A Precarious Future: Reflections from a Survey of Early Career Researchers in Archaeology (original) (raw)
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European Journal of Archaeology, 2022
This article presents the results of a 2021 international online survey of 419 early career researchers in archaeology. Respondents were passionate about pursuing an academic career, but pessimistic about job and career prospects. Statistics highlight specific obstacles, especially for women, from unstable employment to inequitable practices, and a chronic lack of support. Over 180 open-ended comments reveal worrying levels of workplace bullying and discrimination, particularly targeting women and minorities. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early career researchers is also examined. The survey's findings are analysed and contextualized within the international higher education sector. A communal effort is necessary to create sustained change, but early career researchers remain hopeful that change can be implemented.
The European Archaeologist, 2020
The ERCA task force was set up in November 2019 with a view to make early-career researchers feel heard, empowered and supported (Brami et al. 2020). Here we explore and present personal experiences of recently-tenured archaeologists. In this first batch of interviews dedicated to Northern Europe - including Britain, Scandinavia and Northern Germany - we asked archaeology researchers who have recently obtained a permanent position (or who are in the process of obtaining one) to tell us about their personal experience undertaking postdocs. We asked if retrospectively they would do anything differently and what advice they would give to new PhD graduates who intend to stay in academia.
Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women and Early Career Archaeologists
Heritage , 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts in all segments of life worldwide. While a variety of surveys have assessed the impacts of the pandemic in other fields, few studies have focused on understanding the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic for archaeology. To assess these trends, we asked survey respondents (n = 570) if they experienced job loss and to rate the percentage of change in their economic situation, workload, teaching or research activities, and personal responsibilities. Results show alarming trends, with nearly half of those who experienced job loss being under the age of 35 and women and early career archaeologists suffering major economic losses. Impacts to workload, teaching activities, and research activities were also felt across these groups. Substantial increases in personal responsibilities (childcare, eldercare, caring for sick family members) were also identified, especially for women with children under 18 years of age. While structural inequalities have already been identified across different sectors of archaeology, the results of this survey suggest the most vulnerable populations are those most heavily affected. We recommend a variety of strategies for employers, professional organizations, funding agencies, and publishers to consider in mitigating the consequences of COVID-19, especially for women and early career scholars.
The European Archaeologist, 2020
In light of growing employment precarity for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in archaeology, the European Association of Archaeologists has formed the “Early Research Careers in Archaeology” (ERCA) Task Force. ECRs are defined here as pre-tenured researchers, including postgraduates, postdocs and non-salaried scientists who plan to stay in academia. The Task Force recognises researchers engaged in a research career as ‘professionals’ regardless of their status and educational level, in line with the core principles of the European Charter for Researchers. Challenges encountered by ECRs typically include job insecurity, imposed mobility, as well as a lack of research freedom, independence and results ownership. Employment precarity is being exacerbated by a trend of casualisation and short fixed-term contracts in academia, as well as a culture of publish-or-perish even during periods of under- or un-employment. Pressures on ECRs working in archaeology are compounded by the fact that archaeology is a small, competitive field, with no standard ethical practices regarding, for instance, recognition of contribution to archaeological fieldwork and authorship. As a result of these worsening trends, ECRs feel increasingly under-represented and under-supported in archaeology. The European Association of Archaeologists wishes to address these troubling trends with the establishment of the ERCA Task Force. The aim of this task force will be to work in close collaboration with the EAA Executive Board on the elaboration of a series of recommendations to improve early research careers in archaeology and address their consequences, including on mental health and life quality, with a view to provide support, level the playing field and make ECRs feel heard and empowered.
Success strategies for a career in archaeology
This article offers career advice for students and early career practitioners in archaeology. It presents new data from a global survey on success strategies for careers in archaeology. The topics covered include fieldwork and laboratory experience, volunteering, publication, peer reviews, referees, conferences, international exposure and grant writing. Of particular note is the relative value that archaeologists place on publication outputs that will nurture a career versus those that have long-term value for the discipline. This speaks to long and short-term strategies in career building. By making explicit values and practices that are normalized by dominant groups and revealing structuring principles that underlie success in archaeology this article fills a gap in research on the impact of colonialism on the employment of minority groups in archaeology.
Choosing a Path to the Ancient World in a Modern Market: The Reality of Faculty Jobs in Archaeology
American Antiquity, 2018
Over the past 30 years, the number of US doctoral anthropology graduates has increased by about 70%, but there has not been a corresponding increase in the availability of new faculty positions. Consequently, doctoral degree-holding archaeologists face more competition than ever before when applying for faculty positions. Here we examine where US and Canadian anthropological archaeology faculty originate and where they ultimately end up teaching. Using data derived from the 2014–2015 AnthroGuide, we rank doctoral programs whose graduates in archaeology have been most successful in the academic job market; identify long-term and ongoing trends in doctoral programs; and discuss gender division in academic archaeology in the US and Canada. We conclude that success in obtaining a faculty position upon graduation is predicated in large part on where one attends graduate school.
The Changing Profile of Tenure-Track Faculty in Archaeology
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2022
The goal for many PhD students in archaeology is tenure-track employment. Students primarily receive their training by tenure-track or tenured professors, and they are often tacitly expected-or explicitly encouraged-to follow in the footsteps of their advisor. However, the career trajectories that current and recent PhD students follow may hold little resemblance to the ones experienced by their advisors. To understand these different paths and to provide information for current PhD students considering pursuing a career in academia, we surveyed 438 archaeologists holding tenured or tenure-track positions in the United States. The survey, recorded in 2019, posed a variety of questions regarding the personal experiences of individual professors. The results are binned by the decade in which the respondent graduated. Evident patterns are discussed in terms of change over time. The resulting portraits of academic pathways through the past five decades indicate that although broad commonalities exist in the qualifications of early career academics, there is no singular pathway to obtaining tenure-track employment. We highlight the commonalities revealed in our survey to provide a set of general qualifications that might provide a baseline set of skills and experiences for an archaeologist seeking a tenure-track job in the United States.
Results of British Women Archaeologists' 2008 survey
The BWA survey of 2008 was designed to document the female experience in archaeology. 85 responses were received in total, of these three were spoiled (could not be opened by the computer) and 76 respondents were female, 8 male. The BWA survey organisers did not take part. The survey encompasses c. 1100 years of experience in archaeology! This ranges from teenage training excavations through full working lives with respondents commenting on a wide range of issues. The questions were thought-provoking and at times contradictory in order to assess what respondents felt about their future career. It was often an emotive experience for women and we give our grateful thanks for the open and honest replies we had, and the not inconsiderable amount of time it must have taken for individuals to engage with the questions. Our typical respondent profile is a woman in her 20s or 30s working in commercial archaeology. At university she was taught gender neutral language and had women in her department, but didn't connect with them as role models. She thinks she can have the career she wants and also the family she envisages, but believes she will have to compromise her career in the future and recognises that as a woman this will affect her more than her male colleagues. Almost equally she may or may not have had direct experience of discrimination so is either entirely unaware of problems, or she almost conversely is very aware, has had repeated experience of it and knows others that have. 83.5% of women responded positively to the BWA especially in terms of opportunities for networking and career support.