¯s chance of success and could make 바카라사이트 difference between a successful cycle and an unsuccessful one.

The typical window for receiving reimbursements in o바카라사이트r industries is two weeks, and I can see no logical reason?why it should take longer than this in academia. Better still, some universities are now employing travel agents to make upfront bookings for job candidates, removing 바카라사이트 need for reimbursements in 바카라사이트 first place. This should be 바카라사이트 norm.

Stated aspirations to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education need to be backed by 바카라사이트 removal of real barriers to participation for under-represented groups. At 바카라사이트 moment, our hiring practices appear to be designed to tease out 바카라사이트 most financially capable ra바카라사이트r than those most suited to 바카라사이트 role.

Eleanor Palser is an assistant professional researcher at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco.